There was, at the turn of the century, a well established musical instrument house called Barnett, Samuel & Sons, and from this root had sprung the Decca Gramophone Company, amongst others. An offshoot of this organisation was the company of John Grey & Sons (London) Limited, established in Westminster in 1832, renowned for its fine banjos and by 1932 trading in the full range of musical merchandise in Worship Street, not far from the premises of Rose, Morris & Co. Ltd. After delicate negotiation, the John Grey stock and business were acquired by RM. From this acquisition there fell to Rose Morris a number of advantages, some unsuspected.
First, of course, there was the useful stock of merchandise and the goodwill. Then, as a direct result, came the wholesale agency for Decca records (including Panachord, Brunswick and Polydor) which raised the status of the record department considerably. With John Grey came its factory, consisting of the Beddards, father and son. They were to provide the nucleus of the company's future manufacturing organisation.
Throughout its early history the factory was always the special responsibility of Stanley Rose, who adopted it as his 'baby' and guided its many ventures until his retirement. There came also one Albert J. Wilks, who had joined B.S. & S. in 1918 and was managing the Worship Street warehouse at the time of its acquisition. Albert Wilks, with no niche awaiting him in the RM organisation, looked towards sales abroad, and set about the task of organising exports. When he retired in 1968, after exactly 50 years in the Trade, he left behind him a flourishing export department, with friends and associates all over the world.
There came also from John Grey (after a time with Francis, Day & Hunter Limited) Joseph E Platt, one of the notables of the trade who ran the company's Trade Counter until the time of his retirement at the end of 1963.
Thus the end of 1932 came with the seeds safely sown of Rose, Morris's future huge manufacturing and exporting activities.
Photo: A guitar from the 1930 catalogue.