Manfield and Sons

[1] Philip Manfield moved from Bristol to Northampton in 1843 to manage a business that soon failed.

In 1844, with the help of the local Unitarian church he opened his own shoe manufacturing business, Manfield and Sons, initially focusing on army contracts and the lower end of the market.

Between 1857 and 1859 company built a big warehouse on Campbell Square, Northampton with installed closing machinery, thus inaugurating the indoor factory system for boot and shoe making.

In 1878 Philip Manfield's sons Harry (1855-1923) and James (1856-1925) entered into partnership with their father.

By 1889, when the first Paris based branch opened, Manfield had 16 shops, some of which had been acquired from independent footwear retailers.