It was with me finding that myself & fellow brick collectors had photographed many different stamp marks on Joseph Hamblet's bricks & also finding more info on the Hamblet family that I decided to write this dedicated post. I first wish to thank Caroline Allen who is Joseph Hamblet's 4x's Grand-daughter for her help with photos & info which has filled in many gaps. Caroline tells me that this photo of Joseph Hamblet was taken around 1870 in West Bromwich & Joseph is holding a contract which he had just signed to supply 74,000 bricks, the largest order he had received to date.
Joseph Hamblet - courtesy of Caroline Allen.
From Caroline Allen's Family Tree, Joseph Hamblet was born on the 17th of June 1819 in Dudley to Philip junior & Sarah Hamblet. Philip Hamblet aged 45 in the 1841 census is listed as a brickmaker living with Sarah in Cawney Hill, Dudley. Joseph Hamblet followed his father into brickmaking & he is first recorded as a brickmaker in the 1841 census living with his wife Caroline (nee Grainger) & their two children at Darby End, Dudley. This census however records his home town as Darby Hand. I expect the person writing this entry misheard the name when entering it into the ledger. Many examples of wrong spellings have been found in these early census records during my search for other brickmakers. Also listed in this 1841 census & living with Joseph & Caroline was James Jones aged 25 & a brickmaker. With Joseph's sister Ann marrying Isaac Jones, I am assuming that James Jones was related to Isaac Jones & James was working at Joseph's brickworks. Caroline Allen has told me that Joseph employed several members of his family in various jobs at his brickworks over the years, some of which I write about in this post.
A Notice in the London Gazette records that on the 25th of September 1847 Joseph Hamblet of Cornhill (Cawney Hill), Dudley, Brick Maker & Provisions Dealer was summoned to Birmingham Bankruptcy Court for the first reading of his debts. It was only after 1861 that you could declare yourself bankrupt, before that you had to attend court to try & sort your debts out. You were referred to as being an insolvent debtor. Joseph then had to attend Birmingham Court on the 9th of November 1847 to hear the judge's Final Order. This September Notice also records that Joseph Hamblet had been in partnership with Edward Hamblet as brickmakers. I have found two Edward's in Caroline Allen's Family Tree that fits the bill, first is Joseph's Uncle Edward (1787-1867) recorded as a labourer aged 64 living in Cawney Hill in the 1851 census. The second Edward is Edward Hamblet (1811-1872) who is shown in Caroline's Framily Tree in a different branch to Joseph, so I have been unable to establish the connection to Joseph. This second Edward in the 1851 census is listed as a labourer aged 40 & living in Cawney Hill, Dudley, however Edward's 1861 entry does record him as a brickmaker living at Cawney Hill.
Joseph & Caroline's home address in the 1851 census is now given as Rounds Green & Joseph was employing 12 at his brickworks. Also listed as living with Joseph in this 1851 census was his brother John (b.1832) & he to is listed as a brickmaker, so I expect he worked for Joseph at this time. I write more about John Hamblet's brickmaking career at the end of this post.
I then found another Notice in the London Gazette dated 5th September 1851 for Joseph Hamblet being summoned to the Courts again, this time at Oldbury to hear the first reading of his debts. So it appears Joseph was having money problems again. In this Notice Joseph's profession is given as a Brickmaker & Licensed Victualler, living at the New Inn, Rounds Green. At this time brickmaking & being in the beer trade went hand in hand with brickmaking only taking place from late spring to early winter. The London Gazette dated 17th October 1851 gives notice that the judge's Final Order will take place on the 28th of October 1851.
Shortly after this 1851 Court date Joseph's circumstances must have suddenly & dramatically changed as we find that Joseph had acquired land at Ireland Green, West Bromwich & had established his Piercy Brick Works together with business partner Isaac Parkes, operating under the company name of Hamblet & Parkes. This brickworks was on land which had formed part of John Piercy's "Oak House" Estate in Ireland Green, West Bromwich.
On this 1902 OS map showing the Piercy Brickworks (green) I have coloured Albion Road red & Oak Road yellow. Oak House is shown just off Oak Road on the edge of the map. The brickworks had excellent access to the canal. No information has been found recording the exact location/locations of Joseph's previous brickworks prior to him moving to the Piercy Brickworks, but as you will read later, Joseph's brother John operated the Paddock Brickworks in Oldbury from the mid 1870's, so Joseph may well have been at this works in the late 1840's up to 1851 with it being situated so close to Rounds Green where he lived ?
