Web searches reveal that much has been written about John Sadler brickmaker in Oldbury & his famous chemist nephew Samuel Alexander Sadler, so I endeavour to bring you information on all of this Sadler brickmaking family which spanned four generations, owned brickworks in five towns, mainly in Oldbury. I have divided this post into the many brickworks owned by the family & who worked them rather than going down each branch of the Family Tree which I have included at the end of the post to hopefully guide you through the many brickmakers & other family members who played a part in the Sadler Empire. Please note there are many gaps to which I do not have the answers to, so if found I will update the post. Also only a few Sadler bricks have turned up, so if you have images of Sadler bricks not shown in this post, please contact me via my email address which is on the Contacts Tab at the top of this Post. Thanks.
Churchbridge - Stourbridge Works, Oldbury.
Please note this yard/works was operated by the first & third generations with several years inbetween. So I start with the founder of the Sadler dynasty, Benjamin Sadler b.1777 & he is listed in Kelly's 1850 trade directory as brickmaking at Churchbridge, Oldbury. The 1883 OS map below shows there were three brickworks on Churchbridge at this date, but trade directories list several more brickmakers were operating yards at Churchbridge in the 1850's & 60's, so these smaller yards had either disappeared or were absorbed into these three larger works by 1883. I have established the location of Benjamin's yard from newspaper articles & trade directories which later record this works as the Stourbridge Works & his yard will have been situated within the area which I have coloured yellow on the 1883 map below.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1883.
How long Benjamin was brickmaking before this 1850 trade directory entry is unknown, but I have a 1856 newspaper notice advertising a clay mine & brick yard "For Let" consisting of kilns & clay mill capable of producing red & blue bricks which was situated in a prime location in town next to the canal & on the Turnpike Road. Although this brick yard is not named in this notice, only Benjamin's Churchbridge yard fits the bill. From my findings Benjamin may have died in December 1850 hence the Churchbridge yard being made available for Let. What has drawn me to this conclusion is that in the next part of this notice Benjamin's sons Samuel & James were selling wagons, horses & carts which were no longer needed from their Portway Road stables, so had they come from the Churchbridge Works ?
With the Churchbridge yard being possibly let to J. Barnsley & Son (Kelly's 1870) & then George Titley (Kelly's 1872 & an 1875 article) we then find the Sadler Brothers had moved from their Paddock Brickworks at Rounds Green to Churchbridge by 1876, establishing the Stourbridge Works on this site which is shown on the 1883 OS map above coloured yellow. Kelly's 1876 & 1880 editions read Sadler Brothers, Stourbridge Brick Works, Oldbury. These are the only entries in the Brick Manufacturers section for the Brothers as we next find the Sadler Brothers are listed in the Firebrick Manufacturers section in Kelly's 1884 & 88 editions at the Stourbridge Works. Therefore I am assuming the Brothers owned the marked Highfield Colliery from which they extracted coal & fireclay. A newspaper article dated August 1880 records that the Sadler Brothers of the Churchbridge Fire Brick Works or their agents were allowing girls to work on a Sunday which was not allowed by law. For breeching this offence the Company Agent George Newman was fined 40 shillings plus costs. I have mentioned this 1880 article because it refers to the Stourbridge Works as the Churchbridge Firebrick Works thus confirming that the Stourbridge Works had been built on the site of the Churchbridge yard owned by Benjamin Sadler.
So who were the brothers in Sadler Brothers at this 1880 date. It appears to be the son & daughter-in-law of James b.1817 - d.1878 & James Nash who were in this partnership. I cannot rule out anymore of James' sons as being in this partnership at an earlier date, but at this moment in time I only have written evidence from the London Gazette of this partnership at the time it was dissolved in October 1887 when it consisted of Benjamin Thomas Sadler b.1839, Maria Sadler b.1838, wife of Septimus John Sadler & had previously been married to another of James' sons James Millership Sadler who died in 1874 & then John Nash a cement manufacturer & executor of James Sadler's Will, hence his connection to the family. This LG Notice then records Benjamin Thomas Sadler alone would then continue to run the aforementioned works. Benjamin Thomas Sadler is not listed in Kellys 1892 edition as owning this works, so I am assuming this works was sold as we find John Mathews is listed as brickmaker at Churchfields in Kelly's 1892 edition. I write more about Benjamin Thomas at two other works later in the post & I will be covering father James Sadler & brothers James Millership Sadler & Septimus John Sadler later in the post under their appropriate works.
