Sheffield Brickworks - part 2

Woodside Brick Co.

The Woodside Brick Company was incorporated on the 17th of May 1898 & their brickworks on Chesterfield Road in Meersbrook, Sheffield was up & running by 1901. I have coloured this works yellow on the 1903 & 1935 OS maps below. The 1935 map shows how the works had expanded. White's 1901 to 1954 editions lists the Woodside Brick Co. Ltd. at Chesterfield Road, Woodseats, Sheffield. (Please note it was actual in Meersbrook). Kelly's 1957 edition lists Woodside as producing multi-coloured rustic & engineering bricks. The next & last directory that I have listing the Woodside Brick Co. is Kelly's 1968 edition & it lists the works were making facing bricks in all colours & engineering bricks.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1903.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1935.

As I have been unable to find much information on this works, I have included some info which Darren Haywood sent to the Penmorfa brick website with his brick. 
"The Woodside Brick Co. was one of the largest brick producing companies in Sheffield in the early 1900's, employing about fifty workers on their site. There were two kilns producing approximately 2,000 bricks per day, which may sound a lot, but when you consider that a builder would need about 30,000 to build just one house, it's obvious that the company must have been literally working overtime. The Company produced various types of brick, red for house building, their blue bricks were made from crushed brown shale & engineering bricks."

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

The vast majority of the Woodside bricks found are stamped Ironi, indicating the bricks strength & many are also stamped with a number which may be a mould number or code number for the year they were made. So far numbers 1 to 7 have been found & a full set of the rectangular frog shape are shown below. Any photos which are not credited to in this post are by me.

The exact year when Woodside closed their works is unknown, but from trade directories we know they were still in production in 1968. According to a website this company is still active with directors, but I have not been able to find any more information about this. Today, Homebase & Dunelm stores occupy this former brickworks site.

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

Photo by Frank Lawson.

Wilson & Booth, Meadow Head.

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

Fellow collector Frank Lawson has established this brick was made by Wilson & Booth at their Meadow Head Brickworks on Chesterfield Road. This duo are not listed in any of the available trade directories, but from the crispness of this lettering I would date this brick to the 1880's/1890's. I have used the 1897 OS map below to show the location of this Chesterfield Road works (coloured green), which was just a mile south of the Woodside Brickworks. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1897.

I have found that the Darlow Brothers were next at this works & I write about them next. Today a Morrisons superstore occupies this former Meadow Head brickworks site. 

Darlow Brothers

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

The first trade directory entry that I have found for the Darlow Brothers is in White's 1857 edition & they are listed with the address of Creswick Street, Sheffield. The earliest map that I have online is 1888 & this street is shown fully built on with houses, so this address could be the brothers home address, however there are two open spaces nearby which indicate they may have been clay pits, so back in 1857 a brickworks may have existed on this street to supply the bricks needed to build the houses in this area.

The Darlow Brothers are next listed in Kelly's 1879 edition at Old Hall Road, Attercliffe. The 1889 OS map does not show a brickworks on Old Hall Road, but it does show that this area had not fully been built on, so I am assuming the Darlow's brickworks had been totally demolished by 1889.

From a list of brickmakers found on the web recording entries in Kelly's 1893 edition, it lists the Darlow Brothers as now operating a brickworks on Pinfold Lane, Attercliffe & this directory also lists the brothers names individually as Edward H. Darlow, John Darlow, Mathew Darlow & Thomas Darlow, all brickmaking at this Pinfold Lane works. The section of road which was called Pinfold Lane has now been renamed Staniforth Road. The 1891 OS map below shows this Pinfold Lane works as the Attercliffe Brickworks & by the 1903 OS map this brickworks had gone & only the clay pit is shown. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1891.

I mention at this point that the Attercliffe Brick Company which was formed around 1900 had no connection to the Darlow Brothers or to this Pinfold Lane works as their works was off Darnall Road & I write about this Attercliffe Brick Co. soon. 

I now return to the Darlow family & from my copy of the Trades Section of Kelly's 1893 directory it lists that two other Darlow Brothers, William & Joseph were operating the Meadow Head Brick & Tile Works on Chesterfield Road in 1893 & these two brothers are also recorded in this listing as " & at Attercliffe." So it appears there were six Darlow brothers brickmaking in Sheffield. A map of this Chesterfield Road works can be seen in the Wilson & Booth entry above. 