I then found several Notices in the London Gazette from 1852 onwards, but don't panic these were applications for Patents to make improvements in the manufacture of bricks & later, to improvements in brick making machinery.
The first trade directory entry that I have found recording Joseph Hamblet at Piercy's Brickyard, West Bromwich is in Kelly's 1860 Worcestershire & Staffordshire edition.
The 1861 census now records Joseph & Caroline's home address as the Old White Swan Inn, Church Street, Oldbury with Joseph being listed as a Brick Master & Publican employing 80 men. So it appears from this time on Joseph was in a much better position financially. Also listed in this census & living with Joseph was son-in-law Walter Brant married to Joseph's daughter Sarah & Walter is listed as a Brickworks Clerk aged 23. Joseph's nephew John Jones (born London) is listed on the next line aged 11 & working in brickyard. John Jones was the son of Joseph's sister Ann who had married Isaac Jones. Note the age of John Jones, my research has reveal that before 1870 schools were few & far between unless there was a local church school for them to attend.
The London Gazette dated 18th of April 1862 records that the partnership of Hamblet - Parkes was dissolved on the 7th of April 1862 with Joseph Hamblet then running the brickworks under his own name.
It has always intrigued me what the shape of the frog in the brick above represents, then with Caroline Allen saying that Joseph patented new ways of producing stronger & more durable blue bricks, it came to me that this shape could be a dumb-bell weight & it was representing Joseph's stronger & more durable new bricks. Below are two more examples, one with the patent registration number stamped in it, then another stamped Patent. The majority of Hamblet bricks found have this dumb-bell frog stamped in it with either the Hamblet name or the letter H.
The 1871 census records Joseph & Caroline were now living at Oak Buildings in West Bromwich. Grandson Joseph Hamblet Davies, aged 15, a scholar was also living with his grandparents at this address. With finding several other families on the same page as Joseph in this census were living at Oak buildings & with then finding in Joseph's Probate Notice that his abode at time of his death was given as Oak House, I contacted Oak House Museum in West Bromwich to see if they could shed any light on this Oak Buildings/Oak House address. Frank Caldwell of Sandwell Council replied to my request, sending a me a conservations article about Oak House, the museum & in it, it says that a farmhouse no longer standing (from my later finds was called the "New" Oak House) & other out-buildings situated next to Oak House (the museum) in the 1800's when the Oak House Estate was owned by colliery owner John Piercy were sub-divided into tenanted accommodation & were occupied by local trade persons. According to this article Joseph Hamblet is not listed as living in this Oak House farmhouse or other courtyard building, but my findings reveal that in 1871 & at the time of his death Joseph was living at the "New" Oak House. With the "New" Oak House being demolished in 1977 the courtyard buildings today form the reception to Oak House Museum.
Joseph & Caroline's home address in the 1851 census is now given as Rounds Green & Joseph was employing 12 at his brickworks. Also listed as living with Joseph in this 1851 census was his brother John (b.1832) & he to is listed as a brickmaker, so I expect he worked for Joseph at this time. I write more about John Hamblet's brickmaking career at the end of this post.
I then found another Notice in the London Gazette dated 5th September 1851 for Joseph Hamblet being summoned to the Courts again, this time at Oldbury to hear the first reading of his debts. So it appears Joseph was having money problems again. In this Notice Joseph's profession is given as a Brickmaker & Licensed Victualler, living at the New Inn, Rounds Green. At this time brickmaking & being in the beer trade went hand in hand with brickmaking only taking place from late spring to early winter. The London Gazette dated 17th October 1851 gives notice that the judge's Final Order will take place on the 28th of October 1851.
Shortly after this 1851 Court date Joseph's circumstances must have suddenly & dramatically changed as we find that Joseph had acquired land at Ireland Green, West Bromwich & had established his Piercy Brick Works together with business partner Isaac Parkes, operating under the company name of Hamblet & Parkes. This brickworks was on land which had formed part of John Piercy's "Oak House" Estate in Ireland Green, West Bromwich.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.
On this 1902 OS map showing the Piercy Brickworks (green) I have coloured Albion Road red & Oak Road yellow. Oak House is shown just off Oak Road on the edge of the map. The brickworks had excellent access to the canal. No information has been found recording the exact location/locations of Joseph's previous brickworks prior to him moving to the Piercy Brickworks, but as you will read later, Joseph's brother John operated the Paddock Brickworks in Oldbury from the mid 1870's, so Joseph may well have been at this works in the late 1840's up to 1851 with it being situated so close to Rounds Green where he lived ?
