William Nock, Erdington
I have established there were four William Nocks who ran this brickworks & this family business was started by William Nock who was born in Derby in 1826. However census listings records his age/birth year between 1823 & 1828, so I have used 1826 as recorded on his marriage certificate. Albert Stephenson writes in his 1933 book that "He never knew a time when a Nock was not making bricks at the Holly Lane Brickworks."
Some of this early Nock family info came from an article written in 2008 by Shaun J. on this website. Update 6.8.19 - I have now added some photos & info received from John Roberts who's Grandfather also named John Roberts worked at Nock's from around 1908. John worked his way up the Company to become Works Manager & then a Director. I have blended this new info & photos into the timeline of the Company. A newspaper article received from John also extends the date when Nock's Holly Lane Brickworks closed to 1971.
William Nock (b.1826) moved to Birmingham in 1851 & at the time of his marriage to Ann Nock on the 10th of July 1852, he is recorded as a "gun stocker" on his marriage certificate. A man who fitted wooden stocks to gun barrels. Shaun has tried to establish if William & Ann were related with them both being Nocks, but from reading the forum page, he has not been able to make any connection. I am thinking they were distant cousins, hence the reason why William moved to Birmingham & married Ann. William in the 1861 census is listed as a hosier.
A visit to the Library has revealed that in the 1871 census William is listed as a builder & living in Osborne Place, in the hamlet of Aston Manor, Birmingham together with his wife Ann & 3 children. Their eldest son, William, aged 15 & born in 1855 is listed as a carpenter. Shaun next writes that William Nock (b.1826) purchases a brickfield on Holly Lane, Erdington from the Reverend Horace Newton in 1875. I have coloured this Holly Lane brickworks yellow on the 1902 OS map below.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.
The first trade directory entry in the Brick Makers Section for W. Nock & Co., Holly Lane, Erdington appears in Kelly's 1876 edition. So this will be our first William born 1826. This 1876 trade directory entry for W. Nock & Co. is repeated up to Kelly's 1892 edition. Shaun writes that around 1887 William handed over the brickworks to his son William (b.1855) together with a 21 year lease on the property, but I have found that the 1881 census records William (b.1855 aged 25) as a Brick-Master employing 25 workers & living on Holly Lane together with his wife, Emma aged 25 & their son, William, aged nine months. So from this census info we can now bring forward the 1887 date when the brickworks was transferred over to William (b.1855). The 1891 census records William (b.1855) as William Nock junior, a Brick Manufacturer aged 35, together with his wife Emma, aged 35 & son, William, a scholar, aged 10 & all still living on Holly Lane.
Meanwhile the 1891 census records our first William Nock (b.1826) as a Brick Manufacturer, aged 64, wife Ann aged 69 & daughter, Kate, aged 30, all living on Orchard Road, Erdington.
William Nock (junior) b.1855 died in 1893 at the tender aged of 38. We then find that Kelly's 1895 edition now reads W. Nock (exors of) & this entry is repeated up to Kelly's 1900 edition. It was after 1895 that the executors of William junior's Will put the brickworks up for sale, but no one took up on the offer, so I am assuming that our first William Nock born in 1826 was now running W. Nock & Co. again as one of the executors of his son's Will because Emma & William junior's son, William, born 3rd of July 1880 was only 13 when his father died.
The following three photos of Nock's workers have been sent to me by John Roberts & are thought to have been taken in the 1890's.
The aerial photograph below, also from John's collection was taken by Geographia & may date to around 1900 because by 1908 new buildings had been erected & these are shown in a photograph later in the post.
We next find in the 1901 census that our third William Nock born 1880 & now aged 22 is recorded as Manager of a Brickworks & boarding with Mary A. Haddon aged 61 & her daughter Isabella, aged 25 on Wesley Road, Erdington.
Kelly's 1903 trade directory now has the addition of junior in the entry & reads William junior Nock (exors of), Holly Lane, Erdington & as just wrote we know from the 1901 census that William Nock born 1880 was now running the Holly Lane Brickworks. In 1904 the first William Nock, born in 1826 died aged 78.