With me mentioning John Nash a brick dating from the 1860's/70's stamped Nash has turned up. Although John Nash is not listed as owning a brickworks in trade directories only lime kilns & a cement works which was situated just off Portway Road & next the Sadlers brickworks I can only assume with Nash's long standing association & in being in partnership with the Sadler Family that Nash had these bricks made at one of the Sadler's works. John Nash is also recorded as representing the deceased James Sadler in another Sadler partnership being dissolved in 1880, so his connection to James Sadler was very close.
Photo by Angel Rose.
Paddock Brickworks, Oldbury.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
The first reference to the Paddock Brickworks being owned by a Sadler is in Kelly's 1850 edition when Samuel Sadler b.1807 & Benjamin's eldest son is listed as brickmaker & builder with the address of Rounds Green which I am taking to be the Paddock Works in Rounds Green. In this 1850 directory Samuel's brother, James b.1817 is listed as owning the French Horn Inn, Littlefields, which was a stones throw from this yard, then brother John b.1820 is listed as a builder on Shidas Lane. John served his joinery apprenticeship under Samuel. Then there's one more brother to tell you about & that was David b.1812 & he was a Boatman all his life, so David would have transported the Sadlers bricks & coal along the canal network. David's son Samuel b.1834 after being recorded as a Labourer at a Brick Yard in the 1861 census joined his father as Boatman (reference 1871 census).
The two 1851 census entries for Samuel & James both record the brothers as brickmakers in a "Firm of Two" in each entry, operating as S & J Sadler. This 1851 census also records the brothers were employing 36 men, 10 women, 8 boys & 30 girls. Slaters 1851 edition lists Samuel & James Sadler brickmaking at the Paddock works & another works on Portway Road & I write about this Portway Road works later in the post.
Samuel Sadler passes away in October 1861 at Dog Kennel Farm, his abode, leaving £8000 which equates to nearly a Million pounds today. The 1861 census records James was living at Langley Hall which he had purchased in 1855, so the brothers were making good money from brickmaking. Langley Hall still stands today & can be seen at this link.
Samuel & Hannah Sadler did not have any sons, daughter Mary Ann married John Field & their daughter Nancy married a brickmaker, so I have included Henry Jackson later in this post as he plays a part in this Sadler story.
It appears James Sadler continued to operate the Paddock Works under the S & J Sadler company name until 1865 when the entry in Jones 1865 edition is Sadler Brothers & this partnership I believe were James's sons. As previously wrote this Sadler Brothers partnership when it was wound up consisted of James' son Benjamin Thomas b.1839, daughter-in-law, Maria & cement manufacturer, John Nash, but in 1865 I think it was just Benjamin Thomas, b.1839 & Maria's first husband, James Millership Sadler b.1838 (James junior).
J.M. Sadler - James Millership Sadler, Photo by Colin Wooldridge.
James Millership Sadler is recorded in the 1861 & 1871 census as a Brick Master with the 1871 census recording he was employing 14 men & 3 boys. James Millership & Maria's son Frederick Ernest Sadler b.1867 is recorded as a Foreman at a Boiler Works in the 1891 census, so did not follow in his fathers footsteps. James Millership Sadler died in 1874 & a newspaper article dated March 1879 records the partnership of Sadler & Sadler had been dissolved, so I am thinking this is when James Millership's widow, Maria & John Nash joined Benjamin Thomas in Sadler Brothers. Maria then married another one of James' sons, Septimus John Sadler in 1875 with Septimus's wife passing away, in October 1874.
Photo by Peter Earley who spotted this coping at Camp Hill locks on the Grand Union Canal in Birmingham.
So back to the Paddock Works & a November 1865 newspaper advertises, "Wanted, a Forman, who thoroughly understands the manufacturing of Blue & Red Bricks. None need to apply whose character will not bear the strictest inspection. Apply Sadler Brothers, Brick works, Oldbury." The Sadler Brothers continue to be listed at this Paddock brickworks in Kelly's 1870 & 72 editions.
