UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

         This business operated under a number of different partnerships and is probably best known for the printing of the Penny Black postage stamp in 1840.  By this date it was however well established as a printer of numerous security items, labels and - in particular - banknotes.

       The mainstay of the business was Joshua Bacon who was born in the Boston, United States of America in 1790.  In May 1817 he married Sarah Ann Perkins in Newburyport (31 miles East of Boston) with Sarah Ann being the daughter of an engineer and inventor named Jacob Perkins.  It would appear that Perkins was an inventor of some repute although - like many of that ilk - he required someone to market and sell his products.  It was in this sales role which Joshua Bacon was then employed.

        By 1811 Jacob Perkins, together with an engraver named George Murray, had developed a method of secure printing by the use of a hardened steel plate and steel roller with this far superior to the then adopted use of Copper plates.  These copper plates had a tendency to softening through time and this resulted in the printed items varying in quality in direct relationship to the usage of the plate.  The limitations of the Copper plate system left the banknotes of the day open to forgery and it was a consequence of such forgeries that on 30th May 1819 Jacob Perkins was invited to England by the Bank of England with a view to winning a contract to print banknotes.  He had by that time joined the Philadelphia firm of engravers and printers Murray, Draper and Fairman and the party which left for England included Jacob Perkins and George Fairman.

         W. Baird in "The One Pound Note" (1912) advises that in the year 1820 it appears that the number of forged £1 notes presented to the Bank of England was no less than 27,993, which with 217 £2 notes and 873 of £5 and upwards, made a total value of £33,602; while the total amount of forgeries for the ten years prior to that date was altogether about £200,949.

      Unfortunately, by March 1821, it is known that Perkins was unsuccessful in winning this contract - perhaps as a consequence of an American national attempting to win business in England so soon after the War with the United States? - and Perkins then called on Joshua Bacon to join him from the United States and assist him in operating the by then established printing business.

         It would appear that the business frequently suffered from cash flow difficulties in the early days and one significant investor was Charles Heath, a noted engraver, with the Firm's name being changed on 30th August 1820 to Messrs Perkins, Fairman & Heath.  On 7th April 1821 Charles Heath went bankrupt and was replaced in the Firm by his brother George Heath who was legal trained and reputed to be a shrewd entrepreneur.  It would appear that George was not the only person to assist at the time of his Brother's bankruptcy as Henry Petch, also an engraver, joined the Firm and, using capital belonging to his wife, purchased the shares of Charles Heath.  The roles within the firm then appear to have Jacob Perkins overseeing operational activities, Joshua Bacon marketing the Firm's activities, Henry Petch looking after the administration of the business and George Heath keeping a very tight control of all activities.

        In May 1829 Joshua Bacon become a Partner and the title was changed to Perkins & Bacon.  In July 1834 Henry Petch became a Partner and the title was again changed, this time to Perkins, Bacon & Petch.  The fact that the name Heath has disappeared from the title does not mean that he was not involved as he appears to have retained a very tight control over the business.

TO BE CONTINUED