Patons and Baldwins

Patons and Baldwins was a leading British manufacturer of knitting yarn. It was an original constituent of the FT 30 index of leading companies on the London Stock Exchange.HistoryThe business began as two separate companies: J & J Baldwin and Partners, founded in the late 1770s by James Baldwin of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, and John Paton Son and Co., founded in 1814 by John Paton of Alloa, Scotland. Both men had formed their businesses using the spinning mule developed by Samuel Crompton. They mainly produced yarns for commercial knitting machines.The Paton family were regarded as generous benefactors in the town of Alloa, where they provided funding for a significant range of public building projects, including the town hall, public libraries, a school, a swimming pool, and a gymnasium.The two companies merged in 1920 and diversified into producing wool for home knitters, as well as publishing knitting patterns under the "Patons Rose" and "Baldwins Beehive" trademarks.By the mid-1930s, the company had establishments across Scotland and Northern England, including factories at Billingham and Jarrow, as well as in Canada, New Zealand, and a large factory in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. The company branched out into various related lines of business, including the running of an angora rabbit farm in Staffordshire between 1932 and 1934, and the development of new products such as nylon and Terylene.