Crown Perfumery

Crown had its origins in corset making - In 1840, American, William Sparks Thomson opened his corset business at 40 The Strand, London. He created high busted corsets to "assist the lady whom nature had not endowed with ample fullness". One of Thomson's clients was Queen Victoria - and the Crown was adopted as his trademark.Sometimes Thomson's clients would faint due to the tightness of his corsets - and this, led to the creation of the Crown Perfumery.

Thomson's son William Thomson was a brilliant chemist, and came up with the idea of producing a lavender based smelling-salt to revive these fainting ladies. One thing led to another and soon, in 1872, Thomson Jr. was producing fine perfumes, which were highly sought after by the ladies of the day.Crown gained a reputation for quality fragrances and by the end of the 19th century, Crown had a range of 49 scents, available worldwide.

Despite it's innovations and high reputation, Crown's success dwindled after the death of Thomson Sr. and the start of World War I. The company was sold to Lever Brothers (now Unilever) for £300,000. Under Lever, Crown's resources were turned to making hair products rather than perfume, and in 1939 the company was closed.

In the early nineties the company was revived and in 1993 a Crown Perfumery boutique was opened. Much of the perfume range was faithfully reproduced and Crown once more in business.

Sadly, in 1999 Crown was acquired once more. This time by English millionaire, and furniture maker, Clive Christian. He closed down the boutiques and discontinued the Crown line, using the bottles and history as a basis for his own perfumes.

Some of the Crown fragrances are now produced by Anglia Perfumery.