Thomas De La Rue set up as printer, stationer and manufacturer of fancy goods in London in 1821, having previously been a Guernsey newspaper publisher. The firm of De La Rue was mainly associated with printing postage stamps (from 1855), banknotes, playing cards, diaries and stationery. After the First World War the company became involved in boilers (Potterton's) and plastics (Formica), also launching the successful fountain pen known as the Onoto. De La Rue is still trading and now describes itself as 'the world's largest commercial security printer and paper maker, involved in the production of over 150 national currencies and a wide range of security documents'.
Warren de la Rue (1815-1889), son of Thomas de la Rue, worked in his father's business, where he invented an envelope-folding machine, but also became known as an astronomer and physicist. He carried out research on the discharge of electricity in gases and was the inventor of the silver chloride battery and the photoheliograph for use in celestial photography.
From the guide to the Records of the De La Rue printing firm, 1830-1965, (Reading University: Special Collections Services)