I then found several Notices in the London Gazette from 1852 onwards, but don't panic these were applications for Patents to make improvements in the manufacture of bricks & later, to improvements in brick making machinery.
The first trade directory entry that I have found recording Joseph Hamblet at Piercy's Brickyard, West Bromwich is in Kelly's 1860 Worcestershire & Staffordshire edition.
The 1861 census now records Joseph & Caroline's home address as the Old White Swan Inn, Church Street, Oldbury with Joseph being listed as a Brick Master & Publican employing 80 men. So it appears from this time on Joseph was in a much better position financially. Also listed in this census & living with Joseph was son-in-law Walter Brant married to Joseph's daughter Sarah & Walter is listed as a Brickworks Clerk aged 23. Joseph's nephew John Jones (born London) is listed on the next line aged 11 & working in brickyard. John Jones was the son of Joseph's sister Ann who had married Isaac Jones. Note the age of John Jones, my research has reveal that before 1870 schools were few & far between unless there was a local church school for them to attend.
The London Gazette dated 18th of April 1862 records that the partnership of Hamblet - Parkes was dissolved on the 7th of April 1862 with Joseph Hamblet then running the brickworks under his own name.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
Photos by Kevin Wood.
In December 2021 Kevin Wood sent me these two photos, the first coping is on a disused railway bridge close to Haverhill, Suffolk & a search on the web has revealed the line was built in the early 1860's. Then the 1865 coping was spotted on the road/railway bridge (line also disused) in Takely, Essex. Now I originally thought these Hamblet, Oldbury copings were made by Joseph's brother John Hamblet at his Paddock Brickworks, Oldbury in the 1870's or later, but with now finding these copings were made in the 1860's I have had to re-think where they were made & my only option I can put forward is that Joseph Hamblet made these two copings & the one below at his West Bromwich Works which he had established in 1851. So why stamp Oldbury in them when his works was in West Bromwich. I have never found any evidence of Joseph Hamblet owning a second brickworks in Oldbury in the 1860's.
The only answer I can come up with is, first he was living in Round's Green, Oldbury & second with Oldbury being known nationally for producing high quality bricks by many well known brickmakers at this date, Hamblet decided to stamp his bricks, Oldbury near Birmingham as a marketing ploy. Other brickmakers in the UK have also adopted this ploy. As an example several North Wales brickworks stamped their bricks, Buckley near Chester & Charles Davidson actually stamped his bricks, Adamantine, Buckley, Chester, Made in England. Mark Cranston tells me some Scottish brick companies stamped their bricks Glasgow when their location was only close to Glasgow. If I do find any concrete evidence where these Oldbury copings were made, I will update the post.
Photo taken by Jo Roesen at GWR Broadway Station, Worcs.
Caroline Allen tells me that grandson Joseph Hamblet Davies changed his name to Joseph Hamblet junior when he was 21 (in 1877) & this event was recorded in a newspaper article. Articles written about JHD on the web all refer to him as Joseph junior. However I found in a book on the UK Deed Poll website that Joseph Hamblet Davies did not officially change his name by Deed Poll to Joseph Hamblet junior until the 24th of November 1891. The 1881 census still records him as Joseph Hamblet Davies, however the entry in the 1891 census does list him as Joseph Hamblet & this census would have taken place in April 1891. So this name change needs further research.
Three notices in the London Gazette dated 14th March 1873, 29th October 1875 & 2nd November 1875 record that brickmakers Joseph Hamblet & George Davies (Joseph's son-in-law) were applying for patents to protect their invention of "improvements" in dies or moulds of machines used for manufacturing bricks, tiles, pipes & other like articles. Now a similar entry in 1878 only lists Joseph Hamblet, so I am assuming George Davies only worked alongside Joseph as a brickmaker & not as a partner. A search for George Davies in the census records reveal that in the 1871 census George is listed as a foreman at a brickworks in Tattenhall, Cheshire. However the 1881 census does list George as a Brick Master, living on Oak Road, West Bromwich. So we know George Davies had moved & was working for Joseph at the Piercy's Brickworks by 1873 as recorded in this 14th March 1873 London Gazette Notice. George & Hannah Davies' two sons Joseph H. Davies & Thomas H.D. Davies were to later work at Joseph's brickworks & I write about them both soon.
