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The Zair name was kept alive and the whips continued to be made in
Birmingham, as well as some other Swaine & Adeney leather goods. The making of whips for other companies and outlets also continued. The premises on Bishop Street remained in the ownership of George Percy and his mother and were
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Besides quality gift and presentation whips, the firm made more utilitarian whips in vast numbers for sale at home and abroad. Whips were made to meet the requirements and climates of their customers. Whips with flywhisks were popular in countries where flying insects were a nuisance. Long stock
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George Percy Zair took over running the firm after his father died in 1914. Having successfully steered the firm through the war, he incorporated the firm as G. & J. Zair Ltd in 1924. By the end of 1926 he and his widowed mother, who between them held most of the shares, decided to sell the
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whips were essential for the cattle ranchers of South
America and Australia. Whips conforming to the differing regulations of equine sports in various countries were also made. The firm's success at the world's fairs in Sydney and Melbourne reflected its concern to meet local needs.
179:, Suffolk. He leased it to G. & J. Zair until 1965, when Swaine, Adeney, Brigg & Sons Ltd took the decision to concentrate their manufacturing at their new Great Chesterford factory in Essex. At that point the use of the Zair name was discontinued.
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John Zair Jr went to
Melbourne to assess the market for himself. There he learnt the benefits of kangaroo skin that was to become one of the firm's most important leathers. The trade-mark of the kangaroo holding a whip was registered soon afterwards.
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His two sons George and John Jr would later take over the business and become the G. and the J. of the company name. They had their own factory built in Bishop Street, possibly based on drawings by the
Birmingham firm of architects and surveyors,
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152:, who managed the building's affairs well into the twentieth century. When John Zair Jr retired in 1893, George carried on with the assistance of his son George Percy.
137:. Recorded still in the 1841 census as whip-maker, he was by 1849 trading from 280 Great Colmore Street as a "manufacturer of every description of whips".
199:, saddler of Birmingham. The firm also made whips branded for retailers abroad such as Greatrex of Johannesburg and Kopf Manufacturing Company of New York.
167:. George Percy stayed on as manager of the Birmingham factory with an annual salary and a share bonus and became a director of Swaine & Adeney Ltd.
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Zair also manufactured whips for local companies to sell abroad under their own names, such as Brace, Windle & Blyth, saddlers of
Walsall;
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John Zair (c. 1809–1881); George Zair (1839–1914); John Zair Jr (c. 1842–retired in 1893); George Percy Zair (1877–retired in 1947)
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of 1837 John Zair is listed as a whip-maker trading at 8 Exeter Row, Birmingham, in the heart of the manufacturing quarter by
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and was an annual subscriber to the Lying-In
Hospital and the Eye and Ear Dispensary and made donations to good causes.
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Cork
Industrial Exhibition, 1883: Report of Executive Committee, Awards of Jurors, Statement of Accounts
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leased out to the new parent company. On George Percy's retirement in 1947 the building was sold to
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were independent whip-makers founded in the 1830s in
Birmingham until they were bought by
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267:, Staffordhire, but in the 1861 census, his place of birth is given as Birmingham. See
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John Zair was something of a philanthropist: he served as governor of the
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A significant body of company records for G. & J. Zair is held by
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Manufacturing companies based in
Birmingham, West Midlands
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The silver mark of "G&J.Z." was registered with the
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230:: "medal for whips well finished and turned out"
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263:Prior suggests that he was probably born in
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320:Prior, Katherine, with many photographs by
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246:Merle & Co. (from around 1898 onwards)
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240:Stag's head (in use since at least 1870)
216:: wins first special prize for its whips
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243:Kangaroo holding a whip (from c. 1880)
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221:Melbourne International Exhibition
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223:: wins first prize for its whips
214:Sydney International Exhibition
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131:Pigot's Commercial Directory
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228:Cork Industrial Exhibition
363:Horse tack and equipment
165:Swaine & Adeney Ltd
157:Birmingham Assay Office
150:James & Lister Lea
207:and other exhibitions
173:Sir Robert Gooch, Bt
309:Birmingham Archives
119:Swaine & Adeney
106:Swaine Adeney Brigg
62:Swaine Adeney Brigg
51:Swaine & Adeney
33:1830s in Birmingham
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197:William Middlemore
340:978-1-898565-09-3
303:Archival material
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142:Queen's Hospital
135:Gas Street Basin
115:G. & J. Zair
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17:G. & J. Zair
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315:Further reading
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68:Headquarters
49:Acquired by
235:Trade-marks
163:company to
108:(from 1927)
95:Whip-makers
357:Categories
311:(MS 160).
203:Awards at
159:in 1884.
83:Key people
72:Birmingham
347:815728722
295:, p. 402.
121:in 1927.
58:Successor
41:John Zair
324:(2012).
283:, p. 88.
271:, p. 84.
92:Products
22:Industry
265:Gnosall
125:History
53:in 1927
38:Founder
30:Founded
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183:Output
101:Parent
251:Notes
226:1883
219:1880
212:1879
343:OCLC
336:ISBN
46:Fate
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175:of
129:In
359::
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