The Rudall Carte records are complicated by the fact that separate serial number sequences were maintained for each type of instrument produced, and that only intermittent records survive. In the case of Hawkes & Son, very few records survive, despite their production levels having been on a par with those of Boosey & Co. The earlier histories of both of these companies are represented in the archive, but it is very difficult to derive any serial number information from the records.
The other two most significant companies that went to make up Boosey & Hawkes were Hawkes & Son and Rudall Carte & Co. The dates for Besson brass instruments made in London before the takeover can be roughly determined from an estimated list that appears below.
Besson serial numbers serial numbers#
The British arm of the French company Besson was bought up by Boosey & Hawkes in the 1940s, and the name was retained for many Boosey & Hawkes brass instruments until Brass instruments bearing the Besson name that were manufactured by Boosey & Hawkes (the UK instruments with serial numbers ) can be found in the main Boosey & Hawkes brass instrument sequence. Brass instruments bearing the Distin name that were made after the factory was bought by Boosey in 1868 (serial numbers above for cornets and for other brass instruments) appear in the records. There are also a few, more sporadic, records relating to other companies that later became part of Boosey & Hawkes. This means that almost any instrument bearing the Boosey & Co. and Hawkes & Son merged in 1930, the resulting Boosey & Hawkes Company continued to use the Boosey serial number sequences for woodwind and brass instruments, and the records cover almost the entire period of instrument production at Boosey. A number of the company s predecessors are also represented in the archive, most significantly Boosey & Co. The following information allows most woodwind or brass instruments produced under the Boosey & Hawkes name to be dated to within a maximum of three years.
1 A GUIDE TO DATING BOOSEY & Co./BOOSEY & HAWKES INSTRUMENTS BASED ON SERIAL NUMBER The Boosey & Hawkes Archive contains production records that make it possible to date instruments made by the company based on their serial numbers.
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