Reportedly  established in 1763 by Edward Armfield, at Holloway Park Birmingham; earliest known reference by company to the latter date is in Kelly's Post Office Directory for 1895.  In addition the Bm ' Established 1763 ' has been identified  as of Armfield manufacture by means of the shank structure (see above) use of which is apparently exlusive to Armfield on U.K. uniform buttons  .In view of the 1767 and subsequent entries I see no reason to doubt the claimed date. Armfields'  Became a Ltd  Co. in 1911 and went into voluntary liquidation in July 1975. The St. Pauls factory was bombed in 1940 probably destroying the companies ability to manufacture buttons.

 The late Major, H.C.Marshall. MBE. ( former editor  of `British Buttons' ) in correspondence with A.D.Barker ( former editor of 'Button Lines.) , published BL's. issue 22 p16. stated that according to his information The late Major, H.C.Marshall. MBE. ( former editor  of `British Buttons' ) in correspondence with A.D.Barker ( former editor of 'Button Lines.) , published BL's. issue 22 p16.   stated that according to his information^1,  after the bombing:

 ' The manufacturing side was closed down...'   and the company proceeded   ' as a distributor'. 

Thus, apparently, contradicting himself since in BL's. issue 10 p4. 'Naval Buttons' Marshall stated that Armfields,

  '...gradually gave up the making of buttons and concentrated on distribution as a merchant house.'

The disparity  between the two statements is only one of speed but, nevertheless, it is an important point when trying to assess the age of Armfield b/ms;  particularly as buttons with obverse designs post dating 1940 and Armfield b/ms.  are extant, (ex.RNP,1953p ). The most likely explanation is that Armfield salvaged their dies from the wreckage of St. Pauls , or a percentage thereof,  took orders as usual: subcontracting the actual manufacture to other companies, or  company, with the product retaining Armfield marks; new obverse designs, presumably, being supplied by the manufacturer. The evidence for this theory is fragmentary.  The existence of Armfield obverse dies, created prior to 1940,  being used after the destruction of the factory cannot, at the present time,  be positively established although H.C.Marshall's description (BLs issue 10 p4.) of the efforts of Mr.Perkin,  in response to a request from Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer Via Marshall in 1954, to :

 `...identify the correct design ²...find the tools, clean them up and produce the requisite number ...'

would seem to indicate such dies existed as well as some means, not necessarily internal, of production. 

There is  some evidence to support the theory that  after 1940 subcontracting was the order of the day with the existence of Buttons Limited backmarks the obverse designs of which are identical with Armfield (P1) b/ms.; this may be interpreted to support the view that new dies originated with the contractor but if the dies were made by Armfield it is conceivable that they were used `under licence’ by the producer with their own backmark.  Personally I prefer the contractor origin of new designs &  largely undamaged dies recovered from St. Pauls³.

Above are Royal Armoured Corps buttons,  (pattern for the badge sealed 3rd January 1942 )^*  The end examples are Pitt & Gaunt , (spot the restrike). The latest backmarked example  of which I am aware is on this Royal Navy Petty Officer Button below:

Which I am told, by several , then serving, seamen, were not issued until 1953 Uniform buttons are only part of the story since the company were trimming merchants  and making costume buttons too - although the number of those that are attributable to Armfield is debatable;  backmarks not being as common on costume buttons.  I frequently look at shell construction buttons from the first  quarter of the 20th C. with the shank type mentioned above and wonder...            

The company advertised a variety of products in   The Post Office London Directory : 1895:

`(Est. 1763), crest, livery, naval, military, ivory & real stone buttons' in 1896 adding  `& patent prongless buckles' in 1901 added `golf ,'  `& die sinkers'

1902-1907 the entries changed to:

` golf, crest, livery, naval,  ivory & real stone also trimming merchants, silk , facings, velvets, italians &c'  .

Then my notes  pick them up again in Kelly's Directory of Merchants, Manufacturers & Shippers 1944  as making:

 ` (gilt, naval, military , hunt, uniform, ivory, perlite, erinoid, silk & leather buttons)'

I don't think that their output was ever very large⁴ & I wouldn't be surprised to learn that  many of their products came from other manufacturers;  it's probably no coincidence, as well as  the obvious^{5 ,} that there are noticeable clusters of military buttons produced with Armfield backmarks that can be dated around WWI & WWII periods the rest of the time, it seems to me,  there just weren't as many Armfield buttons around. Buttons  from other manufacturers with long histories are much in evidence compared to this company; for example while  I know of about 20 different backmarks for Armfield and about 30 for Jennens ( a similarly sized company operating over a similar period of time) I would anticipate turning a button over and seeing Jennens with far greater frequency than the 2:3 ratio would seem to suggest, which admittedly may be explained in part by Jennens accoutrement connection giving them a larger market share, whichever way you look at the data, it seems to me that Armfields output was not huge.

There are a few intriguing entries in the London Directories before  the dates mentioned above.

 L1826 Armfield Ed. & Sons  9  Cateaton st  BM      L1839  Armfield Richard 18 King st, Cheapside BMW

L1829  Armfield Richard 9 Cateaton st BMW             L1840  Armfield Richard 18 King st, Cheapside BM

L1832  Armfield Rd 9 Cateaton st BW                         L1840R Armfield Richard 18 King st, Cheapside [mnfs] BMW

L1833  Armfield Richard, 9 Cateaton st  BMW            L1841  Armfield Richard 18 King st, Cheapside BM

L1835  Armfield Rd. 9 Cateaton st [mnfs] BW             L1842  Armfield Richard 18 King st. Cheapside BM

It is the initial entry of 1826 that seems to suggest a connection,  I have a lot of Directory entries between 1842 & 1895 but they don't seem to advertise in the sections I have- too long a gap to make a name connection.

Anyone have any Armfield catalogues or Trade Cards, etc.?

1/  Presumably obtained from  the late Mr. A. A. Perkin, who was a company director.

2/. In this case a flag officers button ( Catolo) worn during the period 1795-1812; it should be noted that this design has the distinction of being one of the most common `restrikes' ever and is still being reproduced by some manufacturers (see archive pages for Gaunt & London Badge) : consequently it is impossible to say, without examples, if those struck for M.G.M. were from period dies or not.   see also my restrikes and fakes article.

3/  Even a bomb , short of a direct hit, or  fire would have little efffect on the large old ones; take a look.        Ok maybe not I'm  unable to find my big one at the moment; here are similarly sized (mine is more bell shaped) London Badge Dies  images/archive1/craftsmanstools094.jpg  Here is a smaller one from my collection, 49.5+mm diameter x37.5+mm high,    here  even so it's a chunky little fellow and could probably take a considerable number of bricks & girders before damage occurred. These smaller ones?  here     Now they might get a bit scattered and it would be easier to damage them or to be lost in the general debri but they are, I think,  for horn buttons, so probably don't count; ( I won't be testing my theories on any of these dies anytime soon:)                   

4/ Their seemingly easy transition to  a merchant house would seem to suggest that it wasn't worth their while to retool.

5/ War made necessary the increased production of  all things military; anything that could be utillised for the War Effort was.

^{*  Head-Dress Badges of the British Army Vol two.  Arthur Kipling & Hugh  King    Muller Blond & White 1979 rpt. 1987}     

A quick note on preservation: these dies tend to go rusty; cleaning with diesel works extremely well without damaging the metal like some rust eaters do. Once cleaned a silicon, ( or similar),  spray is good for about ten years, depending on how often it's handled.