Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1900s -1976 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
0.25 linear metres
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The firm was established in 1896 as an amalgamation of several companies - Wholesale and Retail Grocers, Tea Dealers and Blenders, Provision Dealers, Wine and Spirit and Beer Merchants and General Purveyors previously run by A. J Cave, A.J. and C.H. Cave, J and Alfred Austin and James McCabe. The original board of directors consisted of A.J. Cave, C.H. Cave, Alfred Austin, Charles Stamp, E Underwood, James McCabe and E.J. Mansfield. The stores (including the Eastbourne store pictured in LMA/4758/C/02/002) held a range of goods including fish, meat, green groceries, spirits and hardware. A range of Cafés on the Kent and Sussex Coast lines opened from 1896 onwards. The idea originated from C.H. Cave who opened the first tea and coffee shop in Brighton. By 1931, however, the decision was made to focus on becoming a 'High-class Grocers'; instead of acquiring more stores, the company would expand and modernise the existing stores and cafes (see LMA/4758/B/01/002). The company’s registered offices were at Idol Lane, Eastcheap, City of London (until 1931); then at Seeay House, 34/40 Eastdown Park, Lewisham (1931 until after 1957).
At its height, Austin Cave Grocers had over fifty branches all over South-East London, North-East London, Kent and Surrey as well as cafés in many major South Coast resorts such Deal in Kent and, St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings in Sussex. In 1956 the company could boast that ‘2600 tons of food are delivered from warehouses to branches per year’ (see LMA/4758/B/02/001) while ‘Town and Country Life’ suggested in the 1920s that ‘all motorists and other travellers should make note of the Cave’s Cafés’ (see LMA/4758/B/01/001).
From the beginning to his death in 1935, Charles Stamp was a leading figure: as director, secretary and chairman. He was succeeded by his son, Charles Alfred Stamp who was subsequently also succeeded as chairman by his elder son Barry Hartnell Stamp. Barry Hartnell Stamp was the last managing director as the company was taken over by Burton, Son and Sanders in 1963. The company was sold again in 1966 to Moores Stores and the name Cave Austin disappeared soon after. For more information see the company history ‘Sixty Years of Trading’ (LMA/4758/B/02/001).
Repository
Archival history
GB0074 LMA/4758 1900s -1976 Collection 0.25 linear metres Cave Austin and Company Limited
The firm was established in 1896 as an amalgamation of several companies - Wholesale and Retail Grocers, Tea Dealers and Blenders, Provision Dealers, Wine and Spirit and Beer Merchants and General Purveyors previously run by A. J Cave, A.J. and C.H. Cave, J and Alfred Austin and James McCabe. The original board of directors consisted of A.J. Cave, C.H. Cave, Alfred Austin, Charles Stamp, E Underwood, James McCabe and E.J. Mansfield. The stores (including the Eastbourne store pictured in LMA/4758/C/02/002) held a range of goods including fish, meat, green groceries, spirits and hardware. A range of Cafés on the Kent and Sussex Coast lines opened from 1896 onwards. The idea originated from C.H. Cave who opened the first tea and coffee shop in Brighton. By 1931, however, the decision was made to focus on becoming a 'High-class Grocers'; instead of acquiring more stores, the company would expand and modernise the existing stores and cafes (see LMA/4758/B/01/002). The company’s registered offices were at Idol Lane, Eastcheap, City of London (until 1931); then at Seeay House, 34/40 Eastdown Park, Lewisham (1931 until after 1957).
At its height, Austin Cave Grocers had over fifty branches all over South-East London, North-East London, Kent and Surrey as well as cafés in many major South Coast resorts such Deal in Kent and, St Leonards-on-Sea and Hastings in Sussex. In 1956 the company could boast that ‘2600 tons of food are delivered from warehouses to branches per year’ (see LMA/4758/B/02/001) while ‘Town and Country Life’ suggested in the 1920s that ‘all motorists and other travellers should make note of the Cave’s Cafés’ (see LMA/4758/B/01/001).
From the beginning to his death in 1935, Charles Stamp was a leading figure: as director, secretary and chairman. He was succeeded by his son, Charles Alfred Stamp who was subsequently also succeeded as chairman by his elder son Barry Hartnell Stamp. Barry Hartnell Stamp was the last managing director as the company was taken over by Burton, Son and Sanders in 1963. The company was sold again in 1966 to Moores Stores and the name Cave Austin disappeared soon after. For more information see the company history ‘Sixty Years of Trading’ (LMA/4758/B/02/001).
Donated in 2017.
Records of Cave Austin and Company Limited kept by the Stamp Family, comprising director’s report and printed material including Christmas brochures issued to staff, articles and event material. The survival of other records is unknown.
Arranged in three sections as follows:
LMA/4758/A: Corporate
LMA/4758/B: Printed material
LMA/4758/C: Staff
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the EU General Data Protection Regulations, 2018.
Copyright rests with the City of London.
English
Please see online catalogues at: https://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Added July 2018. Cave Austin and Company Limited Agricultural products Food Beverages Alcoholic beverages Cafes Coffee shops Coffee trade Grocery trade Commercial premises Shops Food trade Tea trade Trade (practice) Retail trade
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated in 2017.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Records of Cave Austin and Company Limited kept by the Stamp Family, comprising director’s report and printed material including Christmas brochures issued to staff, articles and event material. The survival of other records is unknown.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged in three sections as follows:
LMA/4758/A: Corporate
LMA/4758/B: Printed material
LMA/4758/C: Staff
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the EU General Data Protection Regulations, 2018.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright rests with the City of London.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: https://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English