EHL318. JUKES COULSON – STOKES & Co. c1890. Opposite 29 Commercial Road, Eastbourne. what3words location: long.makes.hops

Condition: Very worn.

The origins of the company can be traced back to 1768 when Jukes Coulson was listed in the first London Directory as ‘Iron Merchants’.  

Jukes Coulson I (1751-1794) was a leading London ironmonger and iron merchant.  His nephew, Jukes Coulson II (1779-1854), next operated Jukes Coulson & Co, export ironmongers, at St Clement’s Lane, London.  He was joined by his eldest son, Jukes Coulson III (1800-1858).   By the 1840s, the former had retired to Clifton, where he died on 24 May 1854.  By the 1850s, Jukes Coulson & Co had additional offices in Birmingham and Change Alley, Sheffield.  In 1860, the firm was a general hardware merchant at Queen’s Steel Works in Holly Street, Sheffield (besides London and Birmingham).  The Sheffield arm of the business exported trade knives (known as buffalo or chief’s knives) to North American fur companies (such as the Hudson’s Bay Co), trappers, and Native Americans.  During the 1860s, Thomas Newton Stokes (c.1818-1883) became manager of the parent company, and by 1870 he was a partner in the business and it changed its name to Jukes Coulson, Stokes & Co. 

1874: Jukes Coulson, Stokes & Co, Engineers, Iron Bridge Builders, Iron Girder Manufacturers.  11 and 12 Clement’s Lane, Lombard Street EC, London; St. Leonard’s iron works, Bromley-by-Bow, E. London; 7 St. Mary’s Row, Birmingham, and 3 Carver Street, Sheffield.

The London business grew steadily through exporting hardware and ironmongery via the nearby London docks, and moved to Plaistow, East London in 1908 to focus on the manufacture of large welded steel fabrications and welded drums.

Later history of the company:  The first contract for manufacture of hose-clips was received in 1946, which grew to the point that welded steel fabrications were phased out completely by 1960 in favour of hose-clip production.  The business moved from East London to a purpose-built 44,000 sq. ft. factory in Sudbury, Suffolk in 1973 and is still in the business of producing specialist hose-clips today.  The company retains a link to its past in its current name of ‘JCS Hi-Torque Limited,’ the JCS standing for Jukes Coulson Stokes.