With the expansion of Joseph's thriving business in the 1870's & 80's his Piercy's Brickworks now covered 135 acres at Ireland Green & another 23 acres of clay reserves at nearby Cutlers End Farm. At this time the company were producing red, blue & brindle bricks, kerb edgings, floor tiles & roof tiles. A tramway is shown laid under Albion Road on the 1886 OS map to bring clay from the marl holes to the works.
Caroline Allen tells me that after Joseph had recovered from a seriously illness in the 1870's, he took stock of his life & in doing so he made the decision to move to Kent to run a brickworks owned by his good friend, Mr. H. Brassey. The exact date of this move is unknown, but may have been in 1873. In the 1881 census his grandson & heir Joseph Hamblet Davies is listed as a Manager of a Brickworks & I am taking it that Joseph Hamblet Davies was running the West Bromwich works after his grandfather had moved to Kent. Mr. Brassey owner of the Aylesford Pottery Co. (making bricks) was also a railway contractor & Joseph had for a number of years advised him & supplied him with various blue, brindle & coping bricks from his West Bromwich works. Joseph was to stay in Kent until 1893 & it was with the death of Mr. Brassey in 1893 that prompted him & Caroline to return to West Bromwich.
Below is the 1895 OS map of Aylesford showing Mr. H. Brassey's brickworks & this is followed by two adverts in which Joseph Hamblet snr is recorded as Works Manager.
So from the 1877 advert we know that Joseph snr was in Kent by this date & from the 1881 census he & Caroline were living at Medway Cottages, Boxley with Joseph's occupation given a Brick Manufacturer. The 1891 census also records Joseph & Caroline as living at Medway Cottages. The 1881 census also records that Joseph's son-in-law David Grainger (1846-1936) who had married Joseph's daughter Sarah (1841-1917) in January 1870 is recorded as a Foreman at a Brickworks & living in Malling, Kent, so I am almost certain he will have been working for Joseph snr at the Aylesford Pottery Co. In the 1871 census David Grainger is listed as a brickmaker living at Oak Buildings, West Bromwich, again this will have been at Hamblet's with Caroline Allen telling me that there were quite a few of Joseph's family working for him. I am still in the process of seeing if David Grainger was related to Joseph's wife Hannah who was a Grainger before her marriage. Also to note is that Sarah had previously been married to Walter Brant & Sarah married her second husband David Grainger in January 1870.
Photo by David Kitching.
Back to the Piercy Brickworks in West Bromwich & with Joseph Hamblet Davies (Joseph junior) at the helm, he is listed as a Manager of a Brickworks in the 1881 census together with his wife Phoebe & 11 month old Susannah living on High Street, West Bromwich.
It's at this point that I tell you about Thomas Hamblet David Davies (b.1865) brother to Joseph Hamblet junior & grandson of Joseph senior. Thomas also appears to have worked at the Piercy Brickworks because in the 1881 census at the age of 16 Thomas was a clerk at a brickworks, living with his parents George & Hannah Davies on Oak Road. The 1891 census then records him as a brick & tile maker in West Bromwich. However the 1901 census now records him as a Lime Keeper at a brickworks. The 1911 census records him as a widower & Coal Merchant.
With the Hamblet family winning many gold & silver medals at trade shows all round the world in the 1870's & 80's for their superior quality bricks & copings, I came across this front page to a sales catalogue on the web. This page also shows that the company had registered the Anchor & Rope symbol as a Trade Mark & after this front page there are two photos of this Trade Mark stamped on a blue brick & a coping brick.
In the 1891 census Joseph H. Davies is now listed as Joseph Hamblet junior, Brickworks Manager & now living with his family at 2, Lombard Street, West Bromwich. Only house number 22 still exists on this road today & it is the Citizen Advice Centre, so this building will give you a flavour of the type of up-market house Joseph & his family lived in which was right in the centre of town.
With the expansion of Joseph's thriving business in the 1870's & 80's his Piercy's Brickworks now covered 135 acres at Ireland Green & another 23 acres of clay reserves at nearby Cutlers End Farm. At this time the company were producing red, blue & brindle bricks, kerb edgings, floor tiles & roof tiles. A tramway is shown laid under Albion Road on the 1886 OS map to bring clay from the marl holes to the works.