As previously wrote the Sadler Brothers then moved to their new Stourbridge Works on Churchbridge by 1876 as we find that John Hamblet & Charles Crowther are listed as operating the Paddock Brickworks in 1876. It also appears George Newman continued to be the Sadler's Agent at their new Stourbridge Works.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
Before I sign off on the Paddock Brickworks a new find in Littlebury's 1873 directory lists the Sadler Brothers as brick, fire-brick & enamelled work manufacturers at Littlefields, so it appears the Enamel & Fire Brick Works which I have coloured yellow on the map above was also owned by the Sadler Brothers, with this works forming part of the adjacent Paddock Brickworks. With viewing old maps I had always wondered who owned this Enamel & Fire-brick Works & with finding an article recording Benjamin Thomas Sadler was exporting fire-bricks to India & China I am assuming he was making these fire-bricks at this yellow coloured works. A newspaper advert dated November 1875 also confirms the Sadler Brothers owned this yellow works as it reads "Two Good Fire-brick Moulders are required at Sadler Brothers Round Green Works, good wages given, Apply to George Newman.". Benjamin Thomas also operated another brickworks in his own name on Freeth Street & I write about this works later.
Portway Road Works, Oldbury.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
The firm of Samuel & James Sadler are first listed at their Portway Road works (coloured yellow) in Slaters 1851 edition. This entry also records their Paddocks works. Kelly's 1860 edition is the next listing for the brothers at Portway Road. As wrote Samuel passed away in October 1861 so it appears James continued to operate the company of S & J Sadler on his own with Jones 1865, Kelly's 1870 & 72 editions continuing to list S & J Sadler at the Portway Road Works.
The next change at this works comes in 1876 when James sons, Septimus John b.1849 & David Millership b.1850 are running the Portway Road works. James had eight sons of which five became brickmakers & three became chemists working in the tar industry. One of these chemists, Charles Alexander also ventured into brickmaking as well when living in Middlesborough & I write more about Charles Alexander later.
At this point I have decided to leave the Portway Road works & return later to carry on with James' family, as I wish to write about James' younger brother John Sadler b.1820 & this then completes the four sons of Benjamin (the 2nd generation).
Shidas Lane Works, Oldbury.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
After completing his apprenticeship as a carpenter under the guidance of his elder brother Samuel, John Sadler b.1820 established his building & brickmaking business on Shidas Lane around 1849. The 1851 census records John Sadler as a Carpenter & Brickmaster employing 1 man & 2 apprentices, married to Harriet with 2 boys & 4 girls, living on Shidas Lane. John went on to have another son called Philip John Sadler b.1859 who I write about later. The first trade directory entry that I have for John Sadler at Shidas Lane is in Slaters 1851 edition. Billings 1855 edition records John as a builder & victualler at the Builders' Arms.
I have coloured John's Shidas Lane brickworks red on the 1882 OS map above. An advert in the Birmingham Journal advertises John Sadler, a Brick Master had one million "Good" red & brown bricks for sale & could be delivered into boats at 16 shillings per thousand. Kelly's trade directories continue to list the brickmaking company of John Sadler, Shidas Lane right up to it's 1936 edition. John's eldest son Samuel became a builder & son number two, James became a carpenter, so we later find that it was John's third son Philip who took over the running of the Shidas Lane brickworks when John retired & this was some time after the 1891 census, but before the 1901 census when John is recorded as a Brickmaker Retired & living at Gladstone House on Portway Road. John had named his house after William Gladstone with him being a staunch Liberal.
John's son Philip is first listed in the 1891 census as Brick Yard Manager aged 32. Then the 1901 census records him as a Manager of a Brickworks & running his fathers company which in 1900 was registered as John Sadler & Sons Limited with John as Chairman & Philip as Managing Director. John's son Samuel & Edward Pincher completed the list of Directors. John Sadler died in December 1910 leaving £9000.
Philip's son Wilfred then joins his father at the works & he is listed in the 1901 census as a Brick Works Clerk aged 17. The 1911 census records Philip as a Manager of a Brickworks & son Wilfred is listed as a Assistant Manager at a Brickworks. The 1913 OS map below shows the Shidas Lane works (red) had expanded & the purple brickworks as shown 1882 map, owned by the Barnett family back then had now become an extension to the Sadler's claypit.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1913.
