A six foot steel standard measure by W & T Avery for London County Council, dated 1898.

Scale subdivided in feet and inches.

Indenture number: 2144

Royal ciphers: VR, GR, GvR & ER.

Portcullis date marks: 1898, 1909, 1919, 1931, 1940, & 1950.

In original fitted case, with lifting handles. Internal paper label for London County Council Weights & Measures Office, 7 JUL 1939.

Case dimensions: 196 x 12 x 10 cm.

W & T Avery Ltd. was a British manufacturer of weighing machines. Established by William and Thomas Avery when they inherited a scale making business in 1813. They took the name W & T Avery in 1818. In 1891 the business became a limited company, in 1894 the shares were quoted on the London Stock Exchange. In 1895 the company bought the legendary Soho Foundry in Smethwick, a former steam engine factory owned by James Watt & Co. In 1897 the move was complete and the steam engine business was gradually converted to the manufacture of weighing machines.