De La Rue had been regarded as the leading banknote paper manufacturer in the world, having manufactured banknote paper for the Bank of England since 1724. In 1997, De La Rue acquired Harrison and Sons, the stamp and banknote printers based in High Wycombe. The factory closed permanently in 2003. In early 2002, De La Rue took over ownership from Smurfit Diamond Packaging Corporation of Sequoia Voting Systems, a California-based company that was a large provider of electronic voting systems in the U.S., for U.S. $23 million. After losing money for three years in a business way out of the company's traditional lines,
Hippolyte De La Rue the state of the corduroy trousers he was wearing. He lost the RAAF's sole Bristol Scout in another accident less than a year later. De La Rue married Clara Stone in a Presbyterian ceremony at Scots Church, Melbourne, on 1 October 1923; the couple would have a daughter. He had another escape in August 1925 when he crashed a Sopwith Pup into a hangar; a witness said that De La Rue, who was "renowned for his fiery Gallic temper", strode from the wreckage and began to violently abuse the aircraft. By 1926, he was the examining officer on the flight