Friday 3 July 2009

C. Tinling & Co of Liverpool

Good Evening

I collect childrens books, specifically those by W.E. Johns (Biggles etc). These were published mainly by Hodder and Stoughton and Brockhampton Press but printed by C. Tinling and Co of Liverpool until 1958 when they must have moved to Prescott where they continued to print W.E. Johns books until the 70's. As a collector I come across unusual printings of volumes for which little or no information exists, in such cases I attempt to fill in the gaps and pass the information on to other collectors. Ideally I would like to know if Tinling kept records of their work and whether such records still exist and are accessible. I live in Fife but any pointers in the right (or any) direction would be much appreciated.

Regards

Dave Goodsir

9 comments:

  1. Hello Dave,

    I think Tinlings were bought out by the Liverpool Daily Post, who may know the something about their archives. Faiing that you could try the Liverpool Record Office, William Brown Street, Liverpool, as they hold some archives of Liverpool businesses.

    Regards

    Rob Ainsworth

    Liverpool History Society

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  2. I don't know if this will help you with your question, but I have information on the founder of the company, Charles Tinling, and his family on my website:

    http://www.tinlingenealogy.org/trees/liverpool.htm

    Regards,
    Bryan Tinlin

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  3. Hello Bryan,

    many thanks for the link.

    Rob Ainsworth

    Liverpool History Society

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  4. I have a paperback book which you made i just want to know what year and value. Its Foulsham's Universal Cookery Book it cost 6d to buy its in good condition

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  5. I once met a man who had worked for Tinlings in Prescot.They used to publish the Liverpool Evening Express, a strong competitor of the Echo..He said he had bitter feelings against the Lpool Daily Post and Echo as they purchased Tinlings solely to close down the Evening Express.(He alleged!)..

    Reginald D. Owen

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  6. Whatever happened to Tinlings after 1971? I was good friends with a Mark Radcliffe Evans who was the son of one of the Directors, I believe. They lived near the Girls Grammar School and we used to, cheekily, stay at the company flat in London whenevr we hitched down there. I think Mr & Mrs Evans were both JP's and acquantances of Arthur Dooley. Whilst I no longer live in the are I note that Prescot is no longer home to BICC either, where my dad worked and Prescot Grammar School no longer exists. Whatever happened to them?

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  7. This isn't going to help you but my grandfather, Theodore James Lovgreen was a proof reader at Prescot and when I was young in the 50s would bring me home copies of the Children's Classics that he'd proof read, they had the markings at the side of the pages. I still have them today. I reckon BICC are no more as their plant in Helsby (by Frodsham in Cheshire) closed down years ago and the site is now a large Tesco supermarket.

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    Replies
    1. Phil, thanks anyway. My dad used to visit Helsby and other sites as well. I guess Tesco now occupy a great number of old factory sites. Such is the way of the world.
      DP

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  8. I served 4 years of a 5 year apprentice at C. Tinlings & Co. in Prescot, finishing my apprenticeship at another company when Tinlings was put into receivership by, I believe and laminating company called Olro who they owed a considerable amount of money to. A previous poster remarked that the Liverpool Daily Post and Echo had bought Tinlings in order to close down their paper the Evening Express, however, I believe this was literally decades earlier, but nevertheless allegedly a true story. The Liverpool DP & E, sold Tinlings in 1973 to a company called Gilmour & Dean Group, a Scottish Printing Company and for a time they were known as Tinlings 1973, Gilmour & Dean promptly sold them on to the Oxley Printing Group of Nottingham. Tinlings folded in the summer of 1975. I did have in my possession at one time, a small landscape booklet celebrating C. Tinlings centenary in 1904, I think. It was a marvellous historical document of the Company and someone had even pencilled in names on the half tone pictures of men who were the fathers and grandfathers of people who were working at Tinlings in the 1970s. Unfortunately, I left this booklet at a company I worked for in the 1980s (Parados Graphics, Penketh) when I left to join another company in St Helens. I bitterly regret not remembering to retrieve this booklet because it was a really fascinating and informative picture of both Tinlings and the Printing Industry in the early 1900s and the preceding 100 years. The Tinlings building was an old watch factory and just out of interest to those reading this, Prescot was a MAJOR town for the production of watches in Britain. In fact, there were about 3 towns in Britain where watches were produced in the 1700s and Prescot was one of the best.

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