Silver Cross: The story of the pram firm founded in Leeds
It’s a story which started in the late 1870s with an invention which has helped to change the course of modern parenting.
Silver Cross was founded in 1877 when William Wilson wheeled out the world’s first baby carriage’ from his workshop on Silver Cross Street in Hunslet.
He introduced a unique idea that would change parenting forever. His prototype combined spring technology with a reversible hood.
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Wilson registered more than 30 patents for pram design before receiving a Royal Warrant for baby carriage production.
He died at the age 58 and ownership passed to his three sons - James, Irwin, and Alfred.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the brothers supplied a Silver Cross baby carriage to George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
By the mid-1900s, the company was renowned for producing the world’s most exclusive baby coaches - known as the "Rolls-Royce of prams".
The factory moved to Guiseley in 1936 where it would stay until 2002 when it was bought by David Halsall International, the UK’s biggest toy wholesaler, and production was moved to Bingley and its headquarters to Broughton Hall, Skipton.
The firm claims more than ten million babies have enjoyed their first views of the world from the comfort and safety of a Silver Cross pram.