I write about each of these three areas in turn & in most cases I have been unable to establish which brickmaker owned which brickyard due to the fact that trade directories do not give a brick yard/works address for these brickmakers, so I can only show their bricks together with the trade directory entries found. Then in each of the three areas, I list the other brickmakers found in trade directories to which stamped bricks have yet to be found.
Stapenhill
The first three OS maps shown below dated 1882, shows there were four brick yards on Rosliston Road (dark green) Stapenhill. The red yard is shown on the top two maps with it being situated on the edge of both these maps, then the green yard is shown on both maps two & three. There were three yards situated on or near Stanton Road (orange). Only the two brickworks on Stanton Road are still shown on the 1900 OS map with the rest having closed by 1900.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
Photos by Nigel Furniss.
I start with John Rowland who is listed in Wright's 1874 & Kelly's 1876 editions at Stapenhill. Which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown. My Dad would have liked to have seen this brick because his first name was Rowland with a w. Alas this brick turned up 30 years to late for him to have seen it. If it had turn up all those years ago I am sure he would have put it on his mantlepiece !
Photos by Frank Lawson.
Photos by Vicki Eaglefield.
With a photo of a R. Scattergood, Cannock blue coping brick turning up, this brick has lead me to delve deeper into the Scattergood Family & this blue brick was made by Robert junior, but I first start with his father, Robert senior, Robert junior & three other brothers making red bricks in Stapenhill, Burton.
Robert Scattergood snr was born in 1803 & the 1851 census records him aged 48, a brickmaker & married to Mary together with their 6 sons & 1 daughter in Burton. In the 1851 census second son James aged 19 b.1832 is listed as a brickmaker & fourth son Edward aged 15 b.1836 is listed as a brickmakers apprentice. We next find in the 1861 census that Robert snr is still listed as a brickmaker & sons, John b.1829 & Robert junior b.1839 are also listed as brickmakers & living with Robert snr & Mary in St. Modwen, Burton. The 1871 census only lists Robert snr aged 68, a Brick Master & son John as a brickmaker at Stapenhill with Robert snr employing 15 men. By 1871 Robert junior was brickmaking in Cannock.
Kelly's 1876 edition.
Photo by Peter Hubbard.
Henry Durant is listed in Kelly's 1864 edition & Harrods 1870 edition as brick & pipe maker in Stapenhill. Which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown.
William Elverson is listed in Wright's 1874 edition at the Laurels then Kelly's 1876 through to Kelly's 1888 edition at Stapenhill. Which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown. Laurels may have been his residence.
Robert Scattergood (snr) is listed as brickmaker in Stapenhill in White's 1857 edition & Kelly's 1864 edition. Which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown. Robert senior died in 1873 & Wright's 1874 & Kelly's 1876 editions records son John Scattergood was operating the Stapenhill works. 1876 is the last Stapenhill entry for the Scattergood family.
Photo by Julie Green reproduced with the permission of the Penmorfa brick website.
I next write about Robert junior brickmaking in Cannock & it appears Robert moved to Cannock shortly after the 1861 census which records him brickmaking in Stapenhill with his father & brother John. Robert jnr married Hannah Holmes in either April, May or June 1862 in Litchfield & the couple produce a daughter, Anne Cecilia who sadly died when she was only one, but I then found Hannah also had died sometime in 1863 or 1864 & Robert, a widower is then recorded as marrying Elizabeth Cox on the 17th of October 1865 by Licence. This marriage document records Robert's profession as a brickmaker. Kelly's 1868, 72 & 76 editions record Robert as making blue bricks at Rumer Hill, Cannock.
