Sir Pryce Pryce-Jones (16 October 1834 – 11 January 1920) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

entrepreneur who formed the first

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...

business, revolutionising how products were sold. Creating the first mail order catalogues in 1861 – which consisted of

woollen Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...

goods – for the first time customers could order by post, and the goods were delivered by

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

. The BBC summed up his legacy as "The mail order pioneer who started a billion-pound industry". Pryce-Jones became hugely successful in the United Kingdom where he had over 100,000 customers, which included

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War ...

and

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. In England he was able to promise next-day delivery. His business also took off overseas, selling Welsh

flannel Flannel is a soft woven fabric, of various fineness. Flannel was originally made from carded wool or worsted yarn, but is now often made from either wool, cotton, or synthetic fiber. Flannel is commonly used to make tartan clothing, blankets, ...

to the rest of Europe, the United States followed by Australia. During the 1870s he took part in exhibitions all over the world, winning several awards, and he became world famous. The Queen knighted him in 1887.

Early years

Pryce-Jones was born in

Llanllwchaiarn Llanllwchaiarn or Llanllwchaearn () in Welsh) is a village on the outskirts of Newtown in Powys, Wales. It forms part of the community of Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn. Aberbechan Hall was a Tudor mansion in the eastern part of the parish d ...

, just outside Newtown, Montgomeryshire. He left school at 12, and was apprenticed to a local draper, John Davies; he took over Davies's business in 1856. In the same year he married Eleanor Rowley Morris of Newtown. Pryce-Jones started his own little shop selling drapery just off Broad Street. He named it the Royal Welsh Warehouse in 1859, the year the railway came to Newtown. The business flourished. Newtown had always had a woollen industry, and it was the local Welsh

which formed the mainstay of Pryce-Jones' business.

Mail order business

Post Office reforms (

Uniform Penny Post The Uniform Penny Post was a component of the comprehensive reform of the Royal Mail, the UK's official postal service, that took place in the 19th century. The reforms were a government initiative to eradicate the abuse and corruption of the e ...

from 1840) and the arrival of the

railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

in Newtown helped turn the small rural concern into a company with customers around the globe. Pryce-Jones was the first to sell by mail order on a large scale, dispatching his goods by parcel post and train. He built a warehouse, with its own post office, next to the railway line. Mail order was an ideal way of meeting the needs of customers in isolated rural locations who were either too busy or unable to get into Newtown to shop. The 1861 Pryce Jones catalogue is credited as the world's first mail-order catalogue. The further expansion of the railways in the years that followed allowed Pryce Jones to take orders from further afield and his business grew rapidly. He built up an impressive list of customers – among them

as well as

, the

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was fi ...

and royal households across Europe. He also began selling Welsh flannel from Newtown to America and Australia, amassing over 200,000 customers. Pryce-Jones is credited with the invention of the sleeping bag he patented in 1876 under the name of the Euklisia Rug. He exported the product around the world, at one point landing a contract with the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �ВSukhoputnyye voyska V}), also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Force ...

for 60,000 rugs. Several times, he was forced to relocate to bigger premises, which was geared to getting goods out "as fast as possible". In 1879, he built the Royal Welsh Warehouse, a tall red brick building in the centre of Newtown which still stands today and which remained home to a mail-order company until 2011, albeit not the original Pryce-Jones company. By 1880, he had more than 100,000 UK customers and his success was acknowledged by Queen Victoria in 1887 with a knighthood when he became Sir Pryce Pryce-Jones. He was also elected as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Montgomery from 1885 to 1886, and from 1892 to 1895. In 1891, Pryce-Jones became the High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire. Two of his sons, William Pryce-Jones and Albert Pryce Jones were international footballers for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Death

Pryce-Jones died in 1920 at the age of 85. The company he had built up over decades was hit badly by the depression of the 1920s and 1930s and was taken over by

Lewis's Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...

of Liverpool in 1938.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pryce-Jones 1834 births 1920 deaths 20th-century Welsh businesspeople 19th-century Welsh businesspeople British businesspeople in retailing High Sheriffs of Montgomeryshire Conservative Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies Retail company founders UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1892–1895 People from Newtown, Powys