White's 1901 trade directory continues to list the Darlow Brothers (no first names given) as brickmaking at the Meadow Head Brickworks on Chesterfield Road. There are no more trade directory entries after 1901 for the Darlow Brothers at either the Pinfold Lane works as this works had closed & been demolished by 1903 & the Meadow Head Brickworks in White's 1905 edition had a new owner, with Frank Stanley Tinker named as the brickmaker. F.S. Tinker continues to be listed at this works in White's 1908 & 1911 editions. We then find the Meadow Head Brick & Stone Works Limited is listed at this Chesterfield Road works in White's 1919 edition to Kelly's 1935 edition. As previously wrote this former Chesterfield Road brickworks site is now occupied by a Morrisons supermarket. Up to yet no bricks have been found stamped F.S. Tinker or by the Meadow Head Brick & Stone Works Ltd.

Attercliffe Brick Co.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1901.

The Attercliffe Brick Co. Ltd. is listed in White's & Kelly's trade directories at Copster Road, Attercliffe in 1901, then at Darnall Road, Sheffield in 1905 & 1908 editions. It is unknown why Copster Road is given as the address as this road is two street's away from the works. It appears the works was accessed via Harding Street from Darnall Road.

The London Gazette records on the 24th of March 1914 that the Attercliffe Brick Co. was struck off the Joint Stock Companies list, therefore the company had been dissolved, so I expect the company may have closed not long after their last trade directory entry in 1908.   

 Photo by Simon Patterson.

Coupe

The first trade directory listing that I have found for Coupe is for Daniel Coupe & he is listed as operating a brickworks on Pinfold Lane, Attercliffe in White 1879 edition & this Pinfold Lane works can be seen on the 1891 map in the Darlow entry. I next found that the Coupe Brothers are listed in White's 1919 & Kelly's 1923 editions at 19 Carlisle Street East; works, Darnall Road. It is unknown if Daniel Coupe was one of these brothers. Kelly's 1935 to 1968 editions now gives the Coupe Brothers works address as Eleanor Street. I have coloured both Darnall Road & Eleanor Street yellow on the 1935 OS map below. The year the Coupe Brothers ceased making bricks is unknown. This brickworks up to 1908 had been operated by the Attercliffe Brick Co.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1901.

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

William Wright

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

William Wright is listed in White's 1905 edition with the address of 226, Staniforth Road, Attercliffe & this will have been his home address. White's 1908 edition now lists William Wright at the Kettle Bridge Brick Works which was situated on Ribston Road, Attercliffe. I have coloured this works purple on the 1903 OS map below & the works may have closed not long after 1908 as the 1921 map shows that houses had been built where the brickworks had once stood.

  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1903.

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

Christopher Thornsby

Photo by Frank Lawson.

Christopher Thornsby is listed in White's 1879 edition with the address of Carlisle Street East, Sheffield. I have used the 1892 OS map below to show there may have been a brickworks (coloured red) in 1879 next to the pond (formerly the clay pit) on Carlisle Street East (green), alternatively the marked Brick & Stone Works (yellow) could be classed as Carlisle Street East, but I am favouring the red works with Thornsby only operating a small concern.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1892.

A search on the web has revealed that Christopher Thornsby aged Full (over the age of 21), a brickmaker & residing at Hill Foot married Ann Green on the 17th of August 1848. Christopher's father's name is given as Joseph Thornsby, a brickmaker, so it appears Christopher was working alongside his father at the time of his marriage. Joseph Thornsby is listed as a brick maker in White's 1845 edition with the address of Woodgrove, Hill Foot, Sheffield. 

I next found a claim by Christopher Thornsby & William Bratley after the Great Sheffield Flood for their losses & it included 5000 bricks which had been deemed unsaleable & had been made for a contract for Robert White. The Claim was granted on the 25th of May 1865 & £52 6s & 6d was paid. The location of the brickworks in this claim is given as High Street, Attercliffe & another search has revealed that High Street later became Attercliffe Road. So I have included the OS 1892 map below for the possible location of Thornsby & Bratley's High Street brick yard (yellow). If correct this location was certainly in the right place for this land to have been flooded in March 1864.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1892.

With the flooding of his property in 1864 it appears Thornsby relocated to Carlisle Street East by 1879 as per trade directory entry. 

Tinsley Park

Tinsley Park Colliery was opened by Earl Fitzwilliam in 1819 & at this date coal was dug from many bell pits. Also in 1819 the Greenland Arm of the Sheffield Canal was opened with the Earl being one of the main financiers of this extension. A tramway also connected the Earl's pits to the mainline railway network. By 1849 Benjamin Huntsman was the owner of Tinsley Park Colliery operating under the name of the Tinsley Coal Co. & in 1852 the first deep coal mine was sunk. The Tinsley Park Colliery Co. was registered in 1898, so the brick above will have been made by this company after 1898. The 1903 OS map below shows that the brickworks was situated on two sites within this complex of many pits. The shape of the frog is a very typical design which was used by many other colliery brickworks around the country right up to the 1960's.   