Caroline Allen tells me that after Joseph had recovered from a seriously illness in the 1870's, he took stock of his life & in doing so he made the decision to move to Kent to run a brickworks owned by his good friend, Mr. H. Brassey. The exact date of this move is unknown, but may have been in 1873. In the 1881 census his grandson & heir Joseph Hamblet Davies is listed as a Manager of a Brickworks & I am taking it that Joseph Hamblet Davies was running the West Bromwich works after his grandfather had moved to Kent. Mr. Brassey owner of the Aylesford Pottery Co. (making bricks) was also a railway contractor & Joseph had for a number of years advised him & supplied him with various blue, brindle & coping bricks from his West Bromwich works. Joseph was to stay in Kent until 1893 & it was with the death of Mr. Brassey in 1893 that prompted him & Caroline to return to West Bromwich.
Below is the 1895 OS map of Aylesford showing Mr. H. Brassey's brickworks & this is followed by two adverts in which Joseph Hamblet snr is recorded as Works Manager.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1895.
Sussex Advertiser 31st January 1877.
Maidstone & Kentish Journal 11th May 1893.
Both adverts © The British Library Board.
Both adverts © The British Library Board.
So from the 1877 advert we know that Joseph snr was in Kent by this date & from the 1881 census he & Caroline were living at Medway Cottages, Boxley with Joseph's occupation given a Brick Manufacturer. The 1891 census also records Joseph & Caroline as living at Medway Cottages. The 1881 census also records that Joseph's son-in-law David Grainger (1846-1936) who had married Joseph's daughter Sarah (1841-1917) in January 1870 is recorded as a Foreman at a Brickworks & living in Malling, Kent, so I am almost certain he will have been working for Joseph snr at the Aylesford Pottery Co. In the 1871 census David Grainger is listed as a brickmaker living at Oak Buildings, West Bromwich, again this will have been at Hamblet's with Caroline Allen telling me that there were quite a few of Joseph's family working for him. I am still in the process of seeing if David Grainger was related to Joseph's wife Hannah who was a Grainger before her marriage. Also to note is that Sarah had previously been married to Walter Brant & Sarah married her second husband David Grainger in January 1870.
Joseph Hamblet Davies courtesy of Caroline Allen.
Cheltenham Mercury 29th March 1879 © The British Library Board.
From Kelly's 1880 trade directory.
With the Hamblet family winning many gold & silver medals at trade shows all round the world in the 1870's & 80's for their superior quality bricks & copings, I came across this front page to a sales catalogue on the web. This page also shows that the company had registered the Anchor & Rope symbol as a Trade Mark & after this front page there are two photos of this Trade Mark stamped on a blue brick & a coping brick.
1887 trade catalogue from Wikimedia.
Photo by Phil Clayton.
Phil tells me he spotted this coping on a canal wall near to Hamblet's works. I am surmising with Joseph Hamblet being a devout Christian that he used the anchor symbol knowing that it represented real & spiritual commitment & steadfastness & that it represented his commitment in producing quality bricks. I also note that nearby Hingley's iron foundry at Netherton, Dudley were well known for making anchors, so there could be another connection there with anchors being made locally. There's a replica of the Titanic's anchor situated in the centre of Netherton which can be seen at this link. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3671645
These 1883 Joseph Hamblet bricks below are the earliest dated Hamblet brick found so far.
Photo by Julie Goucher.
Elizabeth Thomson spotted this 1883 coping in Harborne, Birmingham.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
Three different paver designs with Hamblet or H stamped on the reverse.
Frederick Ballard who had learnt the art of brickmaking at Hamblet’s Piercy Brickworks became a partner with Joseph Hamblet in 1891. This may have been with Grandson Joseph junior as he was running the West Bromwich works at this time. Frederick Ballard was originally from Colwall in Herefordshire & his family had various business interests there, mainly in the building trade & his uncle, Robert Ballard had been a brickmaker in Colwall & Ledbury between 1842 & 1867.
In the 1890's the Piercy Brickworks was concentrating on producing high quality blue bricks & output was between 400 & 500 thousand bricks per week. At this time Joseph Hamblet had a fleet of 40 barges to transport his bricks along the canal system.
Louise Lucas has sent me the following two photos of Hamblet's 1893 ridge roof tiles which have been used to cap the wall to her property & the wall to a demolished primary school on the other side of a pathway in Pontypool, South Wales. This is the first time that I have seen a Hamblet roof tile & from an old coloured photograph of the school possibly taken in the 1960's/70's sent to me by Louise, this wall was capped with the roof tiles back then. So this begs the question was this wall originally built with these tiles, I suspect not & Louise is going to try & track down an old photo of this alleyway & school. If we get the answer to this wall capping conundrum, I will update the post. I expect the plinth stretcher bricks in this wall will have also been made at Hamblet's brickworks, but until this wall is repaired, we will not know the answer.
