Founded in 1829, Tricker’s is proudly the oldest established shoemaker in Britain and celebrates 195 years in business in 2024. Still owned by its founding family, the brand’s commitment to making shoes and boots of outstanding quality remains wholeheartedly consistent.
All Tricker’s footwear is made entirely from start to finish at its Northampton factory and, whilst manufacturing processes have changed over time, its craftsmen and women continue to follow traditional techniques.
Joseph Tricker was a Bootmaker from Stoke Newington, Islington London born in 1810 who died in 1879.
The King of England in 1810 was George III, the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
He became heir to the throne on the death of his father in 1751, succeeding his grandfather, George II, in 1760. He was the third Hanoverian monarch and the first one to be born in England and to use English as his first language.
George IV succeeded to the throne in January 1820, and was the King in 1829 when Joseph Tricker founded the company.
To set the scene from an historical perspective, that same year saw Robert Peel establish London's first uniformed police force, whilst in America, Abraham Lincoln gave his first political speech. Louis Braille invented his system of finger-reading for the blind and Queen Victoria's ascent to the throne was still eight years away.
Joseph Tricker saw the birth of the modern world, a time for great enlightenment, learning and social reforms. This was the world in which the first retail orders for Tricker's shoes were secured.
Joseph Tricker
His daughter Clara Tricker married a Bootmaker from Northampton called Walter Barltrop born in 1841 and died in 1926.
Ink blotter 1905
Walter James Barltrop
They had a son called Ernest Barltrop born in 1870 who was the third generation.
Tricker's (most recent) factory, located at 56-60 St Michael's Rd, Northampton, first opened its doors in 1903 and is still the base for all the brand’s manufacturing today. Whilst traditional production processes have changed over time, Tricker’s commitment to making shoes and boots of outstanding quality has remained the same and its team can perform specialist operations which many other welted manufacturers cannot.
The factory in St Michaels Road Northampton
Ernest Raymond Barltrop
He married a Gertrude Nash and had a son called Donald Barltrop who was the fourth generation.
Ernest Donald Barltrop
One of his sons Nick Barltrop was the fifth generation to run the company.
Nick Barltrop
In 2015 Nick Barltrop took over his current role as the Chairman of R E Tricker Ltd.
Martin Mason was the first non-family member hired as the sixth Managing Director of the company in 2015.
Martin Mason
In January 2019, King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales visited Tricker’s to celebrate our 190th anniversary.
Our age is our advantage, as the oldest footwear brand in Northampton, we have been making shoes and boots here for nearly 200 years. Our long experience as shoemakers means that our products are highly regarded – it's a labour-intensive and skills-dependent operation. All the craftsmen who work here are proud of what they do.
Tricker’s is rightly known as the originator and perfecter of the English country brogue shoe and boot, a classic and specific style characterised by a heavy build, strong welts, and intricate brogueing detail.
Our product comes with some real emotional investment. Its timeless, functional design has now been favored by the sartorially aware for many decades and it can lay claim to being one of the true icons of modern menswear.
