2010/81/1

This is a cardboard box with a hinged lid containing Serpent lead labels. They are from an assorted selection of lead labels used in conjunction with the No. 3S ‘Serpent’ label printing machine, dating from circa 1950. Serpent, the manufacturer of the label printer, was owned by Suttons Seeds and the labels were used on its premises. The labels are part of a large collection of objects relating to Suttons Seeds Ltd., as well as other rural artefacts, compiled by John Cox, who worked at Suttons from 1931 to 1976, starting as an office boy and finishing as Company Secretary.

MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – ‘Associated information: This item was part of a large collection of Suttons Seeds related objects and other rural artefacts collected by the late John Cox. Mr Cox was company secretary at Suttons 1968–1976. He started at Suttons in 1931. The collections he amassed were sorted by his daughters, Bridget and Katherine, following his death. The Museum agreed to purchase a number of objects, which were then identified and assessed with the help of Gerry Westall and Ron Butler (MERL volunteers and former colleagues of Mr Cox).’, 2010/81/1 Box with hinged lid, Serpent labels. 2010/80/2 Envelope with Type 7B labels. 2010/80/3 Type 7B sample ‘Dianthus Neglectus’. 2010/80/4 Adhesive paste tube. 2010/80/5 Serpent label blanks, wrapped 12 x 5 1/2”. 2010/80/6 Serpent label blanks, wrapped blue pack (thin) 25 x 5 1/2”. 2010/80/7 Serpent label blanks, wrapped red pack (thick) 50 x 5 1/2”. 2010/80/8 Serpent label blanks, wrapped red pack (thick) 50 x 9”. 2010/80/9.1 Loose label, trial text ‘Do Not Press Handle Right Down for Letters XY’. 2010/80/9.2 Loose label, trial text ‘Sutton and Sons Ltd., John Marshall’. 2010/80/9.3 Loos label, trial text ‘A Good Ledger Clerk’., MERL miscellaneous note, Greta Bertram, 2 August 2012 – Suttons Seeds Ltd. was founded in 1806 by John Sutton (1777–1863) and traded as a corn merchant. It was known as the ‘House of Sutton’ and had premises on King Street, Reading. John’s two sons joined the business in 1832 and in 1836 it was renamed ‘Sutton & Son’. In 1837 the company moved to the Market Place, Reading, and expanded into seeds and acquired nursery grounds in Queens Road, Reading. In 1840 they established a testing laboratory and in 1873 new buildings replaced those in Market Place. These included various offices, separate store rooms for different types of seeds and bulbs, recreation rooms, residences and a fire station. In 1962 Suttons moved to new grounds and premises on the eastern outskirts of Reading, before moving to Torquay, Devon, in 1976 and then Paington, Devon, in 1998.