Edward Webb set up his business as a seed merchant in the middle of the nineteenth century at Wordsley in the West Midlands. In 1876 Edward Webb & Sons was one of the earliest applicants for a registered trademark (number 928), which covered agricultural seeds and artificial manures. About 1894 the firm took over, and later expanded, the bone and manure works of Proctor & Ryland in Saltney, near Chester. By the end of the nineteenth century Webb's seeds were well known throughout the country and the firm had been appointed seedsmen to Queen Victoria. |