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The company was formed in 1920 when Hinks Wells & Co and William Mitchell came together at the Pedigree Works in Birmingham.
Cumberland Pencils was added in 1921.
After World War II staff from the London Jewel Company joined them and they began to produce ball point pens.
In the 1960s British Pens acquired the pen businesses of Perry & Co, John Mitchell and Joseph Gillott.
As part of the Twinlock group its name was changed to Cumberland Graphics in 1975.
Byron Head, the Managing Director of William Mitchell (sinkers) and British Pens bought the two companies from Twinlock in 1982.
The company still makes pens in the West Midlands.
Joseph Finnemore was connected with Hinks Wells & in 1844. By 1850 the name Baker & Finnemore appeared in the local directories. This small pen manufacturer operated from its Bak-Fin works in Newhall Street, Birmingham and was run for some years by the Barnwell family. Bak-Fin became a registered trademark and the series of pens bearing this name was known worldwide. The firm still occupies the premises on Newhall Street but now makes push-on fasteners and precision pressings.
The original company Ash Petit & Co were at Navigation Street, Birmingham from 1850-1862. Joseph Petit was responsible for the workshop as a tool maker and manufacturer. Ash is believed to have been responsible for the financial side of the business. Ash disappeared and the partnership was dissolved in February 1862. The company's agent in Vienna was Carl Kuhn and he became worried in 1861 when no pens arrived from Asgh Petit. He sent his son-in-law Charles Brandauer over to Birmingham and he agreed to finance and build a new factory in New John Street West if Joseph Petit would run it for him. Brandauer's produced steel pens from their purpose built factory for over a hundred years. The Petit family have managed and owned the company to this day.
Joseph Gillott was born in Sheffield in 1799 and moved to Birmingham in 1822. The skills he'd learned as a cutler stood him in good stead for Birmingham's small metalware trades. He met and married Maria Mitchell, the sister of John and William Mitchell who were already
manufacturing steel pens, and was drawn into the trade. In about 1827 he began to experiment making pens in Bread Street ( called Cornwall Street now ). Later he moved to Church Street and then on to Newhall Street. In 1853 he moved to Graham Street, where he developed the Victoria Works, one of the largest factories in Birmingham. By 1881 the company had offices in London and New York. Joseph Gillott & Sons became a limited private company in 1926. In 1954 it became part of Alexander (Silverthrone) Ltd. Joseph Gillott died in 1872. His son, also Joseph, inherited the company and died in 1903. The founder's grandson Joseph Henry Gillott died a millionaire in 1907. Bernard Gillott was head of the company in the 1930s, and after World War II Nicholas Gillott took over. The pen making side of the business was passed to British Pens Ltd in 1969.
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