Special Collections: Further Collections

E & A Wates was a prominent and successful furniture retail company based in Streatham, in South London.

Edward Wates founded the original House Furnishing and Removals company in 1900 and was joined by his brother, Arthur, in 1902. In 1904, two younger brothers, William and Herbert - who were both engaged within the building industry - joined the company and from that point onwards house building started within and alongside the furnishing business.

The construction arm of the family business – the Wates Group - separated from the original company in 1925. It is one of the largest privately-owned construction, property services and development companies in the UK and the E & A Wates’ business records are an important part of the narrative of the origin of the Group and complement the Group’s own business archive.

The E & A Wates archive contributes greatly to the study of the furnishing industry and research into historic interior design, furniture restoration and furnishing practices, and at the same time preserves an important part of Streatham's local history.

E & A Wates Ltd traded until 2021 and this archive includes information about the products they sold, their domestic and important commercial client base, the three shops they traded from, J T Grosse Ltd (a company they acquired), their stands at The Ideal Home Exhibition, The Decorative Fair in Battersea Park and at other trade fairs and their work in over 30 countries, including Russia, for clients such as Shell and Hackett, as well as for domestic clients.

The collection was received by the University during the Spring of 2021 and can now be used for research. Search our online catalogue for further information.

We are grateful for a grant from The National Archives which has enabled us to take in this important collection and to ensure that it is housed in appropriate conservation standard storage.

Atkins-Atcraft was first established in 1879 by Edwin Atkins as 'E. Atkins', a firm of furniture manufacturers, with factories in Bethnal Green, East London and Birmingham. The name changed to Atcraft Ltd in the late 1920s and production was moved to a factory at Alperton, near Wembley in Middlesex. Atcraft's products ranged from chairs and tables to hammocks and camp beds, and included playpens, prams and invalid chairs. In later years the product range focused almost entirely on producing nursery and garden furniture. The firm ceased trading in the 1980s; the Archive itself was later acquired by Ed Blackburn, a member of staff at the (then) London College of Furniture.

This archive includes Trade Catalogues (1913-1983), Ledgers, Day Books and Salary Books (1915-1960s - the run of each series is incomplete), Sales Summaries (1933-1973), Balance Sheets (1908, 1911, 1913-1915), Articles of Association (1922), Changes to Articles of Association (1946), Minutes of Directors' meetings (1922-1946), Designs of Cartoons for Nursery Furniture, Address Book of Staff and Travellers, Stocktaking Book (1881-1882), Exhibitions Accounts Book (1921-1963), Address Book of Staff and Travellers, Tables of Descendants of Edwin Atkins and George Clifton Sunley, Papers relating to Centenary Celebrations of the Firm (1979), Photographs of Company Vehicles (1950s), and Press cuttings of retired staff (1940s-1950s).

Many of the earlier trade catalogues bear the name of Claude Cyril Atkins, one of the Directors of the firm, and a son of Edwin Atkins the founder of the firm.

You can research the Atkins-Acraft archive via our online catalogue. 

It consists of the papers of Peter Lewis, from 1964-1998, mainly relating to community radio and television in the UK and worldwide; copies of Relay, a community radio magazine, 1981-1988; papers concerning the running of the Community Communications Group (COMCOM); printed material relating to radio broadcasting, including reports, publications, research and correspondence from the government, IBA (Independent Broadcasting Authority) and independent broadcasters and independent broadcasting organisations.

The Community Media Collection

Related collections:

The Bristol Channel film archive is currently stored at the British Film Institute in London, and the administrative paper archive at the Bristol Record Office. In 2014, the Knowle West TV stock was digitized, from videotape to mp4 format. As well as being archived by KWMC, copies of digitised footage are held at the Bristol Record Office, alongside the paper archive. It is held under reference number 44659, and the full catalogue may be accessed online here.

For further information and/or to make enquiries about this collection, please contact us at: specialcollections@londonmet.ac.uk. You can also research the The Community Media Collection via our online catalogue. 

This is a small collection of papers and publications by or about Jean Stogdon OBE; co-founder of the charity GrandparentsPlus along with Michael Young (sociologist, social activist and author). Jean was an alumna of the Polytechnic of North London where she studied Social Work as a mature student.

The archive consists of material from the 1990s - to 2010s including Correspondence (written and email), Governance papers and strategic planning paperwork of the charity, Financial records, Records relating to trustees, Published papers, Newspaper articles, GrandparentsPlus, headed stationery, Video tapes, Diaries, Magazines (Contact a Family), Associated published and unpublished material (including a small collection of popular and academic books relating to grandparenting, fostering, parenting and topics relevant to the charity and to social work).

You can also research the Jean Stogden Archive via our online catalogue.