Edmund James Arnold was born in Sherborne, Dorset, on 28 May 1840 his father was James Arnold, a tailor and woollen draper and his wife was called Ann.
Edmund went on to serve an apprenticeship with a London printer. He must have been an ambitious lad because in 1863 he formed his own business on the High Street in Barnstaple as a bookseller, stationer, and printer, but he soon extended this to include publishing.
Some of his book releases were John Roberts Chanter’s “Sketches of some of the Striking Incidents in the History of Barnstaple” in 1865 and “Sketches of the Literary History of Barnstaple” in 1866.
In 1870 he moved to Leeds where he acquired premises at No 3 Briggate and in 1871 he is shown as a stationer employing three men and a boy. In 1881 he is shown living at 10 Moorland Road, Leeds, at the age of 40 still a Stationer but employing 18 adults and 10 boys and girls.
He lived at this address with his wife Elizabeth, also aged 40, who had been born in London and their three children Edmund G Arnold then aged 15, Mary E Arnold aged 13, Lucy M Arnold aged 11, all three were born in Barnstaple. There was also his sister-in-law Margaret Eagleton aged 56 and born in London, as well as two servants.
The move to Leeds was good thinking on Edmund’s part because the city and the West Riding provided an extensive population for increasing his sales which, no doubt, helped by the November 1870 England and Wales Elementary Education Act that made schooling compulsory for all children between the ages of 5 and 13.
At first Arnold served the local schools but grew to become England’s largest education publisher and suppliers to the educational sector.
They developed not only to publish text books but also a very wide range of items including educational wall charts, board games that helped to teach maths, word building, dealing with money, et; dip pen nibs, globes, abacus, sewing materials, jigsaws, school furniture and apparatus, kindergarten goods, and even sundials, thermometers, barometers and rain gauges, everything carrying their name or label; so much so that pupils very often thought that they owned the schools.
All this demand for educational material saw the business flourish and by 1876 he had opened a factory and warehouse in Blayd’s Yard, Briggate, and gained contracts from Bradford, Rotherham, Sheffield, and Shipley, as well as Leeds. On 12 July 1890 the Leeds Times reported that Arnold’s had applied for a patent for teaching arithmetic “by means of varying combinations of figures revolving on a wooden frame”.
Because the firm was doing well they expanded to a new factory in Butterley Street, Hunslet next to the Midland Railway goods yard on 6 April 1895 and this became the main site. But he also opened five other locations as well and by 1908 he had opened one in Glasgow and Belfast would also be added to this list later.
Politically Edmund Arnold was a Liberal Unionist but he did not play a prominent role in politics, however, he was active in Leeds life generally. For ten years he was a member of the Leeds Board of Overseers, was Vice-president of the Leeds Chamber of Commerce and for many years served on the Board of the Leeds Dispensary. A past Master in Freemasonry, he was deeply committed for forty years to All Souls Church.
Edmund Arnold died on 28 September 1918 at Kirk Hammerton leaving the next generation to carry on.
Being head of the business passed to the son Edmund George Arnold. In the printing trade George Arnold was a nationally known figure having controlled the business established by his father for over 30 years.
From 1916 – 1918 he was President of the Master Printer’s Federation, and during the war he presided over the Committee for the release of printers’ metals, large quantities of which were used for munitions purposes.
He was Chairman of the fund for distressed French printers. In 1907-08 he was President of the Leeds and District Master Printers Association and was he first Chairman of the Industrial Council of the printing group of trades.
George Arnold became Lord Mayor of Leeds at the age of 51 and his year fell in a particularly depressing period of the war, but his cheerful spirits never flagged. He had a long and close connection with Leeds University and after some time on the Council he became Pro-chancellor in 1921 holding this office until his resignation in 1926. His services were recognised in 1924 by the conferment on him of the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Law.
George died at his residence, Moorfield House, Moortown, Leeds on 13 July 1939 aged 74. His death was not unexpected because he had been ailing for many months. He left a widow, a married son and a married daughter.
The company was very successful and traded through most of the 20th century with the four generations of the family running the business. By the 1980s they employed about 1,000 people, but then things began to change because in 1984 they became a member of media tycoon Robert Maxwell’s company Pergamon Press and were relocated to Parkside Lane, off Dewsbury Road. In 1989 the EJ Arnold Publishing Division was sold to the British company of Thomas Nelson.
In 1991 Robert Maxwell died in mysterious circumstances and left behind his affairs that were in a real mess. It was eventually realised that thousands of his employees had been defrauded of their pension rights and this figure included many of the EJ Arnold workers.
Not a very good ending to such a famous Company started by a very shrewd man.
Blayds Yard is now an apartment and hotel area very much modernised with a bar facility in the complex. It even has its own Blue Plaque on the entrance from Lower Briggate.
Main Photo: 3 Briggate and the entrance to Blayd’s Yard. Credit: Google
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Thre firm EJ as popular known by it’s staff. Played a huge part in my families life with many like us. We had my dad 37 year, mum, brother myself, uncle and cousin all working for the firm. My dad joined just after national service on a temporary 6 month contract. He later asked at 25th anniversary award when he would be made permanent? Had it stayed open my dad would have seen his retirement, my brother would still have been there.