Joseph senior died on the 12th May 1894 & with him only having three daughters (his son died in childhood) he was succeeded by his grandson Joseph Hamblet Davies / Joseph Hamblet junior (1856-1922) in taking full control of Piercy's Brickworks. Caroline Allen has sent me Joseph senior's obituary which gives you an insight into Joseph's life. Joseph was a devoted Christian (Wesleyan) & regularly held church services in his mother's West Bromwich home, welcoming all. He was also well known by ministers & preachers on the Maidstone Circuit in Kent as a warm & true friend.
A Notice recording Probate for Joseph's effects states that he left £25,997, 19s & 2d. That equates to a cool 3 & a half million pounds today. WOW !!!
In October 2023 Molly Griffith, three times Great - Granddaughter of Joseph Hamblet contacted me saying she had two photos of the "New" Oak House (demolished in 1977) were Joseph & Caroline Hamblet lived in 1871 & then on their return from Kent in the 1890's. Both Joseph & Caroline died at the "New" Oak House. Molly tells me her Grandmother, Ada Boyns referred to the house were she lived as Oak Cottages or Oak House. The first photo is the March 1906 wedding of Mary Ada Davies Boyns to Arthur Lavender. Please note Boyns was Ada's surname & Davies was her middle name. It appears many of Joseph Hamblet's descendants both male & female were christened with their mother's maiden name as a middle name.
Louise Lucas has sent me the following two photos of Hamblet's 1893 ridge roof tiles which have been used to cap the wall to her property & the wall to a demolished primary school on the other side of a pathway in Pontypool, South Wales. This is the first time that I have seen a Hamblet roof tile & from an old coloured photograph of the school possibly taken in the 1960's/70's sent to me by Louise, this wall was capped with the roof tiles back then. So this begs the question was this wall originally built with these tiles, I suspect not & Louise is going to try & track down an old photo of this alleyway & school. If we get the answer to this wall capping conundrum, I will update the post. I expect the plinth stretcher bricks in this wall will have also been made at Hamblet's brickworks, but until this wall is repaired, we will not know the answer.
Photos by Louise Lucas.
Photo by Brian Clarke.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
In January 2024 Neil Oxenbury sent me a photo of a 1894 coping which is on a rural wall near the ford at Glandford, Norfolk. I expect with several other Hamblet's copings turning up in Norfolk they had all originally been used by the railways on bridges or at railway stations.
Photo by Chris Butler.
Chris Butler spotted this 1894 coping on a railway bridge on the disused Lancashire, Derbyshire & East Coast Railway line between Langwith Junction & Bolsover Tunnel which opened in 1897, but with the tunnel running into major problems with mining subsidence and water seepage it was closed in 1951. A cost of one million pounds had being quoted for it's repair, hence it's closure & the line not reaching it's intended destination. More can be read about this line & Bolsover Tunnel at this Link.
Photo by Tom Jolliffe.
Joseph senior died on the 12th May 1894 & with him only having three daughters (his son died in childhood) he was succeeded by his grandson Joseph Hamblet Davies / Joseph Hamblet junior (1856-1922) in taking full control of Piercy's Brickworks. Caroline Allen has sent me Joseph senior's obituary which gives you an insight into Joseph's life. Joseph was a devoted Christian (Wesleyan) & regularly held church services in his mother's West Bromwich home, welcoming all. He was also well known by ministers & preachers on the Maidstone Circuit in Kent as a warm & true friend.
A Notice recording Probate for Joseph's effects states that he left £25,997, 19s & 2d. That equates to a cool 3 & a half million pounds today. WOW !!!
In October 2023 Molly Griffith, three times Great - Granddaughter of Joseph Hamblet contacted me saying she had two photos of the "New" Oak House (demolished in 1977) were Joseph & Caroline Hamblet lived in 1871 & then on their return from Kent in the 1890's. Both Joseph & Caroline died at the "New" Oak House. Molly tells me her Grandmother, Ada Boyns referred to the house were she lived as Oak Cottages or Oak House. The first photo is the March 1906 wedding of Mary Ada Davies Boyns to Arthur Lavender. Please note Boyns was Ada's surname & Davies was her middle name. It appears many of Joseph Hamblet's descendants both male & female were christened with their mother's maiden name as a middle name.