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1903.

The 1921 map below shows that the brick yard had relocated to the marked brick kiln which is shown on the 1903 map & with the colliery company mainly using the railway to transport their coal & bricks, more track had been laid on the site.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1921.

The brickworks is no longer shown on the 1935 map & the colliery closed in 1943.

William Cooke & Co. Tinsley

Established in 1866 William Cooke & Co. were primarily steel, iron & wire rope manufacturers in Tinsley, but with photographing this brick it appears that they delved into the brickmaking business. The company does not appear in any trade directories in the Brick & Tile Makers section, but with looking at the 1902 OS map below, I believe Cooke's owned the marked brickworks (coloured yellow) which was across the road from their steel works (coloured green). The 1921 map shows that the Tinsley Steel Works now occupied the site of the brickworks on Weedon Street & this steel works may have been owned by William Cooke & Co. ? I have therefore come to the conclusion that Cooke & Co. may have only produced bricks from around 1902 to 1914. I have put 1914 because most brickworks around the country closed for the duration of WW1, some never to re-open like this one. Just looked at todays map of Weedon Street & found that the steel works has gone & the land is being used for storing pipes with Ikea built on the site of the green coloured steel works.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.

George Carr

 Photo by Frank Lawson.

George Carr a building contractor, was originally from Rawmarsh before settling to live in Sheffield. The 1881 to 1911 census' record George & his wife Sarah were living at 75, Smilter Lane (now Herries Road) with the 1881 census recording George had named his house, Hawthorn Cottage. Today, this house is still standing, but together with additional extensions is now being used as a charted accountants office. So this begs the question, did George Carr build this house with his own bricks ?

White's 1879 & Kelly's 1893 editions record George Carr was brickmaking on Lovetot Road, Attercliffe. Then White's 1901 edition now lists his brickworks as being on Worthing Road. The last two entries in White's 1905 & 08 editions record George with his home address of 75, Smilter Lane. 

The 1903 OS map below shows George's works as the Worthing Road Brick Works, but I am taking it that when George first operated this yard Worthing Road did not exist & his brick yard was accessed from Lovetot Road as per 1879 trade directory entry. There also appears to be the remnants of an old clay pit on the other side of Worthing Road up to Lovetot Lane. 

This brickworks may have closed by 1914 (WW1) as it is not shown on the 1921 map & factories now occupy this site.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1903.

Timelines to some of the brickworks featured in this post with dates from trade directories.

Woodside Works, Chesterfield Road.
Woodside Brick Co. 1901 to at least 1968.

Meadow Head Works, Chesterfield Road.
Wilson & Booth dates unknown, but I suspect they were at this yard before the Darlow Brothers.
Darlow Brothers 1893.
F.S. Tinker 1908 to 1911.
Meadow Head Brick & Stone Works Ltd. 1911 to at least 1935.

Pinfold Lane / Staniforth Road Works.
Daniel Coupe 1879.
Darlow Brothers 1893.

Darnall Road / Copster Road / Eleanor Street Works.
Attercliffe Brick Co. 1905 to at least 1908.
Coupe Brothers 1919 to at least 1968.

I have recently updated my Sheffield Brickworks Part 1 post with new info & bricks, so if you have not visited this post recently, here is the link. Many Thanks for reading my Blog.
https://uknamedbricks.blogspot.com/2015/09/sheffield-brickworks-part-1.html

I wish to Thank -

Frank Lawson - for his many photos
Simon Patterson - photo

Penmorfa brick website - photo

National Library of Scotland & Ordinance Survey - maps

Kelly's & White's Directories
London Gazette

George Wood & Sons, Wood Brothers, Wood & Ivery, P & S Wood - Brickmakers in Oldbury & West Bromwich.

I had always wondered if there was a connection between George Wood of the Brades Brickworks in Oldbury & the George Wood who was running the Albion Brickworks in West Bromwich before he went into partnership with John William Ivery at this works. In a nutshell the answer is yes. George Wood who was born in 1808 is our man, but it's not as straight forward as that because my research on Ancestry has revealed that George had 9 sons & 7 of them became brickmakers & they all worked for him at some point, only his youngest son Enoch became an architect. So trying to establish which son was running or helping to run the family business at a set point in time has been an uphill challenge. I therefore can only put forward the sons who were available at that moment in time. George's eldest son John, died when he was young & William died when he was 23. To complicate things more George's second eldest son was also called George (b.1835) & in turn he named his son George (b.1864) & all three were to run the Brades Brickworks in Oldbury. When my research got to sons 7 & 8, I found that this was Peter & Samuel Wood at the Pump House Brickworks in West Bromwich. Therefore I have established that George & his sons were to work at, or own at least eight brickworks in Oldbury & West Bromwich during their lifetimes, so I have split this post into four sections, George's early life in Oldbury, then the Brades & Gower brickworks, then the Albion & Radnall brickworks & I finish the post with the Pump House brickworks. 

