N Wild & Sons Ltd

William St and Old Broom Ln, Haughton
Prior to its incorporation as a limited company, trading as N Wild & Sons Ltd, this firm of hat manufacturers was comprised of complex partnerships within the Wild family. It was founded under the style of Wild Brothers, the brothers being Elijah Wild, Nathan Wild Sr and Charles Wild who were the sons of Robert Wild, a shopkeeper, and his wife Elizabeth of Broom Ln, Haughton. On the 4 November 1867 this partnership was dissolved when Charles Wild resigned from the business.

Elijah Wild and Nathan Wild Sr carried on the business on their own account under the name of N & E Wild. On the 17 Nov 1869 this partnership was dissolved when Elijah Wild resigned from the business.

Nathan Wild Sr carried on the business on his own account and subsequently this became Nathan Wild & Sons. Nathan Wild Sr died in 1881, aged 62 years, but the business was restructured and the new partners were Samuel James Wild, George Wild, Caroline Elizabeth Wild, Alfred Wild and Fred Wild. On this occasion the company name was unaffected.

On the 31 Mar 1896 this partnership was dissolved when Fred Wild retired. The business carried on under the same company name. Samuel James Wild died in 1902, aged 58 years, and was replaced by Nathan Wild Jr.

On the 30 Oct 1912 the partnership of George Wild, Caroline Elizabeth Wild, Alfred Wild and Nathan Wild Jr was dissolved when George Wild and Caroline Elizabeth Wild resigned from the business. The business carried on with Alfred Wild and Nathan Wild Jr as partners. At some point after 1912 the business was incorporated as a limited company trading as N Wild & Sons Ltd.

The company occupied two works situated on William St and Old Broom Ln, respectively. Both places were originally in the township of Haughton but on the 4 Dec 1894 they became part of the township of Denton. The company Registered Office was at the William Street Works and the Old Broom Lane works was originally occupied by William Wilson & Sons (William was the father of Joseph Wilson of Joseph Wilson & Sons, Wilton St, Denton).

The William Street Works was known as the 'dry end' (also known as the 'bottom end' or 'finished end') because this is where the hat manufacturing process was completed. Here the hoods were blocked to the required shape, following which the hat brims were formed and finally they were pressed and trimmed.

The Old Broom Lane Works was known as the 'wet end' because this is where the hat manufacturing process commenced. The first stage was the manufacture of 'bats', which were then made into hoods in a wet process called 'planking'. Next, the hoods were proofed and dyed.

Slater's Trade Directory for 1903 records that the William Street Works was occupied by N Wild & Sons Ltd and that the Old Broom Lane Works was still occupied by William Wilson & Sons, hat manufacturers. Nonetheless, trade directories for 1909 and 1911 record that both works were then occupied by N Wild & Sons Ltd. Additionally, it was recorded that part of the William Street Works was occupied by Joseph Thomas, a rope manufacturer. The list of British felt hat manufacturers for 1945 records that N Wild & Sons Ltd was still in business at both the William Street Works and Old Broom Lane Works.

In conclusion, a company meeting held at the Registered Office on the 26 Jun 1956 passed a resolution to voluntarily wind up the company. A director of the company at this time was Henry Stenton Wild.

Both works were demolished between 1978 and 1981 to make way for the construction of the M67 motorway. William St and Old Broom Ln were also destroyed with the exception of a short length of the latter adjoining the Lowe's Arms public house.

William Street Works, 1978. This works was situated on the south side of the street between Cricket St and Broom Grove Ln.	William Street Works, 1978.
William Street Works, 1978. This view of the works shows that some demolition work has commenced prior to the construction of the M67 motorway.	Old Broom Lane Works, c.1965. This works was situated on the north side of the lane and this view is looking westwards towards Hyde Rd. Prior to the opening of the turnpike road in 1818, Old Broom Ln was part of the main road between Denton and Hyde then known as Broom Ln.
	A 2⅔d trade token issued by Nathan Wild & Sons. Trade tokens were used instead of coins of the realm and they were issued by companies to employees as payment. There were problems of convertibility to coins of the realm and their use was mainly restricted in circulation to their own localities or even to company shops. Local shopkeepers who did take them used sorting boxes to store an assortment of tokens, arranging them by the names of the companies that issued them.