It is unknown in what year Wilfred took over the running of the works from his father, but the 1939 Register records Wilfred as a Director of a Brickworks Company. Philip died in December 1940 leaving nearly £21,000, equalling nearly 1.2 Million today. A web article records the Shidas Lane marl hole was exhausted in the 1940's & was filled in by the 1970's, so it appears the works closed sometime in the 1940's with Wilfred at the helm. Today this former brickworks site is the local council's refuse depot.
Portway Road Works, Oldbury - part 2.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
As left off James was still running the Portway Road Works up to 1876. So I now turn my attention to the eight sons of James (3rd generation), two of which take over the running of the Portway Road Works.
Kelly's 1876 edition records Septimus John Sadler b.1849 & David Millership Sadler b.1850 were now running the Portway Road Works. I slightly turn the clock back to tell you that Septimus John in the 1871 census is recorded as a Shoe Dealer, but we find in a London Gazette Notice dated 21st November 1871 that Septimus John Sadler as a Shoe Dealer & Shoe Maker was going into Liquidation, however this notice also records he was a Brickyard Manager & I am assuming this was at his father's Portway Road Brickworks. Meanwhile brother David Millership is recorded as an Apprentice Traveller aged 20 in the 1871 census & living with his father James, a Brick Master & widow living on Causeway Green Road. This apprentice traveller job may have been as a brick salesman.
It's at this point that I tell you that Septimus John's wife Ann died in October 1874 & in 1875 Septimus John married Maria Sadler (nee Smithyman) who had been married to his brother James Millership Sadler, who had died in 1874. Maria was 12 years older than Septimus John & brought 4 children into the marriage 3 girls & one boy who I have already written about. Septimus John had 1 girl & 1 boy with Ann. Septimus John & Maria then went on to have 1 more son who I will write about later.
Now back to 1876 & this Kelly's 1876 advert recording brothers Septimus John Sadler & David Millership Sadler had taken over the Portway Road Brick Works, previously run by their father James & their Uncle Samuel (Late S & J Sadler).
This partnership of Septimus John & David Millership Sadler did not last long as we find the London Gazette records this partnership was dissolved on the 5th of February 1879 & the said Septimus John Sadler would then continue to run the business. We then find in the 1881 census David Millership Sadler is recorded as a Brewer in Oldbury. This was not the end of David Millership's brickmaking career as we find by 1890 he was running the Thorns Fire Brick Works in Lye, Stourbridge & I write about this works later.
S.J. Sadler - Septimus John Sadler, Photos by Elizabeth Thomson.
Meanwhile with Septimus John now in full control of the Portway Road Brickworks this advert below appeared in Kelly's 1880 edition.
The 1891, 1901 & 1911 census all record Septimus John as a Brick Maker or Brick Master. Kelly's directories continues to list Septimus John Sadler up to it's 1924 edition, but with Septimus John dying in 1918 the brickworks was then run by his son Charles Alexander b.1876 who ran the brickworks in his fathers name.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1913.
Charles Alexander in the 1901 census aged 24 is recorded as a Brickworks Manager still living with his father & mother Maria. The 1911 census now records Charles Alexander aged 34, a Brick Manufacturer, married to Beatrice with two daughters & living in Langley Green, so we know by 1911 Charles Alexander had taken over the running of the Portway Road brickworks from his father, (coloured yellow on the 1913 OS map above). This 1913 map also shows that with the Railway Brickworks & Nash's limekilns no longer shown it appears Charles Alexander had taken over the land & had built a tramway to the canal were they had once stood, so was Charles Alexander having to bring clay in via the canal if stocks were getting low in the clay pit ?
With the company of Septimus John Sadler not being listed in Kelly's 1928 directory I am assuming the brickworks had closed by this date. Kelly's 1932 edition reveals the answer with Charles Alexander Sadler now listed a Rubbish Contractor on Portway Road, so I think I can now say the clay pit was exhausted by 1928, hence the brickworks closing.
Septimus John's other son Septimus James Sadler b.1871 also was involved in brickmaking, first as manager then as the owner of a brickworks, both in Tividale. I write more about Septimus James later in the post at these two works. I cannot rule out that at some point Septimus James was working for his father at the Portway Road works.
