Houghton and Ensign

antique plate camera

Houghton was founded as Claudet and Houghton in 1836 by George Houghton and Frenchman Antoine Claudet as a glass warehouse in London. In 1869 it became George Houghton & Son . At the beginning of the 20th century it took the British ensign (ensign=marine flag) as brand symbol for its product line. Since 1903 it produced the roll film brand Ensign. The succeeding companies used the Ensign brand too. In 1904 it was merged with Holmes Bros., the maker of the famous Sanderson Universal Swing Front Cameras. Houghton continued production of the Sanderson cameras until 1939. In 1905 Houghton's Ltd. built a factory for the production of cameras on the Fulbourn Road in Walthamstow. In 1907 this was the biggest British camera factory. A characteristic product of Houghton was the Ensignette, a folding camera developed by the Swedish engineer Magnus Neill. Houghtons was a renowned maker of magazine cameras like the Klito.

Links

• Houghton page at Collection G. Even's site