John B. Edmondson was the son of Thomas Edmondson, the inventor of the Edmondson Railway Ticket System. The system revolutionised the way rail travel was managed by conductors and railway companies. The system consisted of tickets in the form of a small piece of cardboard, pre-printed with journey details (as opposed to the then current hand-written paper bill). The tickets would be numbered by hand, and validated by a separate date-stamping press when purchased. Thomas Edmondson died in 1851 and his son continued the business, which continued producing printed tickets into the 1950s. John B. Edmondson Ltd was located in Cheetham, Manchester, and expanded into general printing and box making.