Harrison & Sons

Harrison & Sons
Name	Harrison & Sons
Founded	1750 (as a printing business)
Founder	John Harrison (printer) (disputed)
Fate	Acquired by De La Rue in 1997; operations integrated and later closed
Headquarters	High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England
Products	Postage stamps, banknotes, security printing, philatelic items
Industry	Printing, security printing

Harrison & Sons was a British security printing firm renowned for producing postage stamps, banknotes, and philatelic materials for national postal authorities, central banks, and royal households. Over more than two centuries the firm supplied commissions across the British Empire, Commonwealth, and international clients, working alongside institutions, governments, and state printers. Its work intersected with notable printers, printers' guilds, monarchies, and colonial administrations, becoming a key supplier to agencies such as the Royal Mail and various central banks.

History

The company traces its origins to 18th-century English provincial printing workshops associated with the printing trades in London, Birmingham, and High Wycombe, later consolidating as a family firm. During the 19th century Harrison & Sons expanded into security printing amid demand from the British East India Company, colonial administrations such as Australia and Canada, and postal reforms associated with figures like Rowland Hill. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the firm produced stamps and related materials for imperial governments, participating in events that involved the Second Boer War, the Coronation of Edward VII, and the bureaucratic expansions of the Victorian era.

In the interwar period Harrison & Sons took contracts from dominion governments including New Zealand and South Africa while competing with firms such as De La Rue and Bradbury Wilkinson. During World War II the firm’s security expertise intersected with wartime needs overseen by ministries such as the Ministry of Supply and institutions like the Bank of England. Postwar decolonisation created new nation-states — including Ghana, Malaya, and Cyprus — which commissioned stamps and currency from established printers, keeping Harrison & Sons prominent through the 1950s–1970s. Corporate consolidation in the late 20th century led to its acquisition by De La Rue in 1997, after which many operations were absorbed or phased out.

Products and Services

Harrison & Sons specialized in intaglio, gravure, and letterpress printing for philatelic, numismatic, and security clients. Its catalogue included postage stamps for national postal services such as Royal Mail and colonial posts in India, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago; banknotes for central banks like the Reserve Bank of New Zealand; revenue stamps for fiscal administrations; and postal stationery for postal authorities. The firm also produced commemorative issues tied to events including the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, royal tours by Queen Elizabeth II, and jubilees related to the British monarchy.

Beyond stamps and banknotes, Harrison & Sons supplied philatelic souvenirs, first day covers, specimen sheets for museums such as the British Museum and collectors’ societies like the Royal Philatelic Society London. They provided design collaboration with artists and engravers linked to institutions including the Royal Academy of Arts and worked with portraitists whose sitters included members of the House of Windsor.

Notable Commissions and Contracts

Significant commissions included postage stamps for Australia in transitional periods, definitive series for Canada-era administrations, and issues for newly independent states such as Ghana and Nigeria. The firm produced key British issues associated with royal events—coronation issues, commemorative stamps for state visits involving figures such as Winston Churchill, and special issues for the Commonwealth Games and World Fairs like the Festival of Britain.

Harrison & Sons manufactured banknotes and security papers for national treasuries and central banks, collaborating with the Bank of England on wartime emergency printing and with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand on series requiring complex anti-counterfeiting features. The company fulfilled diplomatic and ceremonial commissions for government ministries and royal households, and produced bespoke items for exhibitions at venues such as the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Technology and Innovations

The firm adopted and refined printing technologies including line engraving, photogravure, and intaglio to meet anti-counterfeiting standards set by international standards bodies and central banks. Harrison & Sons implemented multi-colour gravure processes employed by contemporaries like Bradbury Wilkinson and incorporated watermarks, security threads, and microprinting techniques promoted in standards discussions involving organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization and central banking networks.

In stamp production the company advanced printing registration and perforation accuracy, utilized rotary press developments pioneered in 19th-century England, and integrated photographic reproduction techniques that aligned with practices at institutions like the British Library and the Science Museum. Technical collaborations with engravers, chemists, and paper manufacturers sustained innovations in inks and substrates suitable for long-term archival collections.

Corporate Structure and Ownership

Originally a family-owned enterprise, the firm’s governance reflected proprietorial lineages common to British printing houses, with boards and managing directors drawn from the printing trade and professional associations such as the Stationers' Company. Throughout the 20th century Harrison & Sons entered commercial arrangements and competitive tendering with state entities including the Post Office and central banks. Strategic competition and consolidation in the security printing sector brought mergers and acquisitions involving major firms like De La Rue; these market dynamics culminated in Harrison & Sons’ acquisition by De La Rue in 1997.

Legacy and Closure

The firm’s legacy endures in philatelic collections at institutions like the British Library Philatelic Collections and in numismatic archives maintained by the Museum of London and national museums across the Commonwealth. Harrison & Sons’ stamps and banknotes remain studied by philatelists, historians of printing, and conservators connected to organizations such as the International Federation of Philately. After integration into De La Rue many former sites were repurposed or closed; the company’s archival plates, proofs, and specimen sheets survive in public and private collections, informing research into imperial communications, state symbolism, and the history of security printing.

Category:Printing companies of the United Kingdom Category:Philately Category:Banknote printers