George Houghton & Sons

George Houghton & Sons
George Houghton established his Reliance Works in Heaton Street, Birmingham in 1888 and the range of Banjos and related instruments he made were often branded Reliance.

As the firm grew, the name changed to G. Houghton & Sons and production was increased to make OEM instruments for other firms in the UK and around the British Empire of the time, to be branded with their own name or logo.

George Houghton & Sons also had their own ranges available, if not branded Reliance then usually marked with a gold-embossed lion, British Made, and sometimes with the initials G. H. & S. underneath. This Lion and British Made logo often, (but not always), still featured on models they produced for the OEM market.

On their own brand instruments the model names often featured across the middle of the headstock. Model names I have seen on Banjoleles are, Melody Uke, Melody Major, Melody Minor, Melody Junior, (Melody Jo was a Tenor Banjo), the Marvel and the Ukulele Banjo, (yes, they had this as an official model name stamped on the headstock!). I have also seen them marked with model and one or more letters on the headstock, (this signified the number in the catalogue).

As well as Banjo Instruments they did also, (presumably - the bridge/saddle design is fairly unique so if someone else made them they only made for George Houghton & Sons), make ordinary wooden Soprano Ukuleles, (both for themselves and as OEM for others) and archtop Guitars. They may have made other wooden chordophones but if they did, I have not seen any.

As one of the major British manufacturers of the time they had their own Music Hall Star endorsements too. Theirs was Harold Walden, a man largely forgotten now but in the 20's and 30's was a music hall bill topper with a couple of films to his credit, (and also prior to his music hall career he was a gold medallist at the 1912 Olympics and a professional footballer with Bradford and Arsenal).

Another likely endorsement was the Dick Barrie Band, (though possibly this was marketed by Dick Barrie and George Houghton & Sons was just the OEM?). All the Dick Barrie Band branded Banjoleles I have seen have all been made post WWII and to be honest I'm not even sure who Dick Barrie is? The only person I can find fitting the bill at all was a, (now largely forgotten), American Trumpet player who started his own Swing/Dance band in 1936. I know this Dick Barrie was still a working musician in 1943 but I lose him after that. I don't know if this is the right Dick Barrie and if it is I have no idea why a US trumpet player should endorse a range of Banjoleles in the UK in the late 40's early 50's?

There are other names that you find on George Houghton & Sons made instruments too, and I find it tricky here as I don't know if these were Houghton brands or OEM? The Silver Knight and Golden Knight range is one such branding, the Ivory Queen is another. One that I really don't know about is Sunray which has a George Houghton & Sons type label but I have also seen the name linked with Savana. the Rose Morris brand?

In 1962, town-planning development in Birmingham plus staff difficulties finally led to Edgar Houghton, (grandson of the founder), to close down and move to London to become associated with John E. Dallas & Sons, (they had been making instruments for them for some time), The plant and materials plus a few of the key workers left Birmingham and set up a factory at 12 Gravel Hill, Bexleyheath, Kent, and from that time until 1965 they made the bulk, (if not all of), the Banjos sold under the Dallas label