George's early life in Oldbury.

The 1841 census records that brickmaker George Wood was born in Audley, Staffs in 1808 & living with his wife, Sarah, three sons & one daughter in West Bromwich. The home address for George in this census is unreadable, but other families on this page are listed as living on Oldbury Lane, West Bromwich, so he will have lived nearby. At which brickworks George was working at & for whom at this time is unknown. The first trade directory entry that I have for George is Kelly's 1849 Birmingham edition & it records G. Wood, Nile Street, Birmingham. This entry is repeated in Kelly's 1850 edition. I have found from my next trade directory entry that Nile Street was George's wharf-side depot in Birmingham & Slater's 1852 entry reads George Wood, (blue bricks & tiles); wharf, Nile Street, Birmingham. George's advert in this 1852 directory shown below, reveals that his brickworks was at Portway near Oldbury.

 Slater's 1852 trade directory.

The earliest map of Portway found is 1881, but there are no brickworks marked working, disused or the remains of clay pits shown in this village, however the 1851 census records George & his family were now living on Newbury Lane, Oldbury & this road connects Portway village to Oldbury. Old maps show a brickworks near to Portway on Newbury Lane & it has a tramway leading to the Birmingham Canal. So this brickworks fits the bill of it being owned by George with him being able to transport his bricks by barge to his Nile Street depot in Birmingham. Because this brickworks is shown split between two 1882 maps, I have used the 1902 OS map below to show you the brickworks & it's tramway to the canal, which I have coloured green, Newbury Lane is coloured red, Portway Road into Oldbury town centre is coloured yellow & Portway village is coloured purple.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.

Photo by Tim Geater, courtesy of Penmorfa brick website.

Kelly's 1860 edition records George was still working at Portway & the 1861 census records George & his family were still living on Newbury Lane. This census also records that Brick Master, George Wood was employing 50 men, women, boys & girls at his works. We also find in this 1861 census that son George Junior (b.1835) had left home & is recorded as a brickmaker aged 26, living with his wife, Emma on Titford Road, Oldbury. I am assuming George junior was working at his father's brickworks with the 1851 census recording both George junior & his younger brother Thomas as apprentices in brickyard. Kelly's Birmingham 1862, 67 & 68 editions continue to record George Wood at his Nile Street depot in Birmingham. We then find in Jones' 1865 edition that George Wood (b.1808) was operating a second brickworks called the Albion Works in West Bromwich & I write more about this works later. 

It appears George had also moved from his Newbury Lane brickworks in the late 1860's as Kelly's 1870 edition now lists him brickmaking on Halesowen Street, Oldbury. This brickworks was next to the canal & was accessible from Halesowen Street via Union Street & I have coloured this works green on the 1882 OS map below.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.

A 1912 advert which I will show later records that the company of George Wood & Sons was established in 1870. Now this raises a few questions which I cannot be precise on what happened next as we find that George senior (b.1808) in the 1871 census is recorded as a Retired Brick Manufacturer. I have therefore come to the conclusion that George established this company in 1870 for his sons to take over the running of his brickworks. His eldest son George junior (b.1835) in the 1871 census is recorded as a Brickyard Manager living with his family in Blackpool & I have estimated with his sons Samuel & Harry both being born in Oldbury, George junior was in Blackpool (at maximum) between 1868 & 1874, so George junior was not in Oldbury at the time of the formation of George Wood & Sons. While George junior was in Blackpool, I can only put forward that his brothers Thomas, Daniel & Peter were in charge of the day to day running of George senior's company with them all being listed as Brick Manufacturers or Brick Masters in the 1871 census & they were running the Albion Works. It may have been with the 1871 retirement of George senior that the Wood family left the Halesowen Street brickworks with the Wood Brothers next operating the Brades Brickworks by 1876. I write more about George's sons in the Brades & Albion entries that follow next.

With this brick being stamped G. Wood & Sons Oldbury it may have been made at George's Halesowen Street works in 1870 with the company of George Wood & Sons being established in that year.

Brades & Gower Brickworks

The earliest written evidence of the Wood family owning the Brades Brickworks is in Kelly's 1876 edition when it lists the Wood Brothers at the Brades Brick & Tile Works, Brades & an advert from that directory is shown next. 