Freeth Street, Oldbury.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
I now turn to James' second eldest son, Benjamin Thomas Sadler b.1839 & I have already wrote about him being in the partnership of the Sadler Brothers, first at the Paddock Brickworks then at the Stourbridge Brickworks, but there are two more trade directory entries for him brickmaking on Freeth Street in Kelly's 1876 & 1880 editions, then one entry for him brickmaking on Portway Road in Kelly's 1884 edition.
The 1882 OS map above shows that the Freeth Street Works (coloured green) was accessed from both Freeth Street & Inkerman Street. The Newfield Brickworks was also situated off Inkerman Street & this was owned by Pynson Wilmot Bennitt between 1865 & 1888. By 1884 Benjamin Thomas' Freeth Street works was being run by the Oldbury Furnace Yard Brick & Tile Co. & we find that in Kelly's 1884 edition Benjamin Thomas was now operating a works on Portway Road. I am not 100% certain which brickworks Benjamin Thomas was working at in 1884 because other than John Sadler's Shidas Lane works which bordered Portway Road & Septimus John's works there is only one more working brickworks shown on the 1882 OS map (below) which could be accessed from Portway Road. William Barnett (Kelly's 1880) & then John Barnett (Kelly's 1884) are listed as owning a brickworks on Portway Road & this small brickworks which I have coloured purple will have been owned by the Barnetts. Therefore there are two options that I can offer were Benjamin Thomas was brickmaking. First option is that he was working at his brothers, Septimus John's works (yellow), or his Uncle John's works (red). The second option is that Benjamin Thomas reopened the disused brickworks shown on this 1882 map (below) which was on the corner of Portway Road & Shidas Lane. There are no more trade directory entries for Benjamin Thomas after 1884, so he may have finished brickmaking soon after.
In the 1861 & 1871 census Benjamin Thomas Sadler is listed as a Brick Master. The 1881 census records him as a Merchant, 1891 a Manufacturer, 1901, a Commissioner, Agent for Bricks & then 1911 a Blue Brick & Pipe Merchant.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
An 1886 article in the Smethwick Telephone newspaper reports that Mr. B.T. Sadler had just completed an extensive Government contract to supply bricks to India. The article continues to report that Mr. B.T. Sadler of Sadler Brothers had been exporting fire bricks to India, China & several other countries for a number of years.
Benjamin Thomas also had fingers in many other pies, he was running the Windsor Castle public house in Rounds Green in 1865, by 1873 he owned The Old White Swan Inn on Church Street which include a Museum of Curiosities (stuffed animals & birds) & a "Powerful Mechanical Organ." In 1872 he was on the Local Board of Health in Oldbury. A 1885 local newspaper records he was advertising the acts (singers, dancers & comedians) who were performing at his Museum Concert Hall which was within the Old White Swan Inn. Then a newspaper advertisement dated December 1886 records together with William Shakespeare, Benjamin Thomas was selling the Freehold to the Tividale Brickworks previously owned by Messers Gilbert & Sons, whether the pair had purchased the works or was just brokering the deal is unknown. By 1890 Benjamin Thomas was a Justice of the Peace. Non of his five sons followed him into brick making with two emigrating to America & one going to Australia. Benjamin Thomas Sadler died on the 14th of July 1921 aged 82, so he certainly had a good eventful life.
Mill Lane, Harborne
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
In the 1860's & 1870's this works on Mill Lane, Harborne was owned by James Sadler b.1817 & J. Sadler & Sons are listed at Harborne in Kelly's 1867 edition through to Kelly's 1872 edition & from information found it seems to indicate this works was run on his behalf by his 4th son William Henry Sadler b.1845.
William Henry Sadler is recorded in the 1861 census as a brickmaker & boarding with Joseph Bennett a farmer at Sharpway Gate, Dodderhill just south of Stoke Prior, Worcestershire. A disused brickworks is shown at Stoke Prior on the 1883 map, so I am assuming William Henry worked there. The 1871 census records William Henry aged 26 living together with his wife Ellen & one daughter at Metchley Lane, Harborne. William Henry is listed as a brickmaker & employing 12 men & 3 boys, he also employed a servant to look after the house. So with the 1867 trade directory listing for his father owning the Mill Lane brickworks I am assuming that was when William Henry moved to Harborne.
