In this biography
Quick facts
- Born
- 1835
- Died
- 1926
- Birthplace
- Brockham Green, Surrey, England
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Nationality
- Not independently established
- Known for
- Built an outerwear business around gabardine.
- Trade
- Drapery and outfitting
- Separate milestones
- Fabric development; garment patents
Why this life matters
His business connected fabric development with the organisation needed to manufacture, promote and sell outerwear.
Timeline
Key moments
Opens a business
Basingstoke outfitting enterprise.
Garment patent
Tielocken coat.
Retires
Continues as a board member.
From apprenticeship to a regional market
Born in Surrey, Burberry trained in a Horsham draper’s shop before opening his own Basingstoke business in 1856. The public Oxford biography connects his experiments with the needs of farmers and country customers. He worked with British cotton manufacturers on a cheaper weatherproof textile, rather than developing a garment in isolation.
His opportunity joined retail knowledge to production knowledge: understanding what customers needed was different from being able to manufacture it consistently.
Sources for this section: [1]
A fabric, a garment and a market
The V&A dates gabardine’s invention to 1879 and its patent to 1888. Its display describes a tight twill made from specially prepared yarn, used first with linen and later with other fibres, notably cotton. It also places the coat’s development within military use and later fashion.
Burberry’s chronology separately records the Tielocken coat patent in 1912. These milestones distinguish fabric development from a later garment design.
Manufacturing and selling through other people
Hampshire Archives Trust describes Lancashire weaving, Basingstoke factories, and the work of Burberry’s sons and marketer R. B. Rolls. It also records his continued local retailing and the destruction of the Winchester Street shop by fire in 1905.
The commercial achievement therefore involved supply, distribution and reputation as well as a distinctive cloth. A surviving brand cannot by itself tell us the working conditions in every workshop.
Sources for this section: [3]
Retirement and the longer-lived institution
The company’s founder biography says he retired in 1917 but remained on its board until his death in 1926. This is the firm’s account of its founder, rather than an independent audit of its social impact.
The V&A’s labels follow an 1867 advertisement, the Haymarket store around 1891 and a Paris store opened in 1909. Advertising and new outlets gave the clothing business different routes to reach buyers.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions about Thomas Burberry
- Did one person make every part of the business?
- No. The regional history identifies manufacturers, family colleagues and a marketer.
Keep exploring
Lives connected to this story
- Titus Salt
Compare a textile manufacturer working with different fibres and production systems.
- Richard Arkwright
Read another textile career in a different industrial period.
Sources and further reading
Explore the evidence
These references support the biography and offer further reading. Official records, first-person accounts and independent reporting provide different perspectives; image records document attribution and licensing.
- 1. Christopher Breward / Oxford Dictionary of National BiographyBurberry, Thomas (1835–1926): public biographical extract
Only the public biographical extract was read. Its first-shop street differs from the Hampshire correction; the biography therefore names the town without choosing a street.
- 2. Victoria and Albert MuseumThe Burberry Trench: Crafting an Icon — selected large-print labels
- 3. Hampshire Archives TrustThomas Burberry: a Hampshire business history
- 4. Burberry GroupThomas Burberry: founder biography within Purpose and Values
The founder text was read in the actual indexed record. A short direct-access challenge was not accepted as the article.
- 5. Burberry GroupBurberry: historical chronology through 1918