LIKE many businesses, Archer Cowley, the Oxford removals firm, had a humble start to life.

James Archer ran a daily carrier’s service between Oxford, Abingdon and Radley in a two-wheeled horse-drawn cart, collecting and delivering parcels.

That was in 1857 and over the next 100 years, it developed into one of the biggest firms of its type in the South of England.

We were reminded of Archer Cowley’s prominent role in the city’s business community when Philip Archer, a descendant of the founder, wrote to Memory Lane.

An album tracing the history of the family firm had been lost and the only page known to exist was one reproduced in the Oxford Mail in 1976.

Mr Archer wrote: “The single page represents the only remnant of a wonderful graphic record of an Oxford firm that traded for 112 years from 1857 to 1969.”

Using modern technology, the Mail’s production assistant, Neil Braggins, was able to supply Mr Archer with copies of the historic photographs that appeared on the page. Some of them are reproduced here.

The firm began in Pembroke Street, off St Aldate’s, where it had offices and extensive depositories for storing furniture and other goods.

To the original horse and cart, James Archer added more, developing an extensive haulage business. Work included carting away rubble from the old Town Hall and delivering building materials for the new one in the 1890s.

Eventually, he had 26 horses and a 180-acre farm at Grandpont, which produced the hay they ate and where they grazed and rested over the weekend.

When James retired in 1919, his nephew, William Archer, took over.

The other partners at that time were Mr MJ Cowley and Mr R Rippington.

The firm moved to Park End Street in 1920 and behind the modest facade, it built extensive warehouses with thousands of square feet for storing furniture and other effects.

In the late 19th century, long-distance removals were carried out by rail, with horses providing the transport to Oxford station and to the customer from the destination station. In 1901, the firm took delivery of a 15-ton traction engine, which hauled three large vans and a water cart. It had a maximum permitted speed of seven miles per hour, and had to stop to replenish its water tank every 15 miles.

A Foden steam wagon arrived in 1913 and the firm was one of the first Oxford businesses to run a four-ton petrol-driven van from 1921.

One of its biggest jobs was the removal of books from the Bodleian to the new Science Library in 1934 – 137 vanloads were moved in three weeks, an average of 11,765 books a day.

When the firm celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1957, goods were being packed and shipped to all parts of the world.

A reporter who visited the firm’s warehouses three years later, remarked how spick and span they were, and how neatly the furniture had been stacked. William Archer replied: “I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about tidiness and cleanliness.”

The first record of an Archer in Oxford is in 1518 when John Archer leased five acres near the North Gate at eight shillings a year.

The second is in 1637 when Elias Archer rented half of 46 Broad Street for £1 a year and two capons.

At least 16 members of the large Archer family have been Freemen of Oxford.

The firm was sold to the Cantay group in 1961, but continued to trade under its original name until 1969.