Behind the scenes at the 200-year-old Leeds company - and the remarkable woman ahead of her time
After more than four decades in the family business, Peter Vickers is stepping into a new role - one that looks firmly to the past.
At Vickers Oils, a company with roots stretching back nearly 200 years, he is now working as historian, uncovering a story that runs alongside the rise of Leeds itself.
He said: “I spent 42 years working in our family business known as Vickers Oils, which is based on Clarence Road, about 500 metres downstream from the Armouries.
“We've been on that site for nearly 150 years. And the business itself is nearly 200 years old. The 200th anniversary will be in 2028.”
Supported by a professional archivist and a vast collection of documents, his focus is now on piecing together that history and placing it within a wider context.
“My job now is really to tell the story of the family and the business, and particularly in the context of what was happening in Leeds and Britain and across the world at the time,” he said.
At the heart of that story is Mary Randall Vickers, his great, great, great grandmother, a woman whose life reflects both the upheaval and opportunity of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
He said: “The story really starts with my great, great, great grandmother, who was born in 1757 and died in 1826. Her life would be considered remarkable even today, but in the context of the time, it's extraordinary.”
Living through the Industrial Revolution, she witnessed Leeds transform into a centre of industry.
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He said: “Leeds was going through the Industrial Revolution. The major textile processing mills were established in Leeds at that time. She's a contemporary of all those figures.”
Her own life was marked by resilience. Widowed twice, she raised eight children while managing two inherited businesses in a society where such a role for women was highly unusual.
He said: “She was married and widowed twice, had children by both her husbands and inherited four stepchildren. So she ended up raising eight children.
“She inherited two businesses, so she was running two businesses and raising these kids.”
She also embraced change, investing in new technology as industry rapidly evolved.
He said: “She was investing in a steam engine in 1811, which is fairly early on. So she was up with technology and prepared to innovate and take risks.”
For Mr Vickers, her story mirrors the wider forces shaping both the city and the country.
He said: “All the great sort of trends that develop the modern world start in her lifetime.
“The story we're building up is a sort of microcosm of what's happening in Leeds and Britain at the time when the city is growing very fast.”
That connection between the family and Leeds continued through the generations.
The company would go on to supply industrial lubricants to the textile trade, building long-standing relationships with mills across Yorkshire and beyond.
He said: “We make specialised lubricants for various industries. One of those has absolutely been the wool processing industry in the UK and around the world.
“We've still got trading relationships that go back well over a hundred years with some of the surviving Yorkshire wool processing mills.”
Among the material uncovered are records that bring that history vividly to life, including a 19th-century invoice linking the family to another long-established Yorkshire manufacturer, A W Hainsworth.
He said: “They found an invoice from my great, great grandfather to their great, great grandfather based in 1859. It's just fun.”
But the history he is uncovering is not without its challenges. Legal disputes, uncertainty and setbacks all form part of the picture.
He said: “Things are not always straightforward.”
Rather than smoothing over those moments, he believes they are central to telling an honest story.
He said: “It's not a success story. It's warts and all. There are plenty of difficulties and bumps and hardships along the way. It's a real story.”
That sense of realism is also what he hopes readers will take from it.
He said: “There is still stuff to learn about how to deal with disappointments and difficulties.
“She was let down by a few people, but it didn't deter her. It's the story of seeing change coming and adapting to it.”
He also points to a long-standing ethos within the business, particularly in its approach to employees.
He said: “One of the things that I'm proud of is a fairly consistent approach of really taking care of our employees, putting the interests of the employees as important as those of the shareholders. That's been a fairly consistent trend, which I think comes from her.”
Now, with the bicentenary of Mary’s death, work is under way to open up the archive, including plans for digitisation and greater public access.
He said: “We've got quite an archive, and we're intending to open that to some public access. There will be a website as well. We'll probably publish some other stories, particularly about Mary.”
For Mr Vickers, the process has brought a renewed sense of connection, not just to his own family history, but to the city where it unfolded.
He said: “There is a great and growing sense of pride in who I’m related to, not their success. There were plenty of difficulties, and it’s warts and all.”
And ultimately, he hopes others will find something familiar in that story too.
He said: “I hope that they will find inspiration from a person who was flexible, willing to adapt and meet vast changes, but who kept her integrity despite the changing circumstances.”