The 1882 OS map below shows there were three brickworks at Rumer Hill & there may have been another brickworks opposite the yellow coloured yard with there being large buildings & a water filled clay pit ? Kelly's 1876 edition lists three brickmakers at Rumer Hill, Robert Scattergood, William Jones & William Gilbert. Both Scattergood & Gilbert are known to have manufactured blue bricks & copings for railway & canal contracts. I cannot say for certain which works was owned by Robert Scattergood, but with him being listed as a brick & tile maker in the 1871 census that may rule out the red coloured yard. So the 1871 census records Robert as a brick & tile maker living with Elizabeth, 2 sons & 1 daughter in Leacroft, Cannock. The 1881 census only records him as a Tile Maker. I next found by the 1891 census Robert had moved his family to Titchfield in Hampshire & was no longer a brickmaker.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
I then found this little titbit of info on a family tree site that Boris Johnson PM is the 4x grandson of Robert Scattergood. It's surprising what you can find on the web.
With this Scattergood, Lichfield image being sent to me by Peter Hubbard, I originally thought this was another works owned by Robert junior, but trade directory entries & other information found has resulted in finding this Lichfield Scattergood was Richard Scattergood who may or may not have been related to the two Robert's. However I have added Richard to this post just in case he is.
Richard Scattergood a builder & brickmaker in Lichfield is listed as a brickmaker in Kelly’s 1880 & 1884 editions with the address of Bel Vue House, Lichfield. Richard went bankrupt in May 1885 with a newspaper article stating he lived on London Road, Lichfield & had been in business for 18 years. It appears Richard first established himself as a builder before adding brickmaking to his business with him not being listed as a brickmaker in Kelly’s 1876 edition.
As I have digressed I now return to Stapenhill.
Henry Larkin is listed in Kelly's 1855, White's 1857 & Kelly's 1864 & 1876 editions at Stapenhill. Again, which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown.
Henry Durant is listed in Kelly's 1864 edition & Harrods 1870 edition as brick & pipe maker in Stapenhill. Which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown.
William Elverson is listed in Wright's 1874 edition at the Laurels then Kelly's 1876 through to Kelly's 1888 edition at Stapenhill. Which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown. Laurels may have been his residence.
Samuel Simnett is listed in White's 1857 edition with the address of Station Street, Stapenhill & this entry is followed by Harrison's 1860 & Kelly's 1864 & 76 editions at Stapenhill. So again which of the seven Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown as Station Street was in the centre of Burton & may have been Samuel's home address. Samuel married Mary Durant on the 10th of April 1848 in Rosliston, Derbys. There's a possibility that Mary Durant & Henry Durant, brickmaker in the above entry were brother & sister, but this is still to be proven. Samuel died on the 8th of October 1878 & his estate went to probate. Listed in Samuel & Mary's marriage entry is Samuel's father, Thomas Simnett & I have found a T. Simnett brickmaking at Church Broughton, Derbys. in Kelly's 1855 edition, so I am assuming this was Samuel's father. Stapenhill & Rosliston are just over three miles apart & Church Broughton is about ten miles to the north of Stapenhill.
Hezekiah Potter is listed as brickmaker on Rosliston Road, Stapenhill in Kelly's 1884, 1888 & 1892 editions. So from the yard address of Rosliston Road we have a choice of Hezekiah Potter owning either the red, blue, green or pink yard, as shown on the 1882 OS map above.
Ballard & Co. are listed as brickmakers in Kelly's 1876, 1880 & 1884 editions at Stapenhill. Ballard & Co.'s yard was on Stanton Road, Stapenhill & I have coloured this yard brown on the 1882 OS above. I found the location of Ballard's yard in a web article about human skeletons & artefacts being found by clay-getters in the next brickfield to Ballard's owned by Mr. Chamberlain & I write about that yard after the next shown brick. Ballard & Co.'s yard may have closed soon after their last 1884 trade directory entry, but it appears that the works had been re-opened by 1900 when Sam Lowe is listed as brickmaker on Stanton Road, Stapenhill in Kelly's 1900 edition. This is the only entry for Sam Lowe & a brick stamped Sam Lowe has still to be found. Sam Lowe may be connected to Lowe & Sons, brickmakers on Shobnall Road & Winshill in Burton, but I have not been able to establish a connection.
