preloader
Great China Area

About BRADY BAGS

Brady Bags Hong Kong

Possessing the purest original English blood, the completely hand-made excellent Brady bags are portable and durable with rich England style. More than hundred years passed, they still maintain their charm.

Brady bags were established in 1887 and their origin can be traced back to 1870s. John and Albert Brady founded Brady Brothers in Price Street in Birmingham, England in the 1870s, making leather goods for field sports usage such as high quality gun cases. Later, John’s son Ernest and Albert’s son Leonard joined the business. After John was died aged 55 in 1923, Ernest took over the business in 1928.

In 1930s, Ernest and Leonard moved the business to larger premises in Shadwell Street in the heart of Birmingham’s gun quarter. It was where Ernest did the first design and personally made a range of fishing bags which are all named after English rivers. The bags, becoming the mainstay of the company, were to maintain the prosperity and reputation of the company in the future years. In addition, the hand-made Brady gun cases were extremely valuable and attractive for those possessing Purdey guns throughout the world. They also made oak and leather cases for movie and theatrical celebrities and royalty, including the Sultan of Oman and the Duke of Westminster.

During the Second World War in the 1940s, Ernest was forced to move the business into his house, assisted by one stitcher and one part-time machinist, who both had worked for John and Albert before, and continued to work with Brady Brothers for over 50 years. However, the house was bombed during the war and it happened to Birmingham as well. Due to the reconstruction of the city and the demolishment of Shadwell Street, Ernest had no choice but decided to move the business to Halesowen, a small town in the industrial Black Country, and started the business again. It was important to find new outlets at that time in order to rebuild the business.

Ernest brought his family to London for a month, travelling by a caravan built by him. He went into central London every day with a self-constructed large wheeled truck, which was loaded with samples of all the things that Brady Brothers made. He showed his goods to the big stores, small fishing and gun makers shops and took many orders, which saved the business. Brady Bags had a reputation for quality and longevity. From 1960s-1980s, Brady Bags were exported to the USA, Japan, France, Sweden, South Africa and Italy.

After Ernest died in 1986, his daughter Helen and his brother Philip ran the company until 1993. In 1993, Brady was acquired by Goold Holdings which was based in Walsall, the centre of the saddlery and leathergoods trade in England and had already acquired Jeffries Saddlery and also the Falcon, Eldonian and Wembley brands.

Brady’s manufacturing operations was moved from Halesowen and integrated into production with Jeffries Saddlery, using the skills identical to the leather industry based in Walsall. The new management introduced new bags into the range and found that the quality values of Brady bags appealed to a much wider audience.

Brady Made in England