Loading ...Wellington Boots by Hunter
In the middle of the nineteenth century American Henry Lee Norris upped sticks and moved to Scotland on a quest to find somewhere suitable for the production of rubber footwear an innovation which had taken off in America. This was the birth of the Hunter Wellington Boot.
Vulcanization off rubber had recently been patented in England however no patent existed in Scotland, Norris patented the process with the aim of manufacturing rubber Wellington boots.
Norris purchased the Castle Silk Mills in Edinburgh, and registered the North British Rubber Company in September 1856.
Norris’s first four employees were hired in New York and along with the machinery required for production they were imported to Scotland. They were employed not only to make the boots, but also to instruct others in the process.
In the early days as well as manufacturing of rubber boots and shoes, other rubber products were produced including tyres, conveyor belts and golf balls.
The company really took off during World War I when they secured a war office contract to manufacture trench boots, in total, 1,185,036 pairs were made to cope with the Army’s demands.
World War II brought further military contracts and the Army were supplied with not only Wellington Boots but also many other items including ground sheets, life belts, bomb covers and gas masks.
After the War the company extended their manufacturing premises acquiring a factory in Dumfriesshire. This factory, known as Heathhall, had been built in 1912 originally to manufacture car and aeronautical engines.
The Green Hunter and Royal Hunter Wellingtons were introduced into the market in 1958. Initially trade reaction was extremely slow, an order of three dozen pairs was regarded as a very good. The company however persevered in their promotion taking them to county shows.
In 1966, The North British Rubber Company re-branded as Uniroyal Limited. In the late 1970’s they sold off the tyre and golf ball businesses.
The Gates Rubber Company Limited of Colorado, Denver bought Uniroyal in 1986 and a year later the name of the Scottish company was changed to The Gates Rubber Company Ltd. In 1996 Gates was bought by Tomkins PLC of London and then later Hunter became the Hunter Division of Interfloor.
In 2004 management buyout of the Hunter Division of Interfloor, saw the company renamed the Hunter Rubber Co. Ltd.
In 2006 the ownership of the company changed again and it now trades as Hunter Boot Limited.
Today the Hunter wellington has become a highly desirable designer boot, this has caused a massive upturn in demand with distributors now purchasing thousands of pairs at a time this is a long way from the three dozen pair orders of 1958.
You can see some of today’s range of Hunter Wellington Boots on the Fashion Exclusives website.
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