Hey John!! Long time...hope your well. Here is a bit of info I have gathered on Alexander Ross & Co. This is a work in progress....
ROSS, A. & CO. (a.k.a. Ross & Co. LTD) Jerimine (Jermyn St?) St. London, England, (Grange Mills-Bermonday, a suberb of London?). A British firm based in London but also has Canadian ties. The Alexander Ross & Co appears to have started sometime around the late 1700's. Invoices for purchasing guns from the firm Brander & Potts are known to exist back to 1802. Bermondsey in London was known as the " Land of Leather", and by 1792 was producing a third of England's leather.
Ross manufactured leather military equipment under contract to the British army for many decades including the 1856 Universal Pattern saddles and other leather (infantry & cavalry ).
From 1862 - 1865 supplied the Southern Confederacy with copius amounts of acctourements, knapsacks, harness, saddlery, saddlery hardware, British cavalry and infantry equipment (buff carbine Belts, waist belts, cap pouches and more)In August and September 1861, A. Ross & Co. supplied leather, leather equipment and medicines (Quinine) to the Confederate Ordnance Department through purchases made by its agents, Major Caleb Huse and Major Edward Anderson. Some L10,000 of their goods were purchased in August and September for shipments aboard the "Fingal" and invoiced through financiers, S. Isaac, Campbell & Co. Many thousands of sets of accoutrements as well as other equipment were provided to the Confederacy throughout the war. They may have used different variations of their name in dealing with S. Isaac Campbell & Co. as that firm was known for employing two sets of books in their dubious business practices. Ross & Co continued to make equipment for the British army too. At some unclear point in the later 19th century, Ross became “Hepburn Gale and Ross” and employed a stamp “HGR” on much of its equipment. Ross & Co. remained in business manufacturing saddlery stirrups and spurs well into the 20th century. In 1901 the firm became Hepburn,Gale & Ross, and in 1920 became Barrow, Hepburn & Gale, the firm continued into the 1970's.
SOURCE: Check out the book ENTREPOT By C.L. Webster III. Great book! Tells the "as complete as possible" story on British imports into the Confederacy.
Ken R Knopp
http://www.confederatesaddles.com
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