Kelly's 1876 Trade Directory.

Photo by Alan Murray-Rust.

With George Wood (b.1808) being retired by 1871 it was now his sons who had established & was running the Brades Brickworks in 1876, but I expect he still had some input into the running of things. So which brothers had formed Wood Brothers & from my findings I believe George junior (b.1835) for certain, as had returned from Blackpool by 1874 with his son Harry being born in Oldbury in 1874. Then there is the choice between Thomas (b.1837), Charles (b.1848), but with finding one of his sons was born in Lincoln in 1878 & Charles recorded as a brickmaker in Lincoln in the 1881 census I may have to discount Charles as being in this partnership. Next is Daniel, but he was also brickmaking in Lincoln as recorded the 1881 census & he may have moved there with Charles in 1878. Finally we have Peter (b.1851). I have to mention at least one these brothers would have been managing the Albion Works at this time. It is unknown which one, Thomas was living on Albion Road, West Bromwich & both Daniel & Peter were living with their father at Albion House, Bull Lane, West Bromwich. Albion House was situated on the eastern edge of the Albion brickworks site on Bull Lane & this house can be seen on the OS map in the Albion entry. 

I have used the 1902 OS map of Oldbury below to show the Brades Brickworks (coloured yellow). This map also shows the works had excellent canal access & had road access to Brades village via Brades Bridge.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.

Kelly's 1880 directory.

Kelly's 1880 edition lists the Wood Brothers (blue) with the address of Tividale, Oldbury & the advert above is featured in this directory.

George Wood senior (b.1808) died on the 22nd April 1880 & he left £35,000 pounds which today equates to over 4 Million Pounds today. WOW !!!!!

We then find in Kelly's 1884 edition there was a change in ownership at the Brades Brickworks & George Wood (b.1835) was running this works on his own & the entry reads George Wood (red, brown & blue), Brades Brickworks, Tividale. The 1881 census records George as a Brick Manufacturer living on Brades Road together with his wife Emma, three sons & two daughters.

Below is George's advert from Kelly's 1884 Staffs edition & it states "Late Wood Brothers", meaning the company had operated previously as Wood Brothers. It was a way of saying "Under New Management". As to what happened to the other brothers in this former partnership, Thomas in the 1881 census was now a farmer, Charles & Daniel were brickmaking in Lincoln & Peter in 1884 was in partnership with his younger brother Samuel (b.1853) at the Pump House Brickworks in West Bromwich. I write more about the Pump House Brickworks later.

Kelly's 1884 trade directory courtesy of Graces Guide.

A canal wall half moon coping brick. Photo by Elizabeth Thomson.

Back to the Brades works & George Wood's entry in Kelly's 1888 edition reads the same as in his 1884 entry. There is also another advert for George in Kellys 1888 edition, but this time without the "Late Wood Brothers" & it is shown below. 

Kelly's 1888 trade directory courtesy of Graces Guide.

The 1891 census records George Wood & family as living at Brades House, Brades Road, Oldbury & I have coloured Brades House purple on the 1902 OS map above. Kelly's 1896 edition now reads George Wood & Sons, (red, brown & blue), Brades Brick & Tile Works, Tividale & below is George's advert from this directory. So George had now been joined by his sons, George junior (b.1864), Samuel (b.1868) & Harry (b.1874) at the Brades Brickworks.

Kelly's 1896 trade directory.

Photos by David Kitching.

Kelly's 1900 edition entry for George Wood & Sons is the same as their 1896 entry. The 1901 census again records George Wood as living at Brades House, Brades Road, Oldbury. Also in this census, sons George junior was living at "Woodville" on Dudley Road, Samuel was living at "Woodlands" on Dudley Road & Harry was living at "Hazelhurst on Dudley Road together with their respective wives & children. Kelly's 1904 & 1908 editions list George Wood & Sons were now only producing blue bricks at the Brades Blue Brickworks, Oldbury. 

George Wood (b1835) died on the 5th of August 1910 at Brades House & his probate notice records that he left £31,000 & his executors are named as his son Harry, Brick Manufacturer & younger brother Enoch, Architect. After George (b.1835) had passed away his sons continued to trade as George Wood & Sons. 

In the 1911 census George junior & his family were now living on Bath Row in Rounds Green. However Widower Samuel & one daughter were still living at "Woodlands" & Harry & his wife were still living at "Hazelhurst" both on Dudley Road.

Kelly's 1912 edition entry is the same as in Kelly's 1904 & 1908 editions & below is the company's advert from Kelly's 1912 edition, which records the Company of George Wood & Sons had been established in 1870 by George Wood born in 1808, our first George Wood.