I have not been able to find any info or TD's on D. Shreeve & Son, Burton, but I have found info for Richard Shreeve brickmaking in Stapenhill & he may be the son in D. Shreeve & Son, but it's only a guess. Richard Shreeve is listed in the 1851 & 1861 census as a brickmaker living in Stapenhill. Then at the time of his daughter's baptism on the 20th of July 1862, he is still recorded as a brickmaker. These 1860 dates tie in to when bricks were first stamped with the makers name.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
I have not been able to find any info or TD's on D. Shreeve & Son, Burton, but I have found info for Richard Shreeve brickmaking in Stapenhill & he may be the son in D. Shreeve & Son, but it's only a guess. Richard Shreeve is listed in the 1851 & 1861 census as a brickmaker living in Stapenhill. Then at the time of his daughter's baptism on the 20th of July 1862, he is still recorded as a brickmaker. These 1860 dates tie in to when bricks were first stamped with the makers name.
The yellow coloured yard shown on the 1882 OS map below was owned by Joseph Chamberlain & Thomas Haynes & it appears Thomas Haynes worked this yard as per Kelly's 1855 & White's 1857 editions on his own before Chamberlain joined him.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
Kelly's 1876 edition records Chamberlain & Haynes at Stapenhill, however this partnership was short lived as subsequent entries from 1880 to 1896 now read Joseph Chamberlain, Stanton Road, Stapenhill. So it appears Thomas Haynes had retired sometime between 1876 & 1880. There is no entry for Joseph Chamberlain in Kelly's 1900 edition, however Kelly's 1904 & 1908 editions now records J. Chamberlain & Co. at Stanton Road, Stapenhill. 1908 is the last entry for Chamberlain. The two Stanton Road brickworks (yellow & brown) owned by Chamberlain & Ballard / Sam Lowe are shown as disused on the 1920 OS map, so both had closed by WW1.
As previously wrote in the Ballard entry the location of Joseph Chamberlain's yard was found in a web article about human skeletons & artefacts being found by Chamberlain's workmen while they were digging clay, this was on the 1st of February 1881. The workmen first found two large earthenware pots which had burn bones inside. It was later established that these pots were Saxon burial urns. Archaeologists were then called in to excavate the rest of the brickfield site & more remains & artefacts were found. The brickfield next door (brown) owned by Mr. Ballard was also excavated, but no remains or artefacts were found there.
I now list the Stapenhill brickmakers who's bricks have still to be found & are listed in trade directories at Stapenhill.
William Lakin - Harrison's 1860 edition. Could be brother to Henry Lakin who's brick is shown above & was brickmaking around the same time.
J.T. Povser - Kelly's 1876 & 1880 editions. Which of the Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown.
There were two brickworks on Shobnall Road as shown on the 1882 & 1900 OS maps below. One was owned by Lowe & Sons & the other by George Hodges, but I have been unable to establish which yard was owned by which man. Both these gentlemen also owned brickworks at Winshill & I write about their other yards later. There are no more brickmakers recorded in trade directories as working on Shobnall Road, so it appears both these yards were started & closed by Lowe & Hodges.
Updated - 12.4.20.
Derek in Australia has contacted me with this information which puts Lowe & Son at the green works & George Hodges at the yellow works. Many Thanks Derek.
"I lived on Reservoir Road for the first 25 years of my life & so the old clay pits were a magic play area for me. By then, of course, they were only being used as tips by builders Lowe & Hodges. I’m fairly certain that the one closest to Reservoir Road was used by Lowe’s & the other by Hodges. This might help you in working out which one was owned by which company. There was the remnant of the brickworks there in the form of a short length of tunnel which was an especially great play area."
Lowe & Sons are listed in Kelly's 1880 edition on Shobnall Road, Burton & this entry continues until Kelly's 1900 edition. How long after 1900 Lowe & Sons continued to produce bricks at this yard is unknown, but the works is not shown on the 1920 OS map, only the outline of the clay pit is shown.
