| Activity | Printers, of Aylesbury.
Watson and Hazell, 1867-1875;
Hazell, Watson and Viney Ltd, 1875-1989
Hazell, Watson and Viney had its origins in the printing business established by William Paul in Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, London, in 1839. In 1843 Paul sold out to George Watson, then a jobbing printer and stationer at Tring, Herts, who soon introduced steam power and greatly expanded the business. In 1863 Walter Hazell (1843-1919) joined the firm and from 1867 it was known as Watson and Hazell. In the same year a branch was opened at Aylesbury in a disused silk mill at California, Aylesbury and in 1873 another branch in the Strand, London(it was sold in 1880). When J. E. Viney became a partner in 1875 the firm became Hazell, Watson and Viney. In 1884 it merged with Ford and Tilt of Long Acre, London to become Hazell, Watson and Viney, Ltd, with combined assets valued at £138,000. In the 1890s printing of periodicals was done at Kirby Street, where some sixty newspapers and periodicals were produced. Legal and commercial printing was carried on at Long Acre and book production was concentrated at Aylesbury. The head Office remained at Kirby Street until 1869, when it moved to Charles Street; in 1889 it transferred to Creed Street, Ludgate Hill, and in 1901 Long Acre. In 1920 the Kirby Street site was closed and the works transferred to Aylesbury and Long Acre. In the meanwhile the Aylesbury branch had moved in 1878 to purpose built premises on the Tring Road which underwent successive enlargements from 1885 onwards. By 1939 the total workforce there had risen to 1,700. The company also acquired a variety of other interests in this period including a share in Letts, the diary makers in 1886, a wholesale stationery branch in Shaftesbury Avenue, London in 1896, a photographic works at Lee, Kent in 1889 (wound up in 1898) and a packaging works at Slough in the 1930s.
Tring correspondent |