By Porter Lang
Check the label first. A Wellington boot today is, according to Wikipedia, “most often made from rubber or polyvinyl chloride (PVC)”. That single sentence is the practical part. The original, as the sources tell it, was nothing of the kind.
Start with the Hessian
Wikipedia’s article on the Hessian boot says it takes its name from Hesse in Germany and was first worn by German soldiers in the 18th century. It describes a knee-high boot with a low heel and a semi-pointed toe, a decorative tassel at the top of each shaft and a “v” notch at the front. The same article says the style became popular in England, particularly during the Regency period (1811 to 1820).
That article does not mention the Duke of Wellington. Its only link to the later boot is a single line saying the Hessian evolved into the rubber work boots known as Wellingtons. A reader who stopped there would miss the middle of the story.
The Duke’s commission
The middle is in Wikipedia’s article on the Wellington boot. It says the boot was adapted from Hessian boots, and that the Duke of Wellington instructed his shoemaker, Hoby of St James’s Street, London, to modify the style. The first version used soft calfskin leather. The article gives no date for the boot’s creation, and the only date near it is an 1815 portrait that shows a Hessian boot. We keep to that and do not supply a year of our own.
Our reading: the leather Wellington was a fashion and service boot, made for a man on a horse. The sources do not say what it cost or who else wore it, and we do not guess.
Where the rubber came in
Rubber changed the boot. The same article says Charles Goodyear had just invented the sulphur vulcanisation process for natural rubber when Hiram Hutchinson met him in 1852. Hutchinson bought the patent to make footwear and founded À l’Aigle in France in 1853, according to the article.
Wikipedia’s article on Hunter Boot Ltd gives a Scottish thread. It says the company was established in 1856 as the North British Rubber Company, headquartered in Edinburgh, and that its founder was an American entrepreneur named Henry Lee Norris. The article on the boot itself says only that the North British Rubber Company is now Hunter Boot Ltd, and does not say where it was. The company article supplies the place. We report both statements as they stand.
Boots for a war
Both articles carry the same figure for the First World War: 1,185,036 pairs were made to meet the British Army’s demands. In the boot article the figure is tagged “citation needed”. The company article repeats it without that tag. Two articles giving one number is not two sources. We think the count may have been copied from one page to the other, though neither says so, and we treat it as unconfirmed.
What to look for on the label
Here the pages help a little and then stop. Material is the first thing: leather in the original, rubber or PVC now, per the boot article. The second is the name. Wikipedia says “Wellington boot” is the term most commonly used in British English and that “gumboot” is also used there. A search for either should find the same object.
We found no sizing, lining, sole or care information in the pages we read, so we give none. We also name no model.
Dates in order
- 18th century: the Hessian boot first worn by German soldiers, according to Wikipedia.
- 1811 to 1820: the Hessian boot popular in England, according to Wikipedia.
- 1815: a portrait showing a Hessian boot, according to Wikipedia.
- 1852: Hutchinson meets Goodyear, according to Wikipedia.
- 1853: À l’Aigle founded in France, according to Wikipedia.
- 1856: the North British Rubber Company established, according to Wikipedia’s Hunter Boot article.
Side by side
The boot article says the company is now Hunter Boot Ltd and gives no place. The company article says Edinburgh. The Hessian article says nothing about Wellington, and the boot article gives no creation date. The war figure is the same in both and equally weak.
What kind of sources these are
Three Wikipedia articles, which anyone can edit: the Hessian boot, the Wellington boot and Hunter Boot Ltd. We read no museum page, no company history and no military archive. The Hunter article describes a company that sells boots, and we use only its dates and places. This pack therefore rests on one encyclopaedia, and a second source should be added before anyone treats the details as settled.
Questions a buyer would ask
Is the boot rubber, PVC or leather? Is “Wellington” or “gumboot” the word the maker uses? Does the page say where it was made? The pages we read answer only the first.
What we left out
We left out the company’s ownership, its royal warrants and its sales, because they concern a business and not the boot. We left out Hancock and any rival rubber patents, which the article on the boot does not mention. We left out prices, fashion and festival use, because no source we read covered them.
Quick answers
Who made the first Wellington boot? Wikipedia says the Duke of Wellington instructed his shoemaker, Hoby of St James’s Street, London, to modify the Hessian boot.
What is a Wellington boot made of? According to Wikipedia, the first were soft calfskin leather, and today they are most often rubber or PVC.
What do the British call a Wellington boot? Wikipedia says “Wellington boot” is the most common term in British English, and “gumboot” is also used.
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Roam first. Shop later.