George Hodges was a Stonemason who established a building company in 1877. The first reference to George Hodges owning a brickworks is in Kelly's 1884 edition when he is listed in the Brick & Tile Makers section as brickmaking on Shobnall Road. The next entry in Kelly's 1892 edition lists him at 115, Byrkley Street, Burton & I have established from the 1881 census that this was his home address. Kelly's 1896 edition lists him at 96, Derby Street & this was his builders yard/offices. The census entries for George Hodges only list him as a Builder or Building Contractor & not as a brickmaker, so it appears he was making bricks for his own use. His building company is still going strong today, but alas there are no more Hodges running the company as Geoffrey Hodges, a bachelor without any heirs retired in 1977. Back to the brickworks & the Shobnall Road yard continues to be listed in Kelly's 1904, 1908 & 1912 editions. George Hodges died in 1916, so the brickworks may have closed sometime between 1912 & 1916. The yard is not shown on the 1920 OS map only the outline of the clay pit. After George's death the building company was run by his son, Frederick Hodges.
A small company booklet produced by building firm Lowe & Sons in Burton Library records Thomas Lowe established his building company in 1825 then opening his Winshill brickworks on the south side of Ashby Road in 1832. Thomas Lowe died in 1878 & the brickworks was then run by building firm Lowe & Sons who are listed in Kelly's 1876 to 1896 editions at Winshill. Thomas's first son William had died in 1887, so it was his second son Thomas B. Lowe who was now running the company. William's son Thomas E. Lowe later joined his uncle Thomas in the running of the company. Kelly's 1900 & 1904 editions now actually records the brickworks address as Ashby Road, Winshill. I have been unable to established if Lowe's owned the green or red works on Ashby Road as shown on the 1882 & 1900 OS maps above. As previously wrote Lowe & Sons owned another brickworks on Shobnall Road, Burton. There are no more Lowe & Sons trade directory entries after 1904 & the 1920 OS map only shows two old clay pits on Ashby Road, so it appears this works closed sometime before WW1 & Lowe's were no longer making their own bricks.
George Hodges second brickworks was on Bearwood Road, Winshill & this is the yellow coloured yard on the 1882 & 1900 OS maps above. This Bearwood Road/Winshill works is only listed in Kelly's 1900 & 1904 editions, so it unknown how long George Hodges actually owned this works with finding other brickmakers also operated in Windshill before George Hodges' TD dates & these brickmakers are listed after the next brickmaker. This yellow coloured Bearwood Road works is not shown on the 1920 OS map.
The only info found on this brickmaker is that Richard Jordan is recorded as owning the Steam Brickworks, Winshill, the date of which is unknown, also no trade directory entries have been found for this brickmaker. However Kelly's 1904 &1908 editions lists the Jordan Brothers at London Road Wharf, Derby, so this may be Richard Jordan ? Which of the four brickworks shown on the maps above was the Steam Brickworks is unknown.
J.T. Povser - Kelly's 1876 & 1880 editions. Which of the Stapenhill yards he owned is unknown.
Shobnall Road
There were two brickworks on Shobnall Road as shown on the 1882 & 1900 OS maps below. One was owned by Lowe & Sons & the other by George Hodges, but I have been unable to establish which yard was owned by which man. Both these gentlemen also owned brickworks at Winshill & I write about their other yards later. There are no more brickmakers recorded in trade directories as working on Shobnall Road, so it appears both these yards were started & closed by Lowe & Hodges.
Updated - 12.4.20.
Derek in Australia has contacted me with this information which puts Lowe & Son at the green works & George Hodges at the yellow works. Many Thanks Derek.
"I lived on Reservoir Road for the first 25 years of my life & so the old clay pits were a magic play area for me. By then, of course, they were only being used as tips by builders Lowe & Hodges. I’m fairly certain that the one closest to Reservoir Road was used by Lowe’s & the other by Hodges. This might help you in working out which one was owned by which company. There was the remnant of the brickworks there in the form of a short length of tunnel which was an especially great play area."
