This set is not as simple as it might appear, as you can tell from the listing in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes - which reads as follows :
FLAGS AND FLAGS WITH SOLDIERS (A). Sm. 67-69 x 37-39. Unnd. See H.41
A. Flagstaff draped at top with bow, cord, etc.
(a) First printing. (30). Small captions, 1 m/m high
(b) Second printing. (15). Larger captions, about 1 ½ m/m high.
2. Flagstaff without bow, cord, etc. (15). Flags only.
Pritchard & Burton seem to have not agreed with titling their sets and every single one of the nine they issued is followed by (A) which means the title we use today was `adopted` by early cartophilists as a means of recognition. So maybe this was two, or three sets after all, and we will never know.
In addition, every set they issued was also released by another maker, this set by many makers, which are listed in the handbook under H.41, as.
Tobacco:
- Anonymous (a - 30)
- Biggs (a - 30) [1903]
- Charlesworth & Austin (a – 30) [1903]
- Hill (a – 30) [1901]
- Rutter (b – 15) [1901]
Trade:
- Edmondson (b – 15) [1905]
- Pascall (b – 15) [1905]
For some reason only Pritchard & Burton released both the first and second version, and they also issued the second grouping too, the one with the unadorned flagpole. That too was also issued by others, namely
Tobacco:
- Anonymous
- Rutter - with either a white or cream back,
Trade :
- Edmondson
- Pascall
As far as the company themselves, little is known. Our Directory of British Cigarette Card Issuers, RB.7 issued in 1946, lists them as :
Present address : Victoria Road, Acton, London N.W.10.
Founded 1840.
Card issues were sponsored from 1 Farringdon Road, London E.C. before move took place; first made cigarettes 1885.
No card issues made since 1922.
“Cornstalk”, “Hearts Delight”, “Tally Ho”, “Piper”, “The Piper” etc.
A little research finds that the company that became Pritchard and Burton was founded by a Welshman, Edward Pritchard. He was a tobacconist, trading out of premises in Snow Hill, King Street, London. Pritchard had just lost his business partner, the Lloyd half of Pritchard and Lloyd, who were cited as the curiously charming "Snuff Manufacturers and Segar Merchants". They had been founded in 1825. After the death of Mr. Lloyd it seems that Mr. Pritchard was able to keep the company going, and that it made money, enough to hire a clerk.
This clerk was Alfred Burton, who started working for him in the mid 1840s. This does seem to support the date of 1840 as far as Mr. Pritchard starting a company on his own, though it was not called Pritchard and Burton until about ten years later, when Mr. Burton became involved with Mr. Pritchard`s niece and asked for her hand in marriage. This must have worked out because in 1857 the two men became partners in a new company called Pritchard and Burton.
Sadly Mr. Pritchard died in 1869, and Mr. Burton was left in charge of the entire company. At this time the head office was still at Snow Hill, but in 1870 it had to close because the entire area was bought up in order to build the new Metropolitan Railway. The new premises were at No.1 Farringdon Road.
Mr. Burton seems to have managed all these changes, and the company, well, though he was known to be a bit of an entrepreneur and made many investments across the globe that others thought risky. He also strengthened the company by bringing his two sons on board as they came of age, Edward Burton in 1878 and Frank Burton in 1881.
In 1902 they held firm against the Imperial Tobacco Company and would not join, It is recorded that they were steadfast in this and always believed that they did right for their company. However it is often stated that they were similarly opposed to the cigarette, and stayed with pipe tobacco alone. This is quite incorrect as on the back of our card it clearly lists cigarette brands. The brands listed in our Directory above are :
- “Cornstalk” - we know that at least during the Boer War this packet was very popular for it showed a soldier in a slouch hat and a bandolier across his shoulder.
- “Hearts Delight” - described on the back of our card as "The Best Penny Packets"
- “Tally Ho” - described on the back of our card as "Twelve superb Virginia Cigarettes for 3d."
- “Piper” - described on the back of our card as "Ten special cigarettes for 2d."
- The Piper” (surely this is a repeat of the above?)
Oddly this list does not mention their most popular brands, which was "Boar's Head Shag", a blended mix made primarily with raw leaf tobacco from East India. This was not only a brand though, because when they registered the company in 1870 they took "The Boar`s Head" as their trade mark/logo.
In the 1930s they moved from Farringdon Road to a new factory in Victoria Road in Acton, West London.
During the Second World War the company was taken over by George Dobie and Son Limited of Scotland. I am not sure why, as he was obviously not interested in it, and within the year he had sold the name, goods, and chattels to Godfrey Phillips. They kept it until the late 1960s, the Acton premises being closed down in 1968, after which Phillip Morris acquired it, making it a division of their company, and then relocating it to Commercial Street in East London in the early 1970s. There was still a Mr. Burton on the board until the 1980s.