Kelly's 1912 trade directory.

I next found in the Edinburgh Gazette dated 3rd of November 1914 that brothers George Wood of The Dingle, Rounds Green, Samuel Wood of Dudley Road & Harry Wood of Dudley Road, Brick Manufacturers trading as George Wood & Sons at the Brades Blue Brickworks & the Gower Brickworks, Oldbury had gone bankrupt. This is the first reference found to the brothers running the Gower Brickworks which was situated on land next to the Brades Brickworks. I have coloured the Gower Brickworks green on the 1902 OS map above & for how long the brothers had operated this works is unknown. With the brothers going bankrupt this then poses the question of what happen to the vast amount of money their father left them four years earlier unless they sunk it into purchasing the Gower Brickworks. Also with George's (b.1835) brother, Enoch being named as Executor of his Will, some money may have gone to George's other brothers. Although not stamped Wood the Gower brick below may have been made by the brothers at this works. 

I have found that John Hadley who owned the nearby Ramrod Brickworks also owned the Gower Brickworks at some point before the Wood brothers & a photo of a coping brick made by John Hadley at the Gower Brickworks can be seen at this link.
https://www.picuki.com/media/2105722613380532582

As a footnote on the Brades brickworks, I have found in Kelly's 1921 the entry of the Brades Blue Brick Co. Ltd. Brades Blue Brickworks, Oldbury & this is followed by the entry of Blue Bricks (Oldbury) Ltd, Brades Road, Oldbury in Kelly's 1924 to 1940 editions, so who owned the Brades Brickworks between these dates is unknown. However it is possible that George, Samuel or Harry Wood had established this new company & reopened the Brades Brickworks in 1921. Only the 1921 census when released will answer my theory of the brothers restarting this works if they are still recorded as Brick Manufacturers. Frank Lawson came across this Star of David brick with the letter B stamped in it, so does this B stand for Brades Blue Brick Co. Ltd. or Blue Bricks (Oldbury) Ltd. & the Wood brothers had acquired the Star of David Trade Mark from their uncles, Peter & Samuel Wood ? It's one to ponder on until 2021 when the census is released.

Photo by Frank Lawson.

Added 2.7.20. Found at 4 Oaks Reclamation Yard this Oldbury Brick Co. Ltd. coping may have been made by the Blue Bricks (Oldbury) Co. who are listed in Kelly's 1924 to 1940 editions at Brades Road, Oldbury. 

Albion & Radnall Brickworks

The Albion Brickworks at Greets Green, West Bromwich is recorded as being owned by George Wood (b.1808) in Jones's 1865 edition. Situated on Albion Road, I have coloured this works yellow & Albion Road red on the 1902 OS map below. The works had it's own wharf on the Birmingham Canal & this map also shows that the Albion brickworks was situated adjacent to Joseph Hamblet's renowned blue brick works. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.

Kelly's 1868 edition lists George Wood (& blue) at the Albion Works, West Bromwich.

The 1871 census records George Wood (b.1808) as a Retired Brick Manufacturer living at Albion House, Bull Lane, West Bromwich & I have coloured Bull Lane brown & Albion House green on the 1902 OS map above.  

George Wood (1808) is then joined by J.W. Ivery at the Albion Brickworks & this partnership of Wood & Ivery is first listed in Kellys 1872 edition, but with George being recorded as being retired in 1871 the Wood in Wood & Ivery could now be either, George's son Thomas (b.1837) who is listed as a Brick Master & living on Albion Road in the 1871 census or Daniel (b.1850) or Peter (b.1851). Both Daniel & Peter are listed as Brick Manufacturers & living with their father at Albion House in the 1871 census. I have to note that any of these brothers were also in the partnership with George junior (b.1835) in Wood Brothers at the Brades Brickworks in 1876.

Hoping that I have found the correct J.W. Ivery on Family Search website, John William Ivery was the son of John Robert & Caroline Henrietta Ivery & he was christened on the 23rd of January 1853 in Old Swinford, Worcs. 

The meaning of "Late Wood" in the Wood & Ivery advert below from Kelly's 1872 trade directory is recording that the brickworks had been run by George Wood (b.1808) on his own before he had entered into this partnership with John Ivery.

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Wood_and_Ivery

My next find on the web is an index page to a Prospectus for Wood & Ivery dated 19th of August 1876 in which it records that the company owned two works, the Albion Works, West Bromwich & one on the Radnall Field Estate in Oldbury. I have coloured W & I's Radnall Brickworks yellow on the 1902 OS map below. The brickworks shown on this map just above the Radnall Brickworks was called Radnor Field Brickworks & was run by William Morris & then by his executors of his Will, as recorded in Kelly's 1860 to 1940 editions. Here is the link to the 1914 OS map showing the names of both works, which can be slightly confusing with both brickworks having similar names.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.