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
Courtesy of Ashby Museum.
Winshill
The 1882 OS map shows there were four brickworks in Winshill, two on Bearwood Road & two on Ashby Road, but by 1900 there were only three.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1900.
A small company booklet produced by building firm Lowe & Sons in Burton Library records Thomas Lowe established his building company in 1825 then opening his Winshill brickworks on the south side of Ashby Road in 1832. Thomas Lowe died in 1878 & the brickworks was then run by building firm Lowe & Sons who are listed in Kelly's 1876 to 1896 editions at Winshill. Thomas's first son William had died in 1887, so it was his second son Thomas B. Lowe who was now running the company. William's son Thomas E. Lowe later joined his uncle Thomas in the running of the company. Kelly's 1900 & 1904 editions now actually records the brickworks address as Ashby Road, Winshill. I have been unable to established if Lowe's owned the green or red works on Ashby Road as shown on the 1882 & 1900 OS maps above. As previously wrote Lowe & Sons owned another brickworks on Shobnall Road, Burton. There are no more Lowe & Sons trade directory entries after 1904 & the 1920 OS map only shows two old clay pits on Ashby Road, so it appears this works closed sometime before WW1 & Lowe's were no longer making their own bricks.
Photographed at the Silk Mill Museum, Derby.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
Courtesy of Ashby Museum.
Herbert B. Smith is listed in Kelly's 1880 to 1892 editions brickmaking in Winshill. Which of the two brickworks on Ashby Road (green or red) as shown on the 1882 map above Smith owned is unknown. The other works was owned by Lowe & Sons.
I now list the Winshill brickmakers who's bricks have still to be found & are listed in trade directories or info about them has been found on the web. Which of the four brickworks in Winshill they owned is mostly unknown.
T. Cooper Kelly's 1864 edition.
A web article records William Bond as brickmaking on Bearwood Road (yellow or purple yard) in the 1850's then Mrs. C. Bond is listed as brickmaking in Winshill in Kelly's 1876 edition.
Benjamin Gregory, Kelly's 1876 edition.
Morris & Edwards, Kelly's 1896 edition.
I wish to thank the following :-
T. Cooper Kelly's 1864 edition.
A web article records William Bond as brickmaking on Bearwood Road (yellow or purple yard) in the 1850's then Mrs. C. Bond is listed as brickmaking in Winshill in Kelly's 1876 edition.
Benjamin Gregory, Kelly's 1876 edition.
Morris & Edwards, Kelly's 1896 edition.
Anslow
Anslow is a village 3 miles north-west of Burton on Trent.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1881.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1920.
Photo by Nigel Furniss.
William Harrison is listed as brickmaking at the Anslow Brickworks (coloured yellow on the two maps above) in Kelly's 1896 to 1908 edtions. In the 1911 census Herbert Harrison (William's son) is listed as a Brickworks Manager, so running the works for his father. I then found Kelly's 1912 edition now reads Herbert Harrison, Anslow, so Herbert had now taken full control of the works. The next directory entry in Kelly's 1916 edition lists Harrison & Co. at the Anslow works same as this brick & this is the only entry for Harrison & Co. A Derbyshire Advertiser newspaper article dated the 12th of September 1919 reveals Sir Oswald Mosley of Rolleston Hall, Burton was selling his home, estate & the Anslow Brickworks at auction, so from this information I have concluded the Harrison family only leased the works from Sir Oswald Mosley & this lease appears to have ended when Sir Oswald Mosley put the brickworks up for sale. I then established from another Derbyshire Advertiser notice dated the 12th of March 1921, the brickworks did not sell in this 1919 auction with this notice advertising the sale of the brickworks plant & machinery at an auction on the 23rd of March 1921 at 11 o'clock. Therefore that accounts for the brickworks still being shown on the 1920 OS map with the decision being made to sell the works plant & machinery rather than to wait for a buyer to purchase the brickworks as a whole.
National Library of Scotland/Ordnance Survey - maps.
