Turnbull & Jones Ltd.
23-25, Wellesley Street, Auckland.
Branches in most New Zealand cities.

Brands: Exelrad, Troubadour & Courtenay

Turnbull & Jones Ltd. was an old-established electrical firm and became a supplier and distributor of radios and radio components along with electrical products from 1931.

Radios they advertised and distributed:

• Philips from 1931.
• Troubadour from 1933-34, which they manufactured.
• Troubadour from 1935, manufactured by Radio Corp. of New Zealand Ltd.
• Courtenay from 1935 to 1956, manufactured by Radio Corp. of New Zealand Ltd.
• Exelrad Radio parts from 1934 followed by Exelrad kitsets from 1935. All manufactured by Radio Corp. [1]

By 1956 Turnbull & Jones had ceased dealing in radios and withdrew the name Courtenay from the market. [1]

Turnbull and Jones Ltd., started by R.T. Turnbull and R.C. Jones were one of New Zealand's foremost electrical engineering companies dating back to the early 1900s and were the electrical contractors for the original Palmerston North Electric Power Station, opened 1924. [2]

In April 1931 they added Philips radios to their inventory of electrical parts, Philips lamps, batteries, dynamos, etc. [3]

By 1933 they were advertising Buy a “N.Z. Built Radio” the Troubadour and added Electrical Engineers & Wireless Experts. [4]

According to the late John Stokes Turnbull & Jones manufactured Troubadour radios on a small scale from 1933 and production ceased in 1934. For a short time afterward this same brand name was used on sets made by Radio Corp. for Turnbull & Jones. However, after 1934 the latter firm took over the distribution of Courtenay but was still sold by Turnbull & Jones.[1]

In 1934 Turnbull and Jones arranged for Radio Corp. to make a range of coils and transformers which they marketed under the brand 'Exelrad'.  The following year they added kitset radios which were very similar to models manufactured by Radio Corp.  Production continued up till the start of WW2. The Exelrad brand continued after the war, although these were not made by Radio Corp.
By 1956 Turnbull & Jones had ceased dealing in radios. [1]

[1] Stokes - The golden age of radio in the home.
[2] Otago Daily 29 Sep 1902, Page 7.
[3] Auckland Star 3 Apr 1931, Page 16.
[4] Otago Daily 12 Sep 1933, Page 2.