With our third William Nock running the Holly Lane brickworks as Manager, entries in Kelly's 1904 to 1915 editions still read William junior Nock, (exors of), Holly Lane, Erdington, so I am assuming even by 1915 William junior's Estate had not been sorted.
Photo by Alex Cartwright who found this Exors brick in his garden in Sutton Coldfield.
As wrote at the top of this entry John Roberts' Grandfather John Roberts started at Nocks Brickworks around 1908 with him previously working at P. & S. Wood's Pumphouse Brickworks which had closed in 1904. John soon rose up the ladder at Nocks becoming Works Manager & by 1933 John was a Company Director. John known as "Jack" or the "Governor" celebrated 25 years at the Company on the 25th of June 1933 & a citation reads - 25th Anniversary of Service with William Nock Limited. Presented to Jack by his Co-Directors, William Nock, Isabella Nock & A. Bridgewater. Dated 25th of June 1933.
The following photograph is thought to have been taken after 1908 as John Roberts is in one of these photos & I have used a close-up version of the same photo to show John.
John Roberts is the gentleman standing in the background to the left of the first horse & cart, also note the Nock steam lorry on the right. I expect it was soon to be the end of using horses & carts at the works with the introduction of mechanised vehicles.
As I have digressed telling you about John Roberts I now go back to the 1911 census which lists our third William Nock (b.1880) as a Brick Manufacturer, living in Erdington & now married to Isabella Haddon. In 1901 William was living with Isabella & her mother, so love must have blossomed. This 1911 census also reveals that William's widowed mother, Emma was living with her son & daughter-in-law. A search for the marriage date for William & Isabella has resulted in finding an index entry recording they were married in either April, May or June 1905. The finds don't stop there, the 1939 England & Wales Register also reveals that a son was born to William & Isabella on the 5th of July 1911 & you've guessed it, they named him William !!!
It appears by 1921 William Nock junior's (b.1855 - d.1893) affairs had been sorted because Kelly's 1921 edition now reads William Nock Ltd., Holly Lane, Erdington & this entry is repeated up to the last available Kelly's trade directory in 1940. Running this new company was William Nock, our third William born 1880. Albert Stephenson writes about this William in his 1933 book - "After his father's death, "Billy" Nock greatly improved the works, that I now believe the output exceeds any other single plant in the district." Stephenson continues to write that Billy Nock was a member of the pre-War Brick Makers Associations & promptly joined the present 1917 Association, being at once elected to the Committee of Managers. "Billy" Nock is our "star" golfer, having twice won the Chairman's Cup, And at our social gatherings he is always called upon to sing the "Brickmakers' Anthem" ! I wonder how that went !!!
The Holly Lane Brickworks in 1937.
Ray Shill writes in his book that the Holly Lane Brickworks closed around 1952, but I have three Nock adverts dated 1954, 1959 & 1962.
Birmingham Post dated 2nd of September 1954.
Walsall Observer & South Staffordshire Chronicle dated 13th February 1959
Coventry Evening Telegraph dated 21st September 1962
So should Ray Shill's book read 1962 & not 1952 ? Also fellow brick collector, Ray Martin has sent me this info - "By the late 1960’s, the works had closed and the clay pit was used for waste disposal, including hazardous material such as acids, asbestos and medical waste. After the filling had been completed, it was capped with a six-foot earth cap."
I have therefore come to the conclusion that the Holly Lane Brickworks had closed by the mid 1960's with William Nock junior (b.1911) at the helm because his father, William "Billy" Nock (b.1880) had passed away in 1955 aged 75.
From John Roberts info, William junior born 1911 had the middle name of Haddon, but was known as Bill Nock. A Company letterhead dated 29th of January 1952 gives the directors as, William Nock (b.1880), Chairman, William Haddon Nock (b.1911), Managing Director & R. Starling, Works Director.
John Roberts has also sent me the Birmingham Evening Mail article below dated 6th January 1977 which reveals that due to the clay reserves being exhausted the Holly Lane Brickworks closed in 1971. So we can now say for certain that 1971 was the end of brick production at the Holly Lane Brickworks.
