Jaques of London, formerly known as ''John Jaques of London'' and ''Jaques and Son of London'' is a long-established

family company A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willing ...

that manufactures sports and game equipment.

History

Dating itself from 1795 when Thomas Jaques, a farmer's son of French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

descent, set up as a "Manufacturer of Ivory, Hardwoods, Bone, and Tunbridge Ware", the company gained a reputation for publishing games under his grandson John Jaques the younger. The popularity of chess during World War II helped MI9 hide items in chess games sent to British and American prisoners of war, because the chess sets were made of wood, especially the Staunton chess sets by Jaques of London. The inside walls of the chess pieces box were hollowed out "...to secrete maps, currency, documents, hacksaw blades and swinger compasses." The large chess boards were perfect for supplying to prisoners "...counterfeit documents, maps, currency and other contraband." The chess pieces themselves were hollowed out and used to hold messages, compasses, maps and dye to help turn uniforms into civilian attire. The base of the piece was often screwed in with a left turn screw, so any attempt to unscrew the base normally would only make it tighter. The company moved its offices and showroom to

Edenbridge, Kent Edenbridge is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. Its name derives from Old English ''Eadhelmsbrigge'' (meaning "Eadhelm's Bridge"). It is located on the border of Kent and Surrey, on the upper floodplain of the ...

, in 2000.

Products

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

– Jaques had exclusive manufacturing rights for a

chess set A chess set consists of a chessboard and white and black chess pieces for playing chess. There are sixteen pieces of each color: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns. Extra pieces may be provided for use in ...

Nathaniel Cooke Nathaniel Cooke was the designer of a set of chess figures called the Staunton chess set which is now the standard set. Chess set Cooke registered his design at the United Kingdom Patent Office on 1 March 1849 under the Ornamental Designs A ...

in 1849 and named the

Staunton chess set The Staunton chess set is the standard style of chess piece, chess pieces, recommended for use in competition by FIDE, the international chess governing body. The journalist Nathaniel Cooke is credited with the design on the patent, and they ar ...

after Howard Staunton. This set later became the official international standard. *

Reversi Reversi is a strategy board game for two players, played on an 8×8 uncheckered board. It was invented in 1883. Othello, a variant with a fixed initial setup of the board, was patented in 1971. Basics There are sixty-four identical game pieces ...

– the first publishers starting in 1888. * Tiddledy-Winks – the first publishers starting in 1888. * Snakes and Ladders – the first publishers starting in 1888. *

Croquet Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Its international governing body is the W ...

– played an important role in popularising the game, producing editions of the rules in 1857, 1860, and 1864. *

Clock golf Clock golf is a game based on golf, originating in the mid 19th century. Players putt a golf ball from each in turn of 12 numbered points arranged in a circle as in a clock face, to a single hole placed within the circle. Alternative names includ ...

– Jaques assert that they originated the game in the mid 19th century. *

Table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

– pioneered under the names ''Gossima'' and later ''Ping Pong''. *

Happy Families Happy Families is a traditional British card game usually with a specially made set of picture cards, featuring illustrations of fictional families of four, most often based on occupation types. The object of the game is to collect complete fami ...

– popular card game, developed in 1851."Jaques' Happy Families"
. * Ludo – patented in England 1897. * Shove ha'penny – is a

pub game A pub game is one which is traditionally played inside or outside a pub or bar. Most pub games date back many years and are rooted in village culture. Many derive from older outdoor sports. Pub games can be loosely grouped into throwing games, ...

in the

shuffleboard Shuffleboard (more precisely deck shuffleboard, and also known as floor shuffleboard) is a game in which players use cues to push weighted discs, sending them gliding down a narrow court, with the purpose of having them come to rest within a ma ...

family, played predominantly in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

References

External links

Jaques of London's Official site
Buildings and structures in the United Kingdom destroyed during World War II Chess equipment manufacturers Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom 1795 establishments in England British companies established in 1795 {{UK-company-stub

History

Products

See also

References

External links