Royal Wedding – Spot the William Sugg lamps at Windsor!

Nearly everyone watched the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on that beautiful sunny Saturday 19th May 2018, but how many of you spotted those wonderful original William Sugg lamps that you can also see in the section on Special Street Lamps for Royal Premises. These pictures were just snatched off the television and the only difference you can see is that they have been converted to electricity! Ah well, Windsor Castle is 1000 years old and must have seen many technological changes over the years but it is still standing and I see no reason why some of William Sugg’s products should not continue to add that special touch of tradition for many years to come.

Whilst Queen Victoria looked on!

“The Early History of Gas Lighting”, as published in “Once a Week”, October 26, 1872.

Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II – and Gas Lights

The Removal of Gaslights in Westminster 2021

The End of Street Lighting by Gas in the UK

The Real Story behind the Gas Lamps & Lamplighters in Mary Poppins Returns.

200 Years of Gas Supply 1792-1992

Site Background & Header

The background to the site is a modern picture of Westminster, the ‘home’ of William Sugg for so many years. It was taken from the roof of The House of Lords during a visit by the Heritage Group of CIBSE in 2004 and centres on Westminster Abbey. The header carries a woodcut of ‘Vincent Works’, the Sugg factory, which might well have been visible from this vantage point. William used this on one of his letter heads. The first and oldest logo also shows the intimate connection with Westminster as it carries the Westminster portcullis with the inscription ‘en avant’ – ‘in advance’. The second logo replaced the earlier one around 1920 and was used right the way through the century until the ‘modern’ era when the ‘flame’ logo was applied to the new era of gas heating equipment with the new factory in Crawley.

4 Responses

Vaughn Wiles says:

May 20, 2018 at 12:14 pm

Fantastic to see another little bit of British tradition and history remains in tact and proudly on show! A great credit to your forebears Chris.
1. Chris Sugg says:
  
  May 21, 2018 at 10:03 pm
  
  Thanks Vaughn, we enjoyed the day so much I just had to add something a little different! Hope you are all well.
Simon Crow says:

May 20, 2018 at 3:50 pm

How magnificent, Chris! What a splendid tribute the Sugg lamps are to these royal occasions!
1. Chris Sugg says:
  
  May 21, 2018 at 9:58 pm
  
  Thanks Simon, it was such a special day I couldn’t resist it!