A London Gazette Notice dated 2nd of August 1871 records that the partnership between James & his son William Henry had been dissolved by mutual consent & the business would then carry on by James Sadler alone. We then find that White's 1873 edition now records Marshall Frederick Raybould at the Mill Lane works, so James must have decided to sell the works soon after the partnership with his son had been finalised. I have not been able to find William Henry in the 1881 census, so what happen to him afterwards is a mystery. As a footnote, James Smart ran the Mill Lane brickworks before James Sadler took over in 1867 with James Smart then taking over a brickworks in California, Birmingham & I have written about James Smart at the California brickworks in Birmingham Brickmakers - part 3.
Hange Brick & Tile Works, Tividale.
First I write about Septimus James Sadler's early life before he owned the Hange Brickworks at Tividale. Septimus James Sadler b.1871 was the son of Septimus John Sadler of the Portway Road Brickworks. The 1891 census records Septimus James Sadler aged 19 as a Manager of a brickworks & living with his father & mother on Joinings Lane, Langley, so I am assuming around 1891 Septimus James was working for his father at Portway Road.
Nine years later we find a newspaper article dated 22nd December 1900 recording Septimus James as a co-owner of the Gower Brickworks, Tividale together with John Hadley & John Walter Knowles as Hadley, Knowles & Sadler. There are no trade directory entries for this partnership or the Gower Brickworks (coloured yellow on the 1902 OS map below), but I think I am right in saying with Septimus James being listed third he would have only been a junior partner. John Hadley previously owned the Ramrod Hall Brickworks & he is listed as owning this works in Kelly's 1876 & 1880 editions & I think he may have established the Gower Brickworks sometime in the 1890's with the 1900 map being the first map to show this works.
The 1901 census records Septimus James Sadler as a Brick Manufacturer (employer), living with his wife Catherine on Nyley Lane, West Bromwich which according to the census was near Ireland Green. As I cannot find this road it may have been misspelt in the census or I have read it wrong with it being in copperplate hand writing.
The partnership of Hadley, Knowles & Sadler did not last long as we find a August 1901 London Gazette Notice records Septimus James Sadler was leaving this partnership & the Gower Brickworks would then be run by John Hadley & John Knowles from the 28th of June 1901.
Hange Blue Brick Works, Tividale, Photo by Ian Round, courtesy of the "Old Bricks" website.
I think the reason why Septimus James left this partnership was because it then enabled him to establish the Hange Brickworks at Tividale, coloured green on the 1902 OS map below. This brickworks had been built next to Hange Collieries No. 2 Pit. I have no proof of Septimus James actual establishing this works in 1902, however there are some smaller buildings on the 1882 map, but they are not marked as a brickworks, unless it was a brickworks belonging to Hange Colliery & Septimus James just built a new brickworks on the same site as we see on the 1902 map.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.
Kelly's 1904 edition lists The Hange Blue Brickworks,Tividale with Septimus James Sadler junior as proprietor. I think the reason why Septimus James was calling himself junior in this entry was because his initials were the same as his father's & he wanted to distinguish his bricks from his father's & the example below shows Septimus James was using junior on his copings.
Photo by Bill Whitehead, courtesy of the "Old Bricks" website.
There are no more trade directory entries for Septimus James at Tividale, but the 1911 census records him as a Brick Manufacturer, then on the next line Traveller, living at 13, Park Road, Smethwick with wife Catherine & one daughter. If I am reading this census correctly it appears Septimus James was still running the Hange brickworks & was the company's salesman. The surveyed 1913 OS map shows the Hange Brickworks as disused. I expect the 1921 census will reveal what Septimus James did next when published in 2022. However the 1939 Register reveals Septimus James aged 68 is listed as Brickworks Manager & living on Monmouth Road, Smethwick. The only Sadler brickworks still operational in 1939 was John Sadler's Shidas Lane works run by Wilfred Sadler, so Septimus James may have been working there ?
Thorns Fire Clay & Brick Works, Lye, Stourbridge.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.
As previously wrote David Millership Sadler b.1850 in the 1881 census had become a Brewer & was living at Dog Kennel Farm, but we find in the 1891 census he had returned to brickmaking & is listed as a Brick Master living on Vicarage Road, Oldbury with his wife Harriet, 2 boys & 1 daughter. From my findings this Vicarage Road address was Dog Kennel Farm & the farm consisted of at least two houses with other members of the Sadler family being listed separately as living at Dog Kennel Farm.
