At Rushden Museum we have recently been given several small stone jars, most of which have no names on them. One of them, however, bears the name of Taylor’s Prepared Mustard, Newport Pagnell. This company was formed in 1825 by William Taylor, who was originally a chemist. He developed his own recipe, which he kept secret, and produced the first English mustard to be sold ready prepared.
He opened a factory in Union Street, Newport Pagnell and the mustard was made there for 170 years. His sons, Thomas and Frederick James, carried on the business which eventually closed in 1990. After standing empty for many years the building has now been converted into dwellings.
It’s a pity it’s not ‘Rushden’ but no doubt it would have been sold in Rushden shops.
I noticed your comment about Taylors Mustard jars in your museum. You will find some more history about the product on our website, we are the main distributors of Taylors Mustard. The product is still made by Walter Black Foods in Glasgow, but they do not have much of an online presence, so we continue to be the voice of Taylors Mustard. My husband (Mark Davey-Turner) bought the distribution business from Mr Stephen Taylor (5th generation of the Taylors family). We have a selection of jars of different sizes in our collection. The jar you picture has one L in Pagnel, other jars have 2 LLs, which is the current spelling of Newport Pagnell. It could be it was an older spelling, originally the town was called Newport, and Pagnell was added later, refering to the Pagnell family of Tickford Priory.
Thanks for the information. I will have a look at the website.
Kind regards,
Gill