According to this article the year the Company would have celebrated it's Centenary was 1978, but we know from my research that Nock's are first listed making bricks in Kelly's 1876 Trade Directory & that the "first" William Nock purchased the Holly Lane brickfield in 1875, so the Centenary of the Company would have been in 1975/6 & not 1978. It appears William "Bill" Haddon Nock was unaware of these 1875/6 dates when the Company was established or he would have celebrated the Company's Centenary in 1975. With Bill saying in the article that he could not wait until 1978 for the party, I am wondering if he knew his health was failing because he sadly died on the 19th January 1978. His death is recorded in Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Photos from John Roberts Collection.
These two photos of Nock's lorries & small van may have been taken in the late 1930's / 1940's & it is thought that the gentleman to the left of the small van is Sam Redding, Works Manager & another gentleman is thought to be Henry Reed, father of Henry Reed the poet & author.
I have found from the web that there have been numerous applications to build houses on the former Holly Lane brickworks site over the last 40 years, but all have been dismissed. Local residents are today still battling the latest 2018 application to build 200 homes on this contaminated land.
While searching trade directories for William Nock I found a George Nock who is listed in Kelly's 1895 & 1896 editions brickmaking on Summer Road, Erdington (coloured yellow on the 1886 OS map below). The 1871 census has revealed that George Nock was born in 1865 to William (b.1826) & Ann Nock, so George was the younger brother to William Nock (b.1855 our second William). George would have been 30 in 1895 & as previously wrote William born 1855 died in 1893. There is the option that George was running the family business with his father after William's death because William's son was only 13 when his father died & it was at a later date that this William born in 1880 became our 3rd William & owner of the Holly Lane Brickworks. George Nock aged 26 in the 1891 census is recorded as a Manager at a Brick Yard & this entry ties in with the 1895 & 1896 trade directory entries for him as the owner of the Summer Lane Brickworks. The 1891 census also records George Nock & his wife Beatrice Lizzie Nock were living at Mona Villas, New Street, Erdington.
Ancestry has also revealed that George Nock married Beatrice Lizzie Haddon (b.1871) in 1890 & Beatrice was the older sister to Isabella Haddon (b.1875) who in 1905 married George's nephew, William Nock born 1880, our third William. This Haddon sister connection may explain why William was boarding with the Haddon's as recorded in the 1901 census.
The 1902 OS map no longer shows a brickworks on Summer Road & houses had been built on most of the site, so it appears George Nock only operated this site for a few years.
The 1901 census now records George Nock as a Timber Merchant, together his wife Beatrice Lizzie & five children ranging from 9 to 1. From a death index I next found that George died in either January, February or March 1907 aged 42. So George's foray into brickmaking may have only been between 1891 to 1896.
I have to note that his brother William (2nd William) born 1855 also died young at the of aged 38 in 1893, then on the other hand the first William born 1826 lived to be 78 & the third William born 1880 got to 75. The fourth William born 1911 was 67 when he passed away.
I found this snippet of information in Albert Stephenson's 1933 book. Albert writes "G.H. Machin owned a small hand-made yard (coloured purple on the 1886 OS map above) situated near to the Railway Station which was taken over by the first William Nock (b.1826)." As no date is given this would have been after 1892 when there are no more trade directory entries for Machin. The 1902 OS map no longer shows this small yard only the former clay pits with the newly built houses on New Street occupying the site were the buildings & kilns had once stood.
Ancestry has also revealed that George Nock married Beatrice Lizzie Haddon (b.1871) in 1890 & Beatrice was the older sister to Isabella Haddon (b.1875) who in 1905 married George's nephew, William Nock born 1880, our third William. This Haddon sister connection may explain why William was boarding with the Haddon's as recorded in the 1901 census.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1886.
The 1902 OS map no longer shows a brickworks on Summer Road & houses had been built on most of the site, so it appears George Nock only operated this site for a few years.
The 1901 census now records George Nock as a Timber Merchant, together his wife Beatrice Lizzie & five children ranging from 9 to 1. From a death index I next found that George died in either January, February or March 1907 aged 42. So George's foray into brickmaking may have only been between 1891 to 1896.
I have to note that his brother William (2nd William) born 1855 also died young at the of aged 38 in 1893, then on the other hand the first William born 1826 lived to be 78 & the third William born 1880 got to 75. The fourth William born 1911 was 67 when he passed away.