In what year David Millership returned to brickmaking & took over the Thorns Fire brick works at Lye near Stourbridge is unknown, but a January 1890 newspaper article reports that Thorns Brickworks owner David Millership Sadler as one of the smaller Brick Masters had agreed to increase the pay of his workers when the larger Brick Masters had refused to implement the increase. Mobberley & Bayley are recorded in Kelly's 1888 edition as owning the Thorns Works, so we know David Millership took over the works between 1888 & 1890.
There are no Fire Brick Manufacturer listings in trade directories for David Millership so how long he continued to own the Thorns Brickworks after 1891 is unknown as we find in the 1901 census he is now listed as a self-employed Brick Merchant aged 50 & living on Longsdale Road, Harborne. I have not been able to find a 1911 census record for him, but his wife Harriett is listed as a widow & living on her own means with another family in Smethwick, so David Millership must have died by 1911.
Middlesborough.
Samuel Alexander Sadler b.1842 was primarily a chemist specialising in the production of tar & other chemicals. Samuel Alexander first worked for the Chance Brothers at their Alkali Works in Oldbury before moving to Middlesborough where he established his tar & wood distillery business in 1869. Samuel Alexander later went on to manufacturer bricks & fireclay bricks (examples below) at one of his many collieries in the North East. It is though Malton Colliery near Lanchester was the likest colliery were he had his brickworks, but no maps show a brickworks at this colliery. Together with his chemist brothers Jesse Johnson Sadler b.1846 & Alfred Edwin Sadler b.1857 & three others, Samuel Alexander was a co-owner in the Furness Tar Products Company, Ulverston in the county of Lancaster (today's Cumbria) until December 1880 when the partnership was dissolved & Jesse & Alfred Sadler then became the co-owners of this Ulverston tar company. This entry now completes the story of the eight sons (brickmakers & chemists) of James Sadler born 1817.
Samuel Alexander Sadler was involved in owning other companies & more can be read about his very full life at this link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Sadler
Photo by Ian Suddaby, courtesy of the "Old Bricks" website.
Photos by Chris Tilney, courtesy of the "Old Bricks" website.
Railway Brickworks, Oldbury.
I now return to Oldbury to complete the Sadler story & Henry Jackson owned the Railway Brickworks as recorded in Kelly's 1888 to 1904 editions. Hold on I here you say, Jackson is not a Sadler, but he did marry the granddaughter of Samuel & Hannah Sadler & after the works had closed the land became part of the Sadler's Portway Road Brickworks, of which I write more about later.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.
In the 1871 census Henry Jackson aged 14 is listed as a bricklayer. This census also records Henry's father Thomas as a bricklayer & publican of the Apple Tree Inn on Halesowen Street, Oldbury. The 1881 census now records Henry as a Brickworks Manager & married to Nancy S. Field. Nancy's mother Mary Ann Field nee Sadler was the daughter of Samuel & Hannah Sadler. As previously wrote Samuel b.1807 had been in partnership with his brother James at the Paddock & Portway Road Works. In this 1881 census Henry & Nancy Jackson were living with Nancy's mother Mary Ann Field aged 53 & grandmother Hannah Sadler aged 73 at Hannah's home, Dog Kennel Farm. So this begs the question was Henry Jackson a Brickworks Manager at one of the Sadler's works ? There is another option which I will reveal in a moment.
The 1891 census now records Henry Jackson as a Brick Manufacturer & Kelly's 1888 edition records Henry Jackson as the owner of the Railway Brickworks, Oldbury as shown on the 1902 OS map above coloured green.
