Russian, Hills & Whishaw Seal, Image by StuE, Found by Mick Scurrell.
Found near Mistley Essex, 22 X 19mm.
Both sides have the remains of a circular border inside of which on one side is HILLS & curving down at the top and WHISHAW curving up at the bottom and in between the two in a straight line at the centre is ВИША(У?) = VIshA(U?). The other side has NI at the centre and [H]ILLS & [W]HI[SHAW] curved in the same orientation around that.
The Whishaw is partly obscured but along with the Cyrillic script across the centre and the links found below it is certain.
FOR TWO CENTURIES after the foundation of St Petersburg 1703, the British merchant community- exercised a remarkable influence over the city's economic relations with the wider world. This community operated as a 'City of London' in miniature, and where the merchants led others--diplomats, travellers, soldiers, sailors, engineers, craftsmen and others--followed.The St Petersburg Exchange, built in the early 19th century and painted in 1891 by Alexander Beggrov. Englishman Edwin Coates working in the works' manager's office of Thornton's thread mill. St Petersburg, shortly before the First World War.To the English in the sixteenth century the idea of a northern route to the Indies had a particular appeal, and in 1553, in search of such a passage, the Edward Bonaventure cast anchor off the southern shore of the White Sea. For England, this venture established a thriving trade with Russia through Archangel; for Russia, it offered the prospect of secure and direct commercial links with Western Europe. The ship's return to England heralded the formation in London of the Muscovy Company, which sent annual cargoes of cloth, silks, tropical and Mediterranean goods in return for pelts, wax, tar and pitch. Finding it more economical to export Russian hemp in a processed form, English merchants set up a rope works near Archangel. It soon enjoyed a high reputation. (...houses both in St Petersburg and an important credit-granting centre in Western Europe--increasingly in London. One such, Hill Wishaw, also had political influence through Thomas Mitchell, the senior partner of its London agents, who was Liberal MP for Bridport...) from 'On the Banks of the Neva: British Merchants in St Petersburg before the Russian Revolution'
Magazine article by Stuart Thompstone; History Today, Vol. 53, December 2003.
"The Whishaws were one of several interrelated Anglo-Russian trading families that flourished in St Petersburg before the Revolution. Her father, Bernhard Whishaw (1779-1868), and various relatives resettled in Cheltenham during the late 19th century, and several of them were buried in Leckhampton Churchyard.
Bernhard Whishaw was an imposing figure, six feet tall, with a red beard but no moustache or whiskers. He was a senior partner of the firm Hills and Whishaw, by far the oldest in St Petersburg, and when he entered the Exchange there, everyone in the building would bow with great respect."
This Wikipedia entry for Fred Whishaw also mentions the company - "Frederick James Whishaw was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, to English-born parents, Bernard Whishaw of Cheltenham and Isabel Maria Cattley, on 14 March 1854; he was one of eight children. His family had been in Russia since the 18th century. ... Unhappy with his occupation, Whishaw left Hills & Whishaw and eventually emigrated to England after his marriage to Ethel Charlotte Moberly on 30 March 1880." From Eminent Cheltonians Commemorated at Leckhampton by ERIC MILLER
On the Hills side the following links to the company have been found:- Probate copy of the will (dated 25 Mar 1867) of Thomas Hill "Empowers his trustees to continue loans he has made to the firms of Hills and Whishaw, St Petersburg, Russia (in which he is a partner), and James Hill and Sons, London, on terms they think fit." From Exploring Surrey's Past.
Different Hills & Whishaw seals can be seen in Figs. 30 a and b and 31 a and b, John Sullivan, 'Russian Cloth Seals in Britain Trade, Textiles and Origins', 2012. More interesting detail on the families can be found on pages 26, 34 ("Hills and Whishaw, established in Archangel around 1842 by William Whishaw.") and page 46.
From Ged Dodd, "Mostly in English .. one line in Cyrillic.
Obverse:- HILLS & WISHAW .. ВИШАУ (Vishau = Wishaw)
Reverse:- HILLS & WISHAW ... N1 is number 1 post.
Hills & Wishaw were very active in the VOLOGDA region and we have four of their seals on the database showing this with BOЛOГДA on the seals .. but this doesn't have that wording.. so this seal is probably St Petersburg where they had there HQ. see ref IDS 1198 on The PeaceHavens Project, Seal Numbers 1101 - 1200 & The PeaceHavens Project, Inspector Database & The PeaceHavens Project, Post Numbers."
COMMERCIAL GAZETTE 6 Jan 1849 (The Spectator Archive), "Tuesday, January 2. PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED. Hill, Brothers, Riga, merchants ; as far as regards J. H. Hill-Hills and Whishaw, St. Petersburg, merchants ; as far as regards B. and W Whishaw and J.H. Hill-,.T. and S. Kennard,London, merchants- Hill and Co, Archangel, merchants"
