W. S. Cowell Ltd.

A.K.Cowell was an Ipswich corn merchant who set up his second son, Samuel Harrison Cowell as a printer and stationer at No 10 Butter Market in 1818. Samuel also sold tea, coffee and wine. In 1875 W. S. Cowell inherited the business and appointed W.B.Hanson to be responsible for the printing work. When the firm was incorporated in 1900 both W.B.Hanson and his son H.Hanson had significant share holdings. When W.S.Cowell died in 1923 it was agreed that members of the Hanson family should acquire the majority of the Cowell shares and ownership of the company which at this time comprised a retail store, a bar and wine and spirits business and the printing works. Babar, Little Tim and Orlando were among the iconic children's book series rolling off the Cowell presses in the 1930s. This was largely due to the lithographic skill of C.B.Hanson which, to the delight of publishers and illustrators alike, enabled the firm to offer colour printing of a quality not otherwise available outside an increasingly Nazi Germany. Such excellence played a part in the firm's ability to print prestigious works such as The Queen's Stamps and The Wild Flowers of America to the complete satisfaction of all concerned. Like many Cowell volumes these are now much sought-after rare books. In 1963 all the ordinary share capital in the printing business, retaining the name W.S.Cowell Ltd., was acquired by Grampian Holdings. C.B.Hanson had died tragically in 1940, but E.H.Hanson and R.G.Smith continued to manage the company until 1968. The printing operations were moved out of the Buttermarket to Lovetofts Drive in 1986. In 1988 the company merged with San Serif Ltd. and the title W.S.Cowell Ltd. was dropped.[1]