I found this snippet of information in Albert Stephenson's 1933 book. Albert writes "G.H. Machin owned a small hand-made yard (coloured purple on the 1886 OS map above) situated near to the Railway Station which was taken over by the first William Nock (b.1826)." As no date is given this would have been after 1892 when there are no more trade directory entries for Machin. The 1902 OS map no longer shows this small yard only the former clay pits with the newly built houses on New Street occupying the site were the buildings & kilns had once stood.
Before I sign off on this Nock entry, I found this Nock - Star of David brick at Cawarden Reclamation Yard. The only other company to use this symbol was P. & S. Wood of West Bromwich. It was a chance conversation between Ray Martin & a visitor to the Newhall Water Mill Museum as the man was looking at Ray's bricks which prompted him to tell Ray that his Grandfather worked at Woods until it's closure in 1904, moving to Nocks shortly after. Ray was unaware of me having this Nock - Star of David brick at the time, so this now begs the question, did this gentleman's Grandfather have anything to do with Nocks using this symbol which Woods had used since 1884 as a Trade Mark ?
With now being in touch with this visitor, John Roberts, I can now reveal that these bricks were made when John's Grandfather, John Roberts was a Director at the Company & this will have been after 1933. The reason why John Roberts produced bricks with the Star of David stamped in them is not known by his Grandson, but with John being at P & S Woods at the time when Woods produced their Star Of David bricks I can only assume with the sale of these bricks being a success in promoting Woods, John Roberts must have thought that doing the same would promote Nock's brick sales. John Roberts remained a Director at Nock's until his death.
Many Thanks to John Roberts (Grandson) for sending me the info on his Grandfather, John Roberts & the photos of Nocks, which now enriches this entry.
I found this Nock Star of David variation at Cawarden in October 2023.
T. Haines, Erdington
A search of the web & trade directories has drawn a blank for brickmaker T. Haines in Erdington. The design of the frog suggests it was made in the 1860's/70's. As to the location of Haines yard, the 1886 OS map below shows two operational brickworks, one on Summer Lane (now Summer Road) & one on Sheep Street (now Station Road) & Haines could have worked either of these two works. This map also shows three ponds on Brick Kiln Lane & these ponds could have been the clay pits to three more earlier brick yards which could have been operational in the 1860's/70's.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1886.
Powley's, Erdington
Photo by Angel Rose.
In January 2022 Angel Rose sent me this image of a part brick which she found in a Birmingham park. It appears to say Powley's, Patent, ???? Lane, Erdington. Now I have found two Erdington yards where this brick could have been made. Trade directories only list Henry Powley at Hay Mills, Birmingham between 1879 & 1890, so this brick will have been made pre -1879.
My first option is Holly Lane, Erdington & as wrote William Nock purchased the Holly Lane brickfield from the Reverend Horace Newton in 1875, so there is the option that Henry Powley leased this brick yard from Newton in the early 1870's.
My second option & the one I now prefer is that this brick says Powley's, Patent, Summer Lane, Erdington & I have coloured Summer Lane green & yard yellow on the 1885 OS map above in the Haines entry. With only a full brick or the other half of this one turning up will we get the answer to this conundrum. As a footnote this Summer Lane yard was owned by the first William Nock's son, George in 1895 & 1896.
I now move on to Washwood Heath with brickmakers Richard Taylor & Edward Hales who started off brickmaking independently, then as a partnership, followed by Hales on his own.
Richard Taylor
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1886.
We find Richard Taylor is listed as brickmaker in Saltley in Kelly's 1867 & 68 editions & from Albert Stephenson's book, Richard Taylor's yard was called the Heath Brickworks & was situated near to the Midland Railway & the Warwick & Birmingham Junction Canal. I have coloured this yard purple on the 1886 OS map above. Stephenson continues to write that the yard closed before 1880 & production was moved to a new yard situated at the side of Common Lane & Washwood Heath Road (coloured green). We know from info found that this move had taken place by 1872 with Richard Taylor now being in partnership with Edward Hales at the Washwood Heath Road Works.
