Ask any angler to name the premier fishing tackle manufacturer in the north east of England, and undoubtedly their answer would be Hardy’s of Alnwick. But if you asked the same question 100 years ago, the answer may have been quite different. Seventy miles to the south of Alnwick there was a rival firm held in the same esteem as its Northumbrian counterpart. That company was WJ Cummins of Bishop Auckland.

The founder, William John Cummins, was a printer by trade and a keen angler from an early age. He had opened his first printing works and fishing tackle factory in 1857 (15 years before Hardy’s) at 63, Fore Bondgate in the town.

William’s enterprise quickly proved successful, and in June 1862 he started The Auckland Times newspaper, providing himself with the perfect medium to advertise his business. On the first page of the first edition, a small advertisement announced: ‘WJ Cummins has a large assortment of artificial flies for the Wear and Tees…WJC will forward a catalogue with every description of tackle and prices on application.’

From its inception, Cummins was renowned for the excellence of its artificial flies. During the 1889 season, for example, over 60,000 were sold from the premises. It was owing to this reputation as first class fly dressers, that it was chosen to tie the specimen flies included in the 1913 de-luxe edition of Ronald’s the Fly-Fisher’s Entomology.

In June 1863 William moved to larger premises at 53, Market Place, and during the next two decades his business continued to expand and prosper. In 1883, William exhibited examples of his tackle and flies at the International Fisheries Exhibition in London, winning three prize medals and three diplomas of honour, further enhancing his firm’s reputation.

The famous Yorkshire angler and author, Francis ’Max’ Walbran was a devotee of Cummins’ tackle (until the opening of his own tackle shop in Leeds in 1888), as was his equally famous contemporary, Thomas Evan Pritt, who, answering a query on where to buy good tackle, recommended Cummins through his angling column in the Yorkshire Weekly Post.

In August 1890 William received the ‘ultimate accolade’ when he was the subject of an article in the Fishing Gazette, penned by Kent angling author and tackle dealer, Edgar S. Shrubsole. In the article, Shrubsole extols William’s prowess as an angler and gives an account of William’s fishing exploits in Norway and Canada. He also quotes from Cummins’ 10th edition catalogue, Fishing and Fishing Tackle, advising on which tackle and flies to use in the Dominion. Cummins had published its first illustrated catalogue in 1881 (six years before Hardy’s), and from that date, regularly produced lavish catalogues that describe a vast array of tackle and related gadgets. In 1892, Cummins published the British Angler’s Lexicon by the Irishman, Richard Niven, and most illustrations were from the 10th edition catalogue.

By the end of the 19th century, Cummins was exporting to all parts of the globe from the ’North of England Rod Works’. Favourable reviews of its tackle appeared in many field sport journals. Field and Stream commented: ‘Mr. Cummins is known as one of the best fishing tackle makers in the world’ and the Scottish Field announced: ‘He is to anglers what Cook is to tourists.’

For some years, Cummins’ London agent had been the prestigious firm of G. Little and Co. in the Haymarket. In 1888 the proprietor, Mr. J. Richardson, was declared bankrupt and William became the new owner, appointing his eldest son, William Loftus, as manager.

At the beginning of the 20th century Cummins severed its connection with Little’s and appointed The Miliatry Equipment Company of Savile Row, and later, The Wilkinson Sword Company of Pall Mall as London agents.

In 1896, William was forced by failing health to relinquish his attention to the business. He spent the winter of that year in Bournemouth, on England’s south coast, in an attempt to revive his health. He never rallied, and died at home in Bishop Auckland on October 12th 1897 aged 64.

His obituary appeared in all the local newspapers and the Fishing Gazette. The Auckland Times remembered him with affection and respect, saying he was ‘the worthy high priest of local angling’.

After William’s death, management of the tackle business was entrusted to another son, Alfred Phillips ‘Pip’ Cummins, who proved as astute a businessman as his father, running the firm for the next 53 years.

With a new century, came the need for new premises, and in 1900, Cummins made its final move to 13, Newgate Street. Under Pip’s management, the business flourished. Greenheart and brass were being replaced by split-cane and aluminium in rods and reels, and many new models appeared in its catalogues. It was a Cummins trait to name tackle after family members; for example the Loftus landing net and the Lonsdale reel from the maiden names of Pip’s mother and grandmother.

Just as their Victorian counterparts had done, many Edwardian angling authors recommended Cummins’ tackle. Captain F. Chapman of Wensleydale in his book, Gun, Rod and Rifle (1908) obtained permission to use colour plates of trout and salmon flies taken from Cummins’ catalogue to illustrate his chapters on the rod. In exchange, Chapman wrote, ‘…the whole of his fishing tackle is of the highest quality and moderate in price, and to all his angling readers the author can thoroughly recommend Mr. W.J. Cummins.

At the start of the First World War, Pip and his brothers Charles and Herbert were commissioned as officers in local regiments. In 1915 Herbert was killed in action and Pip was severely wounded. However, at the end of hostilities, Pip had recovered sufficiently to continue managing the firm.

In the 1920s and 1930s Cummins continued in its successful vein, but difficult times lay ahead, with first the Depression and then the Second World War. During the War, production was scaled down due to shortages of staff and materials, and its range was greatly reduced. Subsequently, in the post-war years, Cummins had to rely on other manufacturers such as J.W. Young to supplement its depleted stocks.

Pip’s death in 1950 was the precursor to the decline and ultimate sale of the tackle business. Charles, the only surviving brother, was now 78. His son Ronald was living in Jersey and did not take an active part in the daily running of the company.

In 1951 W.J. Cummins, Fishing Tackle Manufacturer became a limited company, and the name was changed to W.J. Cummins Ltd. Two years later, the family sold the tackle side to a consortium led by Edmund Luxmoore, a local solicitor and keen country sportsman.

The new owners initially retained the staff and premises, but soon changes were under way. The name became Cummins of Bishop Auckland (Fishing Tackle). Alan Lawson, the old manager, left to set up his own tackle business in Bishop Auckland, and a new manager, David McIntosh, was appointed along with a new rod builder, William Edminson, late of Hardy’s. Cummins even became agents for Hardy’s tackle!

In 1955, ‘in response to many requests’, a showroom opened at Coniscliffe Road, Darlington, the rod works remaining at Bishop Auckland. But a year later, the rod works closed and the business transferred to Darlington, ending an association with Bishop Auckland that lasted for 99 years.

Cummins continued to trade in Darlington until 1969, but then these premises were closed too. The printing works, which had remained in the hands of the Cummins family at Bishop Auckland, itself succumbed to market forces and wound up its affairs in September, 1973.

I hope this will be of particular interest to those of you who can remember Cummins’ shop above Defty’s.

My father was William Edminson who moved to Cummins in 1953 when his own business in Alnwick had to close. Your article brought back many memories.