Our Story

Our story

The Harold Boot Company can be traced back to the 1400's in Leicestershire, where Ian Harold's ancestors were bespoke bootmakers. Fast forward 400 years of boot-making to the nineteenth century and in 1878 John Harold took over the running of the factory from his father and found that his plans to expand were thwarted by lack of supply of good quality leather, so in 1912, decided to send his oldest son out to Australia to start a factory using the abundance of high-quality Australian leather.

During both the First and Second World Wars the Australian Harold factory made combat boots for the military but continued to expand their range of comfortable, hard-wearing workwear and in 1925 produced their first one-piece upper, elastic-sided boot, a copy of the Chelsea boot made in the old factory in England and the forerunner of our best-selling Grazier boot.

The company continued to be wholly owned by the Harold family until 1988 when Ian Harold, John’s great-grandson, sold the company to his business associate Ken Watkin. Ken’s expertise was sourcing the highest quality raw materials to produce the boots – which he continues to do to this day.

Ken employed some Vietnamese craftsmen at the factory and soon realised that their skills were essential to secure high-quality production in the future. This has led to us starting our own factory in Vietnam where our team of craftsmen and women carry on the same traditional boot-making techniques employed by Ian Harold and his forebears - crafting and producing quality, stylish, comfortable and strong boots to be worn anywhere and everywhere with pride.
Ian Harold is sadly no longer with us, but his name continues in tribute to a proud 600-year-old family tradition of boot making.