Royal warrants, famous customers & recommendations

In 1853, Her Majesty Queen Victoria awarded the Royal Warrant to the House of Burgess, since when they have had the distinction of holding Royal Warrants from His Majesty King George V, His Majesty King George VI, and our present Queen Elizabeth II.

Many great names have figured in the list of Burgess customers. Lord Nelson took with him to the Battle of the Nile many of Burgess' delicacies, and goods were supplied to H.M.S. Victory in 1805. A former Duchess of Gloucester, fourth daughter of George III, was another patron. The arms indicative of her warrant were displayed over the "Original Fish Sauce Warehouse" until 1908, when the old building was demolished, the last of the old eighteenth century buildings to remain in the more modern Strand.

Famous authors have also held Burgess' savoury preparations in high esteem, and in Beppo we have Lord Byron meditating on the trials of fasting for Lent and exhorting his readers to walk or ride to the Strand to purchase suitable sauces to enhance their fish diet!

Likewise, Sir Walter Scott in St. Ronan‘s Well, has written: "Were you to eat your words with the best fish sauce (and that is Burgess‘), I have got all the information from them I wanted."''

In more modern times Burgess' famous Anchovy Products were among the stores taken by Captain Scott on his historic Antarctic expedition.

Today (2000) with modern premises and machinery, the traditional goodness of Burgess' high quality products - "in many cases still essentially similar to the Burgess products of the eighteenth century" justifies the belief in a future for the House of Burgess as distinguished as its past.

Thanks and acknowledgements to Rayner Burgess Limited

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