The Berry Bros. & Rudd archive spans the last 250 years of our history. Through it, you can access a wealth of paper records and objects which shine light on our past. These earliest records here date back to the 18th century as our reputation was growing amongst fashionable Londoners; the most recent show how we have grown to be the international wine and spirit merchant we are today.
Berry Bros. & Rudd can trace its inception back to 1698, while the surviving paper records documenting its company history date from the early eighteenth century, the moment when our reputation as a grocer and wine merchant in St James’s was growing amongst fashionable Londoners. The later business records of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries document the transition from that small family grocery business into first a wine merchant of both metropolitan and national reach and standing, and then on to become the international wine and spirit merchant we are today.
This physical archive, which includes business records, family papers, property deeds, prints, photographs, museum objects, film and video is now managed and securely stored at our Basingstoke offices. Because these records are not easily accessible to researchers, we are instead making an increasing amount of digitised content available to users through our online archive.
In addition to the company’s archive, many historic pictures and objects can still be seen on display in the setting of our original 17th century shop at No. 3 St James’ Street. This has been our home since Widow Bourne first opened her grocer’s shop in 1698. Today, our wine shop is now located just around the corner at 63 Pall Mall, but our private rooms, offices, cellars and events are still based at No.3 St James’s Street and provide a living testimony to the family, their business and their customers.