Trade directories from 1865 to 1884 editions list the Railway Brickworks as being owned by Aston & Jackson, so was Henry a Brickworks Manager at this Railway Brick Works as per 1881 census before he became it's owner between 1884 & 1888 ? As said Henry's father was a bricklayer all his life, so I think I can discount Thomas Jackson as being in this Aston & Jackson brickmaking partnership. However there was a William Jackson brickmaking at two works situated off Park Street, Oldbury in 1880 & 1884 & I am leaning towards William Jackson as being the Jackson in this Aston & Jackson partnership at the Railway Brick Works. If I get to the bottom of this Aston & Jackson partnership, I will update the post. There must be some family connection between Henry's father Thomas & brickmaker William Jackson because in the 1871 census Thomas & his family were living on Park Street, hence my thought's Thomas being related to this William Jackson. A George Jackson is next recorded in Kelly's 1888 edition as owning the Park House Brickworks, so could he be William's son & had closed the other Park Street works which is no longer listed in trade directories & is not shown on the 1902 map ?
Back to Henry Jackson at the Railway Brick Works & the advert below appears in Kelly's 1892 edition.
Kelly's 1892 edition.
Henry in the 1901 census is still listed as a Brick Manufacturer. The last trade directory entry for Henry Jackson at the Railway Brick Works is Kelly's 1904 edition & I am assuming it was around 1905 that Henry closed the works & sold the land to Septimus John Sadler or his son Charles Alexander Sadler as we find the 1911 census now records Henry aged 55, a Retired Brick Manufacturer & living with his wife Nancy & their three daughters at "Hillside", Bishops Road, Sutton Coldfield. Henry & Nancy did not have any sons. With looking at Google Street View there is a good chance this "Hillside" house is still standing, as they all look well appointed houses built around the turn of the 20th century & would have been a fitting home for a gentleman with money in his pockets. Ten years earlier in the census Henry & family are recorded as living on Coleshill Street in Sutton Coldfield. Bricks stamped Henry Jackson have yet to turn up.
So with the Sadlers now owning the former Railway Brick Works site we find Charles Alexander Sadler is recorded as the owner of the Railway Brickworks Colliery Company in articles dated 1915 & 1918 & it appears from the name of this colliery it was on the former brickworks site. As previously wrote in the Portway Road brickworks entry the 1913 OS map below shows a tramway built from the canal to the clay pit & I assumed clay was being brought in via the canal, but this tramway may have had something to do with the colliery, especially if it was a drift mine & they were finding coal under the beds of clay. The National Archive index articles on the Railway Brickworks Colliery Co. record that the extraction of coal from under Portway Road & Inkerman Street in 1914 & 915 was causing damage to properties built on these roads & also to the water mains. The Colliery closed in 1919, so I expect this was due to all these damage claims. Charles Alexander also owned the Speedwell Colliery in Langley which is recorded as working in 1918 & closing on the 16th of May 1919.
We known the Portway Road brickworks closed around 1929/30 as we find Charles Alexander Sadler is recorded as a Rubbish Contractor on Portway Road in Kelly's 1932 edition. I am assuming Charles Alexander Sadler was filling the marl hole with rubbish. Today industrial units occupy 90% of the Portway Road site (yellow).
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1913.
During my research I have established there were 15 Sadler's involved in brickmaking during some part of their lives & if I include Maria Sadler (partner in Sadler Brothers) & Henry Jackson that totals 17 in all.
I have marked the Sadlers involved in brickmaking with a star after their name on the Family Tree below. This tree only includes the Sadlers that I have wrote about in this post (brickmakers & other trades), but I have found several more sons who's career took them in a different directions, these namely being the sons of Benjamin Thomas Sadler, Samuel Alexander Sadler & David Millership Sadler. There is always the option that they may have been involved in brickmaking at some point during their lives, if so I will update the post if new info turns up. I have tried to follow the daughter's of these Sadler's to see if they married any brickmakers & as far as I can see only Nancy Field, grand-daughter of Samuel Sadler, married Henry Jackson. However there was another daughter who married into the Pratt family who were brickmakers in Oldbury, but this daughter married a son who's father was a solicitor & appears not to be involved in the brickmaking side of the Pratt family.
Sadler Family Tree.
A larger pixel version of this tree can be viewed at this link. Where you can zoom in on each brickmaker.
I wish to thank the following for their help in bring this post to the web.
Mark Cranston for finding me many old newspaper articles which played a big part in bring this post to the web.
Angel Rose - photo
Colin Wooldridge - photo
Peter Earley - photo
Elizabeth Thomson - photo
David Kitching - photos
Old Bricks website - use of their photos
National Library of Scotland & Ordinance Survey - maps
Kelly's Directories
London Gazette
