Corporate Overseal; Wilkes and Kettle; grocers and cheese factors DS/UK/P/1769 Wilkes and Kettle grocers and cheese factors Overseal

The Wilkes family were established in Overseal as grocers and cheese factors from the time of Joseph Wilkes II (1698-1776). His sons, Joseph Wilkes III (1733-1805), John (1728-1790) and Thomas (1745-1795) were also cheese factors and partners in the syndicate. After 1762, the obtained the lease of the Trent Navigation which linked Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, with river and canal wharves throughout the region, thus enhancing trade opportunities. The role of cheese factors was to act as agents on behalf of London cheesemongers and to obtain for them the highest quality cheese from local markets, fairs and farms. Thomas Wilkes was joined in his cheese business by John Kettle senior from c.1790-c.1799 and by John Kettle junior and Joseph Francis, all of Overseal, between 1799-1805. In 1780 Joseph Wilkes III founded a bank in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, to be followed by similar establishments in Buxton, Staffordshire, Measham and Overseal. His nephew Joseph Pycroft became a partner in the Burton bank until about 1800, when it became known as Wilkes and Hill’s bank. Yes International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Derbyshire Record Office Collections Manual Section 7 v5.1 (May 2020) DERBYSHIRE\a7005277 31/12/2021 85736539-d0f8-41b9-bedf-90ea923f4801