Here we have The Derbyshire Yeomanry, first raised in 1794, under the name of The Derbyshire Corps of Fencible Cavalry. At which point we had better explain that "fencible" is short for "defencible”, which means "to defend", whether that be the local area, the county, or the British Isles. And that "Yeomanry" actually means "young man", but seems to have come to mean "of farm or rural stock", able to ride a horse, and strong enough to lug farm, hence military equipment. And they did start out as a mounted cavalry regiment, very quickly changing their name by swopping out the "fencible" bit for "Yeomanry". A few more name changes followed, but, curiously, given the date of our card, it was only from 1908 that they took the title of the Derbyshire Yeomanry alone, at which time they became part of the Territorial Forces; in 1902, the date of this card, they were still known as the Derbyshire Imperial Yeomanry.
Like all cavalry regiments, they would eventually move into mechanised transport. This began in the closing days of the First World War, and they started the 1920s as part of the Tank Corps, moving in as part of the Royal Armoured Corps for the Second World War. Then in 1957 they were merged with the Leicestershire Yeomanry, becoming The Leicestershire and Derbyshire (Prince Albert`s Own) Yeomanry in the late 1950s.
Now there seems to be a hidden story with this issuer, W. H. and J. Woods, so if we have a specialist please feel free to join in and clear our clouds.
One of those misty memories, from which the fog is lifting fast, is that the firm of W. H. and J. Woods was founded in the early 1800s in Preston, by a man called John Woods. He had a factory in Derby Street, nicely giving a second link to this week`s theme, so was a tobacco manufacturer as well as a retailer. Then he died, and his sons William Henry and John (junior) took over. They had a keen eye for business and under their management it grew to be one of the biggest tobacco empires in the North West of England.
Now lets debunk some of those myths, starting with John Woods. And the first problem is that he would have been insufficient to have his business be called W.H. and J. Woods, unless he took a very elusive partner called W.H. However if you look again at his sons, William Henry and John (junior), these initials are perfect. And our Directory of British Issuers clearly states that W.H. and J. Woods were founded in 1900, not 1800.
So was there an earlier firm run by J. Woods that we have yet to find? This seems very likely, because there are hints online that a company called Woods` Tobacco was either founded, or moved to a new premises in the 1830s.
This brings the shop premises aboard, for we know that the shop, in Derby Street, was opened in the 1830s. Perhaps it was moved to be nearer the factory. In any event the shop was extraordinarily long-lived, outlasting even Derby Street, which was renamed to Church Street at some stage. It only closed in 1978.
Then there is another spot of confusion, because in 1892 John Woods (junior) is recorded to have died. This may be true, or it may be John Woods (senior) which would fit in with the Directory of British Issuers and the founding and name changing to the two sons` initials.
Anyway these cards are not confusing at all. They are catalogued in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes as "TYPES OF VOLUNTEERS AND YEOMANRY (A). Sm. 67 x 35. Unnd (25). See H.455". The H. reference sends us to the handbook, where, because the cards are unnumbered, the titles are listed. And because I looked there I can tell you that in 1950 the cards were being retailed by The London Cigarette Card Company at between 10/- and 30/- each, or for £35 a set.
And looking that amount up online I am told that £35 in 1950 is worth £1,534.43 today.
The cards were issued in 1902, and their backs, though purely advertising rather than descriptive text, are so charming. They also mention two of their brands, "Goshen Navy Cut" and "Purple Heather Cigarettes, in tins, 10 for 3d." And then there is that wistfully evocative statement, "as good as they are beautiful".
Of the other recorded Woods` brands, we know of "Goschen Navy Cut", "Perfection Flake", "Purple Heather Mixture", "Devona Flake", "Virginia Brown Flake", "Too Good Gold Flake" and "Woods Famous Preston Twist", which were all tobaccos. The cigarettes were "Denver Juniors", and, from the back of this card we know that "Purple Heather" was sold in cigarette form too.
We are not yet sure whether their "Crown", "Denver Strips" or "Wavey Stripe [or maybe Strips]" were cigarettes or tobacco.. Maybe you do? If so tell us.
Despite all these brands, just desperate to issue cards, and beautiful cards they would have been too, absolutely nothing happened, and no more cards appeared.
Now what happened then is unknown. The next thing we hear is that in 1934 they were "taken over" by Woods Tobacco Dealers (Preston) Ltd. Now some collectors will tell you that at this point they issued three sets of cards in fairly quick succession. The problem is that the first of these sets, "Romance of the Royal Mail", was issued in 1931, and then the following year they issued "Aesop`s Fables", the black and white version of the Anstie set. After that there was another gap, until 1936, when they issued a set of black and white photographic "Modern Motor Cars". On all of these sets the address is only "Preston", though they do describe themselves as being Tobacco and Cigarette Manufacturers, so the factory must have been still there.
What happened after that remains to be discovered !