Charles Horner

The Charles Horner Company, founded by Charles Horner, was famous for producing "one-of-añkind" pieces of jewellery during the early 20th century. Charles Horner spent his early years as a clockmaker and manufacturer of jewellery articles for local jewellery retailers. Later, he began selling his works directly to his clients. 1905 saw him open his first factory at Mile Cross in Halifax, after which retailing was stopped. With the opening of this factory he laid the foundation of a successful business empire that would tide through both the World Wars.

The Charles Horner Company benefited from the ’Art Nouveau’ fashion that was prevalent at that time, allowing for the production of diverse and unique pieces of jewellery. He manufactured a large number of articles like tableware, clocks, spectacles, cuff-links, earrings, gold and silver chains, etc. Using his ingenuity, he created the ’Dorcas Thimble’ as a solution to the injuries suffered by dowagers, dames and daughters while stitching. The ’Dorcas Thimble’ was patented in 1880. The factory also manufactured hatpins. The Charles Horner brand began the production of casein products, a kind of plastic protein under the name ’Dorcasin’. The company then also began manufacture of plastic articles.

Shorts notes on the Horner business have been published by Tom Lawson. These notes contain information about the entire product range of the company. They also contain catalogues and pictorial representations of the various products manufactured by the company.