henry wood headquarters leicester uk area served uk products clothing owner john hargreaves website http www.wolsey.com wolsey is a heritage british clothing brand founded in 1755 making it one of the oldest existing textile companies in the world . the brand sells men s clothing and accessories including a range of knitwear socks underwear and scarves . the company holds a royal warrant and is based in leicester england where it was originally established . 1 the company name adopted in 1920 when r walker & sons merged with w tyler and sons is a reference to cardinal wolsey . wolsey is a registered trademark . 2 contents 1 history 2 products 3 references 4 external links history edit celebrating the 250th anniversary the earliest records relating to the wolsey business show that henry wood was trading in leicester as a hosier in 1744 . several years later in 1748 he went into partnership with a man named job middleton and they were later joined by john wrightman in 1750 . around 1755 henry wood dissolved the partnership as he wished to start his own business . wood died in 1768 and the business was carried on by his widow and later by his sons and grandsons under the name of ann wood & sons . in 1842 after the retirement of the last wood family member the name was changed to r walker & sons . in 1920 r walker & sons merged with w tyler and sons . as the business was situated near to leicester abbey the burial place of cardinal wolsey the business established the trading name of wolsey and as such became one of the first brand names . the company began to trade directly with retailers rather than through a wholesale network the standard business pattern at the time . it also employed travelling salesmen to service retail accounts and advertised its products across the world . as a result wolsey became a household name and in 1935 the company was awarded its first royal warrant . in the 1960s the company was forced to seek a merger as a result of massive changes in the retail world and became part of courtaulds . after leaving the courtauld group the company was taken over by the matalan group in 2002 . 3 fergus patterson was appointed managing director in january 2009 . 4 products edit the company mainly manufactures menswear clothing such as underwear socks knitwear and shirts . 4 references edit wolsey ltd . www.rwha.co.uk . retrieved 28 june 2009 . dictionary of trade name origins google books . books.google.co.uk . retrieved 28 june 2009 . cope nigel 25 april 2002 . matalan to make men s underwear in wolsey deal business news business the independent . london www.independent.co.uk . retrieved 28 june 2009 . a b wolsey role for patterson . www.drapersonline.com . retrieved 28 june 2009 . further reading bramwell g rudd courtaulds and the hosiery & knitwear industry carnegie publishing ltd 2014 isbn softback 978 1 905472 06 2 hardback 978 1 905472 18 5 external links edit official website v t e selected royal warrant holders of the british royal family by appointment to hm the queen abels moving services ainsworths angostura limited akzonobel autoglym axminster carpets bendicks bentley motors bollinger britvic bt burberry cadbury carphone warehouse castrol charbonnel et walker daks dhl express dorma ede & ravenscroft fortnum & mason frank smythson gieves & hawkes h. p. bulmer henry poole & co j. barbour and sons james purdey and sons jaguar cars john lewis john lobb land rover louis roederer mappin & webb martini & rossi minky molton brown mo t & chandon nestl procter & gamble uk richer sounds roberts radio ryvita schweppes spode steinway & sons tanqueray twinings unilever uk vauxhall motors veuve clicquot ponsardin waitrose weetabix wilkin & sons william drake wolsey worcestershire medal service by appointment to hrh the duke of edinburgh boots opticians daks ede & ravenscroft frank smythson gieves & hawkes hatchards holland & holland j. barbour and sons james purdey and sons john lobb land rover lyle & scott penhaligon s truefitt & hill by appointment to hrh the prince of wales ainsworths aston martin autoglym bentley motors burberry crabtree & evelyn daks ede & ravenscroft frank smythson gieves & hawkes holland & holland j. barbour and sons jaguar cars james purdey and sons john lobb land rover laphroaig linn products minky penhaligon s peter jones ritz hotel roberts radio shepherd neame taylors of harrogate turnbull & asser vauxhall motors waitrose weetabix winsor & newton category commons retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wolsey clothing & oldid 738183258 categories 1755 establishmentstextile manufacturers of the united kingdombritish royal warrant holdersclothing retailers of the united kingdomknitwear manufacturershidden categories use dmy dates from may 2014pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search 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