Ilford Limited: A history
In 1879 Alfred Harman set up the company that would later become Ilford Limited, then known as the Britannia Works Company. The company went on to become one of the most important photography companies in the 20th century. Eventually, however the rise of digital meant its fortunes fell, and although it still exists today as Ilford Photo it is greatly reduced in comparison to its heyday when it was based in Ilford.
Alfred Harman, founder of Ilford Limited
photo courtesy of photomemorabilia.com
The company began by making photographic plates, sheets of glass which were used to take photographs before the invention of film.
Why Ilford?
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Harman chose the Town of Ilford as his base because he believed it to have the optimum conditions for a photographic company. It needed to be a location far enough away from cities to avoid the associated smoke which could ruin a photographic plate, yet sufficiently close to London to allow for easy marketing. Ilford, which had rural surroundings at the time, was well suited.
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Alfred Harman’s home on Cranbrook Road
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Alfred Harman set up the Britannia Works Company in the basement of his house in Cranbrook Road where he was assisted in making the secret chemical emulsion by his wife and housekeeper. His factory equipment was made up of everyday household items, for example he used a teapot to pour the emulsion.
Clyde Cottages
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Harman soon acquired the Clyde Cottages- which were located on the current site of Ilford Sainsbury’s - to house some of the manufacturing. In these cottages glass for the plates was cleaned, scrubbed in a tub, and dried on the lawn. They were later coated in the coating works, and the secret emulsion which was still made in the Harman’s house had to be transported there in a handcart. This was quite risky as the emulsion contained silver if any was spilled they were losing a valuable resource.
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Harman also took over a three story house in Uphill Road, within the area which is now Sainsbury’s car park.
Engraving of the early factory in Ilford, 1888.
Courtesy of darkside.photography.com
Britannia Works Institute
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In 1891 Harman set up the Britannia Works Institute on Ilford Lane for the benefit of his workers. This was a social building that gave them a space to sit and eat their breakfast and lunch, and there were kitchen facilities so that workers who brought food from home could have it cooked for them. It had a stage for entertainment, a billiard room and provisions for refreshments.
Early Factory
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The business was successful and in 1883 a specially designed factory was completed which incorporated the Uphill Road site and the cottages. When the factory first opened much of the equipment inside it was again improvised by adapting other objects. A milk cooler was used to cool down the emulsion, and carriage lamps fitted with a deep ruby glass were used to provide light in the dark room. The dark rooms were not well ventilated so they got very hot, and there are records of workers being fined or losing their bonus because they fell asleep. The company was a pioneer in the use of air conditioning as in 1895 there was an air cooling system. The air cooling system also helped to reduce dust, which was a great concern as both light and dust could ruin photographic plates.
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In 1896 the site was extended out to Roden Street.
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Social activities remained important throughout the history of Ilford lImited, and people often talk of organised trips to London and the theatre. There were also company social occasions like the Christmas dance at the Ilford Palais.
Dancers at the social club.
Urbanisation ruining photographs
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Although the positioning of the town of Ilford had been ideal when the factory was built, by the end of the 19th century this was changing. The water supply was still good, and had been improved by the digging of a well, but the area was becoming more urbanised reducing the air quality with smoke and dust. The Urban District Council attempted to build a refuse destructor close to the factory, and although this plan was stopped the Ilford Gas Company set up works close by releasing chemical fumes that could ruin newly coated photographic plates.
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Changing Name to Ilford Limited
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In 1900 the name of the company was changed to Ilford Limited even though the Ilford Urban District Council objected. The UDC agreed a year later as long as the name changed to “Ilford, Limited” exactly. There had to be a comma between the two words and Limited could not be shortened to Ltd. In reality the comma was rarely used because it was clunky. It was dropped from advertising in c.1945, and officially dropped in 1951.
World War One
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When World War One started it was thought that photography would be one of the first industries to go as it was considered a luxury, and younger employees were urged to enlist. By September 1914 members of factory staff were discharged due to slack trade and the works were put on half time. However before a year had passed it became clear that war was not going to reduce trade, only shift it from being luxury trade to an essential industry as photography was a useful tool for the armed forces.
Selo
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In 1918 Ilford Limited established a film manufacturing company and registered it as Selo Limited. They had taken over lots of smaller photography companies, and Selo was going to be the new unifying brand which brought all these companies, including Ilford Limited together. Ilford Limited owned another site in Brentwood which had been occupied by the military during the war, but in 1920 this occupation ended, and Selo began to rent the site from Ilford. By June 1922 they had purchased it.
All national advertising was focused on roll films, and consequently on the name Selo, whilst the more important name of Ilford was left out. In 1947 it was therefore decided to bring the name Ilford back and the new boxes read Ilford Selo. Two years later the Selo name was dropped, and the boxes read only Ilford in a bold distinctive type. The name Selo was slowly forgotten, and the name Ilford was firmly re-established as a brand.
The Bonus Gardens and Air raid shelter
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In about 1930 a Garden was built on the Ilford Limited site which became known as the Bonus Garden because no bonuses were paid to staff in the year it was opened. The rumour amongst the staff was that the money had gone to the garden.
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During World War Two the gardens were dug up and turned into air raid shelters. After the war these were dismantled and the area became a staff carpark as cars started gaining popularity as a method to get to work.
Work during WW2
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Photography’s upgrade from a luxury trade to a highly essential industry in 1914 meant that very few workers had to join the army during World War 2. During the war a number of new products came out of the factories. Multigrage paper came on the market in 1940 and interestingly had no obvious link to war requirements, something few other manufacturers would have been able to do. Film production went up because of the quantity used for air photography for the war. There was also a demand for a new kind of film. Many photos were taken at night and huge flares were dropped from planes to light up the scene. Emulsions of extreme sensitivity were needed for this and research for this was carried out at the Ilford site in Brentwood. The high speed panchromatic emulsions that they brought out after the war, and which were of a superior quality to other products, came out of these investigations.
Insert image of bomb damage here
Fire bomb damage to the plate stockroom, September 1940. Courtesy of Redbridge Museum and Heritage.
Modernising the Ilford labels
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1945 was also the year the Ilford Limited labels were modernised. It was decided to remove the Ilford trade mark, a little paddle steamer, which dated back to the beginning of the business. Trade marks were out of date and it would clash with the new modern labels.
The closure of Ilford Limited
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This site in Ilford was occupied by Ilford Limited until1976 when it was closed and HQ moved to Basildon.
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Ilford Limited HQ moved to Mobberley in 1983 and the London based sales and admin team following in 1996.
Ilford Limited hit by a bomb
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The blitz did not affect the Ilford Limited factories as badly as it might have done. The nature of the growth of the company through acquisition meant that factories were scattered all over the country and consequently if a bomb hit one works all the rest could carry on. The Ilford plate factory received a hit, however, from a German rocket in 1945.
