Secretariat papers

Files deriving from the Company Secretary function, spanning the development of the business from its nineteenth century William Cooper family origins to the purchase of the business by the The Wellcome Foundation Ltd (in 1959), with papers extending to 1972. Thus, the majority of the papers comprise financial and administrative records, in varying degrees of completeness, as well as a number of legal papers, recording the continuous business development of William Cooper & Nephews, William Cooper & Nephews Ltd, and Cooper, McDougall & Robertson Ltd.

Company Secretaries were:
J A Hill (c 1920 - c 1941);
W Pell (c 1941 - 1957);
C L J Wardley (1957 - c 1971).

The papers include material concerning trade overseas - the primary markets for Cooper's sheep and cattle dips were in Australasia, South Africa, and South America, where subsidiary companies were established. The papers also contain some Cooper family history material (particularly photographs), where such material involved the office of the Company Secretary.

1882-1972

49 boxes

Chronological, with a Sub-Sub-Series (WF/C/E/04/291) of Company Secretary papers concerning subsidiary companies, and a Sub-Sub-Series (WF/C/E/04/292) of Company Registers.

Please see main WF collection description (ref. 'WF').