As a footnote before I write about this Taylor & Hales partnership, I have found two more Taylor entries in trade directories & these are for Thomas Taylor at Washwood Heath in White's 1850 & Slater's 1852 editions, then John Taylor at Washwood Heath near Saltley in Slater's 1852 edition, so maybe these two brickmakers were related to Richard Taylor & both were at the coloured purple works before him.
Taylor & Hales
We next find Richard Taylor is joined by Edward Hales at the Washwood Heath Works, coloured green on the 1886 OS map above. The duos first trade directory entry is in Kelly's 1872 edition & it reads Taylor & Hales, Washwood Heath, Birmingham. Edward Hales up to the 12th of March 1869 had been in partnership with Josiah Derrington at Leopold Street in Birmingham. More can be read about Derrington & Hales in Birmingham Brickmakers - part 2.
White's 1873 edition however only lists Richard Taylor at Washwood Heath, but we then find in White's 1875 edition it has reverted back to Taylor & Hales. This partnership continues to be listed in Kelly's 1876 to 1882 editions. We then find from Kelly's 1883 edition Edward Hales is operating this Washwood Heath works on his own, so had Richard Taylor retired from brickmaking or had he passed away ?
Edward Hales
Edward Hales is listed at Washwood Heath Road, Saltley in Kelly's 1883 to Kelly's 1905 editions. With Edward first listed as brickmaking in 1858 I have estimated his age to be around 70 in 1905, so I can only assume he had retired from brickmaking or had passed away soon after 1905. There are no more brickmakers listed in trade directories as owning this works & it is no longer shown on the 1913 OS map, so I am taking it that this brickworks close soon after 1905.
Edward Mullett
Edward Mullett is listed in Kelly's 1876 edition with the address of Holyhead Road, Handsworth. Kelly's 1879 edition now gives his address as Nursery Brick Yard, Handsworth. Kelly's 1880 & 1882 editions are the same entry as 1876.
Ray Shill writes in his book that in 1883 the Nursery Brickworks on Holyhead Road, Handsworth possessed a 20hp horizontal engine, egg-ended boilers, pug-mill & rolls, brick press & a semi-dry brickmaking machine in addition to the kilns & sheds. The exact location of Mullett's yard is unknown. The 1886 OS map below (earliest available) shows no brick yards working or disused on Holyhead Road, so after studying this map, the only option I can put forward is the area which I have coloured green, with the pond being the former clay pit. With the works being called the Nursery Brickyard, it suggests it had occupied a former agricultural business. I will update the entry is any new info comes to light.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1886.
Charles Payne
I have two sets of trade directory entries for Charles Payne, the first lists him brickmaking at Great Barr, Handsworth in Kelly's 1879 to 1882 editions. The works address in the 1882 entry is given as Great Barr, Perry Barr. The only potential brickworks that I can find on maps in the Great Barr area, is the one marked old clay pit (red) on the 1885 OS map below & this yard may have been owned by Charles Payne. Great Barr village is at the top of this map, Perry Wood (green) is to the north of the brickyard & Perry Barr village is just off to the right on the next map. I have to note that on the right side of this map there is a road called Brick Kiln Lane which goes from Tower Hill to Perry Barr. Although there are no marked brickworks on this lane, there may have been when Payne was working & his yard may have been on this lane. If any firm evidence turns up for the location of his yard, I will update the post.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1885.
Now on to the second entry for Charles Payne & he is listed in Kelly's 1903, 04 & 05 editions with the works address of Mill Pool Hill Brickworks, Mill Pool Hill, Hollywood, Kings Norton via Kings Heath. I have had no trouble in finding this works as it is clearly marked on the 1903 OS map below (coloured yellow). It is unknown which of these two works this C. Payne brick was made, but I am favouring the Mill Pool Hill Works.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1903.
Hamstead / NCB Hamstead
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1885.
A brickworks at Hamstead (coloured yellow on the 1885 OS map above) was erected in 1876, a year after Hamstead Colliery had been sunk in 1875, whether at this date it was actually owed by the Hamstead Colliery Company (formed 1875) is unknown. I have found several independent brickmakers owned this works before the Hamstead Colliery (1930) Ltd took over in 1938. I therefore have come to the conclusion that the brickworks was first owned by the Colliery between 1876 & 1888, then between 1888 & 1938 it was in the hands of individual brickmakers, with it then coming back under the control of Hamstead Colliery (1930) Ltd. / NCB until it's closure.