Kelly's 1880 directory entry lists Wood & Ivery's Radnall Field Works as a branch works to it's Albion Works & I show this entry below as it also lists the many types of bricks & other clay products that W & I produced.

Kelly's 1880 Trade Directory.

With this Kelly's 1880 entry recording J.W. Ivery as General Manager, fellow brick collector Ray Martin spotted this W & I Staffordshire Knot coping brick in Sutton Coldfield. I have also seen this stamp mark on an extremely large coping brick in a reclamation yard, but the imprint was not as good as this one. Many thanks, Ray.

Photo by Ray Martin.

Photo by Ray Martin.

In the 1881 census John William Ivery is listed as a Manager of Brick Company & living with his wife Ellen & their four children at 42, Westfield Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham. I then did a searched for John & his family in the 1891 census & with me not finding one I was then surprised to find documents recording that John William Ivery had emigrated to America in 1882 & his family followed him four years later. John is recorded as being a fireman at a clay mine in the States. So this begs the question of why John made this radical change to his life with him being in such a good job at the Albion Brickworks. It appears John's move to America did not affect the company name of Wood & Ivery Limited as it was not changed after his departure. I have not being able to establish if another Mr. Ivery was involved with the Albion Brickworks afterwards, but I can say John's two sons joined him in America in 1886, so we can discount them. 

In 1881 there may have been a change in the son who was the Wood in Wood & Ivery as we find Thomas was now a farmer in the 1881 census & Daniel was brickmaking in Lincoln with his brother Charles, so that now leaves Peter (b.1851) or the next son, Samuel Wood (b.1853 & Brick Manufacturer in the 1881 census) as the contenders. I then found Samuel was in partnership with his older brother Peter at the Pump House Brickworks in 1884, so Samuel with the later help of his two sons may have been running the Albion, Radnall & Pump House Brickworks at the same time. I have come to this conclusion because I have no more brothers to put forward in the running of the Albion & Radnall Works. However there is an outside chance that elder brother George (b.1835) & his three sons at the Brades Brickworks were helping to run the Albion & Radnall Works. With me going with the option of Samuel & his two sons in running the Albion & Radnall Works, I write more about them soon. 

In the 1890's Wood & Ivery produced between 200,000 and 300,000 blue bricks a week at it's Albion Brickworks (British History Online) & in 1894 or 1895 the BBS Journal records that Wood & Ivery had received an order for 10 million bricks from the Great Central Railway. So the 1890's appears to have been a boom time for Wood & Ivery as the Company won many gold medals for their bricks at many trade shows around the world during this decade. 

As said my preferred son in running the Albion & Radnall Works in the 1880's & 1890's is Samuel, but I cannot rule out Peter in helping to run these works as well. My reasoning that I have put forward Samuel is because in the 1901 census we find both his sons Albert (b.1876) & Walter (b.1878) are listed as Brick Manufacturers & Employers & will have been helping him to running the Albion & Radnall Brickworks in the 1900's. Also with the Pump House Brickworks being solely owned by Peter Wood in 1900 that is another reason why I am thinking Samuel & his sons were at the Albion & Radnall Brickworks. 

Kelly’s 1904 edition is the last listing for Wood & Ivery at the Albion Works, West Bromwich, but the Radnall Brickworks, Church Bridge, Oldbury is still listed in Kelly's 1908 edition, so I am taking it that Wood & Ivery closed the Albion Works first shortly after 1904 & the Radnall Brickworks had closed by 1912 as there is no entry in Kelly's 1912 edition for this works. 

I end this section with two more examples of Wood & Ivery's Staffordshire Knot bricks & a W & I Albion Works canal towpath brick.

Photo by Ray Martin.

Photo by Elizabeth Thomson.

Pump House Brickworks

Photo by John Maxwell courtesy of the Penmorfa brick website.

I have established that George Wood's (b.1808) 7th & 8th sons, Peter (b.1851) & Samuel (b.1853) are Peter & Samuel Wood at the Pump House Brickworks in West Bromwich. It was through the census records for Peter & Samuel plus Samuel's home address in these census that I made this connection.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.

