Orme & Sons

Orme & Sons originally traded under the name Thomas and James Orme and they supplied a large assortment of new and second-hand billiards and bagatelle tables cues and racks balls for billiards pool pyramid and bagatelle rules of the games score boards in fact the full range of requirements. The company changed name to Orme & Sons around 1874 and were very active in promoting billiards competitions and provided a trophy for the first billiard championship of Ireland in 1876. Ormes expanded their operations to Glasgow in 1880 and acquired a Royal Warrant from His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and used the Princes feathers on their products and in their advertising. In 1881 Ormes were one of the first suppliers of Ivorine (composition) billiard balls and in 1885 were instrumental in the formation of the Billiard Association. Upon the death of King Edward in 1910 Orme then received a warrant from King George V. With the out break of the First World War the production of billiard tables halted and everything turned towards the war effort. After the war many of the skilled workers never returned and with a world-wide recession it was very difficult to return to the pre-war production. With many businesses struggling in 1928 Orme and Sons joined with George Wright and Co. of London and Fred Heyes of Preston with the new group trading as Orme and Sons Limited. Although now a larger company they still continued to struggle and in 1931 they shared their distribution facilities with Burroughes & Watts to help reduce their overheads but still remain independent companies. This arrangement stood until the out break of the Second World War which again brought all manufacturing activities to a standstill. After the war Ormes continued to advertise for a few more years but were eventually absorbed into Burroughs & Watts.