A 1968 photo of the derelict brickworks can be seen at this link & the chimney has the date of 1876 incorporated into the pattern of the brickwork.
https://www.search.birminghamimages.org.uk/Details.aspx?&ResourceID=2447&PageIndex=1&KeyWord=bricks
So the first trade directory listing I have found for a brickmaker at this works is in Kelly's 1888 edition when it records William Bradford, 14, Franchise Street, Perry Barr, works, Hamstead, Birmingham. William Bradford's listing is repeated in Kelly's 1890 & 92 editions. We then find Joseph Sheldon is listed at this works in Kelly's 1895 edition. Kelly's 1897 & 1900 editions lists Joseph Sheldon with the works address of Old Walsall Road, Hamstead, Handsworth. Kelly's 1903 to 1921 editions next list Turner & Hadley at the Old Walsall Road, Hamstead works. Albert Stephenson writes in his 1933 book that "J.R. Turner was a builder who consumed most of the bricks produced at Hamstead & his partner William Hadley, was a very pushful salesman who was a "thorn in the flesh" to other Birmingham Brickmakers, until he joined with them in setting up the Brickmakers Association in 1917. After the retirement of Mr. Turner, "Billy" Hadley ran the yard until his expiration of his lease in 1927." As of yet no bricks stamped by the aforementioned brickmakers have been found.
We then find the Hamstead Brick Co. had taken over the brickworks from Turner & Hadley with this new company advertising they had recently installed a new kiln in 1929. It was said to be of a type invented by Alvis Habla of Czechoslovakia. The kiln was 84 ft long and 63 ft wide and was of the zigzag Hoffman type. The Hamstead Brick Co. spent £25,000 pounds on the modernisation of the works & this new kiln was capable of producing 250,000 bricks per week. The Hamstead Brick Co. is first listed in Kelly's 1932 edition with the address of Old Walsall Road, Great Barr & I think they were the makers of the Hamstead brick shown below. This Hamstead Brick Co. entry is repeated in Kelly's 1933, 36 & 37 editions.
An article in London Gazette dated 28th of December 1937 reports that the Hamstead Brick Co. went into voluntary liquidation on the 22nd of December 1937 & this process was finalised on the 30th of September 1940 when liquidator, Kenric Allday set out his accounts of the winding up & dispersal of the Company's assets.
With the demise of the Hamstead Brick Co. we find in Kelly's 1938 edition the listing for Hamstead Colliery (1930) Ltd. & they were now operating this Old Walsall Road brickworks. At some point a 20 chambered Staffordshire Kiln was built with each chamber holding 20,000 bricks. Clay shale was brought from the colliery via a aerial ropeway to the brickworks, a photo of which can be seen at this link.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1938.
With the Nationalisation of the Collieries in 1947, Hamstead colliery & brickworks came under the control of the National Coal Board & an example of a brick made by the NCB at this works can be seen below.
In 1963 the works is recorded as producing pressed commons, but in March 1965 the colliery closed and it appears the brickworks followed suit with the photo in this link showing the derelict brickworks in June 1968.
https://www.search.birminghamimages.org.uk/Details.aspx?&ResourceID=2447&PageIndex=1&KeyWord=bricks
As a footnote, Hamstead Colliery (1930) Ltd. is recorded in the 16th of April 1954 edition of the London Gazette as being voluntarily wound up by it's members at a special meeting on the 7th of April 1954 with Stanley Roche MacDonald & Henry Brian Cookson being appointed joint Liquidators for the purpose of such winding-up. Signed S.R. MacDonald, Chairman.
Lloyd, Sutton Coldfield
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1887.