The 1902 OS map above shows that the Pump House Brickworks was situated between Greets Green & Horsley Heath & had direct access to the canal. Peter & Samuel Wood are first listed in Kelly's 1884 edition at the Pump House Brickworks in West Bromwich & the advert below from the 1884 London Suburbs edition of the Post Office Trade Directory shows that the brothers had Trade Marked the Star of David symbol with a W in the centre & bricks stamped with this Trade Mark are shown later. Kelly's 1884 & 88 editions list P & S Wood were producing blue & red bricks; & ridge tiles at their Pump House Brick Works. It is unknown why the company adopted the Star of David symbol as a Trade Mark.

This London Suburbs 1884 Post Office Directory advert has been reproduced with permission from an article in the British Brick Society magazine.

In the 1891 census Peter (b.1851) aged 40 & listed as a Brick Manufacturer & living with his wife Amelia & four small children (all under 7) at 82, Paradise Street, West Bromwich. This street no longer exists, but I found a 1965 reference to it being off Lyng Lane in the centre of town. Meanwhile Samuel in the 1891 census was living on a road called Horsley Heath, Tipton & I have coloured this road red on the map above. So from his house, number 12, Samuel would have had a view of the brickworks & a quick journey to & from work. Samuel is listed as brick maker & employer in this census living with his wife, Abigail & two sons, Albert Ernest, aged 15, a clerk & Walter Clifford, aged 13, a scholar. Kelly's 1892 edition lists the company with blue in brackets, so I am assuming the company was only producing blue bricks & copings from this date. Kelly's 1896 just lists P & S Wood at the Pump House Brickworks. Next are four variations of frog stamped with the Star of David & W.

This next Star of David is a 4 inch square cobble brick which I photographed at the Black Country Living Museum.

In Kelly's 1900 edition we find that the company of P & S Wood had been renamed Peter Wood Ltd, so I am assuming Samuel had left this partnership to concentrate on running the Albion Works with him still being listed as a Brick Manufacturer in the 1901 census. Samuel is still listed as living on Horsley Heath road together with his wife & son Walter, aged 23 & a Brick Manufacturer. Both Samuel & Walter are recorded as Employers. Meanwhile Samuel's other son Albert, aged 25 was living at 11 Bagnall Street in West Bromwich as a border with his profession given as a Brick Manufacturer & Employer. So with Samuel & his two sons being recorded as Employers in 1901 & Peter was running the Pump House Brickworks on his own by 1900, this is were I am assuming that Samuel, Albert & Walter were running the Albion & Radnall brickworks. Although near to the centre of West Bromwich, Bagnall Street is not to far from the Radnall Brickworks. If I do find concrete information on Samuel & his two sons running the Albion & Radnall Brickworks, I will update the post. 

So with the Pump House Brickworks now being run solely by Peter Wood by 1900 we find Peter & his family in the 1901 census were living at 35, Beeches Road, West Bromwich. Kelly's 1904 edition is the last entry for Peter Wood Limited at the Pump House Brickworks, so I expect the works closed soon afterwards. Peter in the 1911 census is recorded as a retired brickmaker aged 60 with his wife Amelia & three grown up sons in their 20's living at 10, Carlton Avenue, Handsworth. None of these sons are listed as being brickmakers.

Samuel in the 1911 census is also recorded as a retired Brick Manufacturer aged 58 & living at 213, Cheshire Road, Smethwick with his wife Abigail & their youngest sons Denis (26) & Graham (15). Neither of these two sons became brickmakers. In the 1911 census Albert is now recorded as a Joiner/Builder & there is no census listing for Walter, but we find he was in the Royal Airforce in 1917, so may have joined before 1911.

This photo of the remains of the Pump House Brickworks was taken by John Roberts in the 1960's & John tells me that his Grandfather also named John Roberts was a foreman at the Pump House Brickworks until it closed in the mid 1900's. John then went to work at Nock's Brickworks in Erdington, again as a foreman. John worked his way up the company & in 1933 he became a Director at Nock's. It was at this time that John had bricks made stamped with the Star of David symbol, but his Grandson does not know why he produced these bricks with this symbol. I can only assume with John being at P & S Woods & making Star of David bricks there & with them being a success, he may have thought producing these bricks at Nock's would promote their brick sales as well. I expect we will never get the answer to this one. John Roberts remained a Director at Nock's until his death. 

I wish to Thank -

Ray Martin - photos

Frank Lawson - photo
Elizabeth Thomson - photos - Elizabeth shares her time between these two organisations.
https://twitter.com/CanalRiverTrust

https://twitter.com/BCLivingmuseum
Alan Murray-Rust - photo

John Roberts - photo & info

Tim Geater - photo

John Maxwell - photo

Penmorfa brick website - photos

British Brick Society - advert

Graces Guide - adverts

Black Country Living Museum

National Library of Scotland & Ordinance Survey - maps

Ancestry - Census info

Kelly's & Slater's Directories