It previously made tyres, conveyor belts, combs, golf balls, hot water bottles and rubber flooring.

In early January 1856, Henry Lee Norris, an American entrepreneur from Jersey City, New Jersey, and his friend and partner Spencer Thomas Parmelee of New Haven, Connecticut, landed in Scotland to work a patent[clarification needed] of Charles Goodyear for the manufacture of India-rubber overshoes and boots.

A fine pair of condensing steam engines and boilers were included in the lease, which they were able to take up almost immediately due to the mill's partial occupation at the time.

[8] Norris was eventually succeeded at the company by William Erskine Bartlett, who arguably invented what is considered to be the accepted type of car tyre today.

The Wellington boot was envied by German soldiers during World War I and its dependability was seen to contribute to the British army's success.

[9] For World War II, the company was again called upon to supply vast quantities of Wellington and thigh boots.

Eighty per cent of production was for war materials - from ground sheets to life belts and gas masks.

In the Netherlands, forces were working in flooded conditions which demanded Wellingtons and tight boots in vast supplies.

After World War II, boot making had to move to a larger factory in Heathhall, Dumfries, to deal with the rise in demand.

Thought of as more up-market than the traditional black Wellington of the time, the 'Original' tended at first to be worn by middle- to upper-class rural people, who are still sometimes referred to as the 'Green Welly Brigade'.

By this time, a pair of Hunter boots had become an essential item[citation needed] for those guided in upmarket country fashion.

[15] Intent on strengthening its positions in its core engineering markets, Tomkins began to dispose of a number of businesses during the period 1998-2001.

In 1999, it sold the Consumer and Industrial Division of The Gates Rubber Company to Interfloor, the country's largest carpet underlay manufacturer.

According to documents filed with Companies House, Hunter reported a loss of £600,000 from September 2003 to the end of February 2005, when it had a net debt of £2.03m.

[22] Spring 2007 saw the relationship between Hunter and the Royal Horticultural Society further strengthened by the launch of a new range of RHS boots at the Chelsea Flower Show in London in May.

[23] Hunter also set up the 'Century' Division to handle its global range of safety boots, and to develop new products in this sector.

Eventually, alternative supply sources were sought and developed in Europe and the Far East and plans were made to leave the Dumfries plant and move the company HQ to Edinburgh.

Hunter formed many relationships and collaborations with other brands in 2008, further extending its reach into the US, festival and fashion markets, while also contributing strongly to charity organisations.

In the same year, magician Steven Frayne, also known as Dynamo, worked with Hunter to become an integral part of their London Fashion Week show.

The administrator stated, that the company had been on a decline as a result of reduced demand in combination with the pandemic, supply chain disruption and inflation.

dramatized the real-life women's association football club formed during World War I by the company's workers in its Fountainbridge, Edinburgh factory.