Recorded as Builders & Contractors in 1868, Charles Lloyd & Son are then listed in Kelly's 1872 edition as Brickmakers with the address of Holland Street, Maney, Sutton Coldfield. Holland Street was their home address. This listing for Charles is repeated up to & including the 1888 edition. It's not until the 1908 listing for Mark Lloyd, Charles' son, that we find that Charles had established two brickworks on Whitehouse Common on the east side of Sutton Coldfield, one was called the Sutton Old Yard, coloured yellow on the 1887 OS map above & the other was the Wheatmoor Brick Works which I have coloured green. I have established from trade directories that no other brickmakers were operating in Sutton Coldfield at this time, hence me coming to the conclusion that Charles started both these two works which were eventually run by Mark.
This brick was kindly given to me by Ray Martin.
Photographed at New Hall Water Mill, Sutton Coldfield & forms part of Ray Martin's Collection at the Mill.
Fellow brick collector, Ray Martin has found that Charles Lloyd was born around 1815 & had died by the 1891 Census, as his wife Dinah is listed as a widow in this Census & living with her son Mark (born around 1848) & his wife. Charles last trade directory entry is in Kelly's 1888 edition, so Charles died between 1888 & 1891. According to Ray, Lloyd & Son bricks were used to build Sutton Coldfield's Park & Town Railway Stations in 1879.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1901.
I have used the 1901 OS map above to show how both works had expanded since the 1887 map.
This brick was kindly given to me by Ray Martin.
With Charles' last trade directory being 1888 we find that his son Mark first goes into partnership with Joseph Read Jones, as builders & brickmakers in Sutton Coldfield before running the Lloyd family's two brickworks on his own as recorded in Kelly's 1908 trade directory. This short lived partnership is recorded in a Notice in the London Gazette dated 16th of January 1891 when the partnership operating under the style of Jones & Lloyd was dissolved by mutual consent on the 31st December 1890. All debts due to & owing by the said late firm would be received & paid by the said Mark Lloyd. Dated 9th of January 1891.
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26125/page/316
Mark Lloyd is listed in Kelly's 1892 edition with the address of Holland Street, Maney, Sutton Coldfield. For some unknown reason Mark is not listed in Kelly's 1900 & 1904 editions & he is next recorded in Kelly's 1908 edition with the listing of Lloyd's (Mark) Brick Works Ltd., Sutton Old Yard & Wheatmoor Brick Works, Sutton Coldfield. This entry is repeated in Kelly's 1912 & 1916 editions. According to Ray both works closed around 1930.
T. Smith, Sutton Coldfield
Photo by MF courtesy of the John Baylis Collection.
A notice in the London Gazette dated 26th of November 1872 records Thomas Smith an Auctioneer & brickmaker of High Street, Sutton Coldfield was declaring himself bankrupt. The notice summoned creditors of the aforementioned to attend the First General Meeting at the Tuns Hotel, High Street, Sutton Coldfield on the 10th day of December 1872 at three o'clock precisely. Signed W.M. Fellows, attorney for the said Thomas Smith. The location of Thomas Smith's brickworks is not recorded in this notice, but there is the option that it may have been the Sutton Old Yard, Sutton Coldfield which was in the hands of Charles Lloyd & Son from 1872.
This post now completes Birmingham Brickmakers to which I have brick images for. That is until anymore new named Birmingham bricks turn up, so if you have any images of bricks not featured in any of my five Birmingham Posts, please send them along to my e-mail address which can be found on the Links & Contact Tab & I will add them to the appropriate post with a credit to the sender. Thanks.
I wish to thank the following :-
National Library/Ordnance Survey - maps.
https://maps.nls.uk/index.html
Nock Adverts in this post were found on this website.
The British Newspaper Archive
Chris Thornburn & John Baylis - for allowing me to photograph their brick collections.
John Roberts - Nock photos & Info.
Alex Cartwright - Nock brick photo.
Hamstead Miners Memorial Trust - Info.
David Kitching - info.
Ray Martin - Info & bricks.
Nock Adverts in this post were found on this website.
The British Newspaper Archive
Chris Thornburn & John Baylis - for allowing me to photograph their brick collections.
John Roberts - Nock photos & Info.
Alex Cartwright - Nock brick photo.
Hamstead Miners Memorial Trust - Info.
David Kitching - info.
Ray Martin - Info & bricks.
I have gathered some information from a book called Workshop of the World - Birmingham's Industrial Heritage by Ray Shill to whom I am indebted.
