Bradbury Wilkinson & Co were an English engraver and

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s and

share certificate In corporate law, a stock certificate (also known as certificate of stock or share certificate) is a legal document that certifies the legal interest (a bundle of several legal rights) of ownership of a specific number of shares (or, under Ar ...

History

The original company was established in the 1850s by

Henry Bradbury Henry Riley Bradbury (20 September 1829 Wingrove Place, Clerkenwell – 1860) was an English writer on printing. Works Bradbury is known for his book ''The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland'' with author Thomas Moore and editor John Lindley pub ...

and begun printing banknotes in 1856. Bradbury then died in 1860. In 1873–74, the firm built an imposing six-storey workshop, for engraving printing plates, in

Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...

, London at 25 and 27 Farringdon Road, which is now a Grade II-listed building. The company printed the first series of the

Imperial Bank of Persia The Imperial Bank of Persia ( fa, بانک شاهنشاهی ایران‎, Bank-e Šâhanšâhi-ye Irân) was a British bank that operated as the state bank and bank of issue in Iran (formerly known as Persia until 1935) between 1889 and 1929. I ...

banknotes that were issued in 1890. In 1903, the company was acquired by the

American Bank Note Company ABCorp is an American corporation providing contract manufacturing and related services to the authentication, payment and secure access business sectors. Its history dates back to 1795 as a secure engraver and printer, and assisting the newl ...

. In 1917, it moved to

New Malden New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located mainly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Raynes ...

in Surrey still operating as Bradbury-Wilkinson as a wholly owned subsidiary of ABNC. In 1983, Bradbury Wilkinson created a form of

polymer banknote Polymer banknotes are banknotes made from a synthetic polymer such as biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP). Such notes incorporate many security features not available in paper banknotes, including the use of metameric inks. Polymer banknote ...

using Du Pont's

Tyvek Tyvek () is a brand of synthetic flashspun high-density polyethylene fibers. The name "Tyvek" is a registered trademark of the American multinational chemical company DuPont, which discovered and commercialized Tyvek in the late 1950s and early ...

material; this was marketed as

Bradvek Bradvek was a form of Tyvek polymer, produced by DuPont. It was used for printing one of the first polymer banknotes in 1983 for the Isle of Man by the American Banknote Company. See also *Bradbury Wilkinson and Company Bradbury Wilkinson & Co ...

and used to print 1-pound banknotes for the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. In 1986 the company was acquired by

De La Rue De La Rue plc (, ) is a British company headquartered in Basingstoke, England, that designs and produces banknotes, secure polymer substrate and banknote security features (including security holograms, security threads and security printe ...

. The site is now occupied by the Shannon Corner

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

supermarket. The last Bradbury Wilkinson plant was shut down by

in 1990. In 2015 a

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

50 rupee banknote (worth £2.50 or $4), originally issued between 1968 and 1973, featuring

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

and covertly depicting the word "

sex Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones ( ova, of ...

", was sold at auction in the UK for £336 (around $500). Many think Bradbury Wilkinson's engraver Brian Fox put it in. Centenario de la Declaración de Independencia de México

Centenario de la Declaración de Independencia de México

References

* * {{cite book , last=Byatt , first=Derrick , date=1994 , title=Promises to Pay: First Three Hundred Years of Bank of England Notes , url= , location= , publisher=Spink & Son Ltd , page= , isbn=978-0907605508 Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Bradbury Currency designers Banknote printing companies