This photo taken in 1903 shows five generations of the Hamblet family outside Oak House. This photo also appeared in a local newspaper. Caroline Hamblet, wife of Joseph - Hannah Owen nee Hamblet, daughter of Joseph & Caroline (later married George Davies) - Sarah Bates nee Davies (daughter of Hannah & George Davies. Sarah was previously married to Nicholas Boyns) - Kitty Allen nee Boyns, daughter of Sarah & Nicholas Boyns - Reggie Allen, son of Kitty. At the time of this photo Caroline was 85 & Reggie a few months old. Caroline died at Oak House in 1907. Many Thanks Molly for sharing your photos with me & my readers.
A Notice in the London Gazette reveals that on the 2nd of November 1896 the partnership of Hamblet & Ballard was dissolved by mutual consent & Frederick Ballard returned to his home town Colwall with some of Hamblet’s workers & set up a brickworks there. As previously wrote this partnership will have been with Joseph junior.
Zach has let me know that this 1896 coping came from Woodford Halse Railway Station near Daventry. Many thanks Zach for your contribution.
Photo by Martin Dutch.
Photo by Laura Fidler.
Photo by David Kitching.
1896 photos by Zach Rambaldini.
Zach has let me know that this 1896 coping came from Woodford Halse Railway Station near Daventry. Many thanks Zach for your contribution.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
Photo by Nasir Sharif.
Nasir Sharif spotted several of these Hamblet 1897 coping bricks on a low wall belonging to the North Middlesex Hospital in Enfield while waiting at the the bus stop next to this wall.
Photo by Phil Congreve.
Phil spotted this one near Staverton viaduct, Northamptonshire.
Photo by Christopher Branfield.
Christopher spotted this 1898 path edging in Deddington near Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Photo by Hamish Fenton.
Hamish Fenton spotted this Hamblet's Ltd. 1901 coping during his visit to the Swindon Railway Village. The wall is at the rear of the museum if you wish to check it out. Many Thanks Hamish.
Martin Dutch spotted this 1902 kerb brick on Grove Road, Beccles, Suffolk.
Laura Fidler spotted this 1904 kerb brick on Garlands Road, Leatherhead, Surrey.
This Hamblet's Ltd will also be a 1900's brick with David Kitching spotting it at the Boat Museum, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.
These next two coping bricks are not stamped with a date, so may have been made pre-1883. Terry Callaghan tells me the railway station he photographed this Hamblet coping at was built in 1853, but he is unsure if this coping was laid at the time of the first station & may have been a later addition.
Photo by Terry Callaghan.
The letters on this next Hamblet brick appear to be raised, but this is an optical illusion & I have been reliably informed that the letters are stamped into the brick as normal. Photographed in situ this brick forms part of the ornate brickwork that surrounds a window in the 1884 built Davey Engine House at Lake Street Waterworks in Oxford. This photo has been reproduced with the permission of the South Oxford Community Centre. Here is the link to their website which contains in-depth info on Oxford's waterworks.http://www.southoxford.org/local-history-in-south-oxford/interesting-aspects-of-grandpont-and-south-oxford-s-history/oxford-s-waterworks
Photo by Justin Lett.
The two images below were sent to me by Julian Livingstone in April 2022 & Julian spotted this Hambet coping when visiting St Nicholas Church, Bishop's Sutton, Hants. With the level of the graveyard being higher than the church these copings were used to hold back the soil & create a gulley around part of the church to take the surface water away. A very interesting use of Hamblet's bricks.
Photos by Julian Livingstone.
Red wall coping brick.
Information contained within the following paragraphs marked with a number one, came from an article wrote by Alan Cox in the British Brick Society's magazine dated November 2019.
In 1898 a new limited company was founded by Joseph Hamblet junior & this company was called Hamblet's Blue Brick Co. Ltd. & in doing so Joseph junior purchased the old concern for £180,000 pounds. Joseph junior as MD & Chairman at this new company was joined by Major Hector Tulloch CB of Bickley, Kent & John Parker of Nottingham, both as company directors. [1]
From the outset this new company was doomed to fail financially. The way the company had been structured regarding the sale of it's shares & payments to shareholders failed to attract new share holders in it's fourth year & Joseph junior was highly criticised in the June 1902 edition of the Building News magazine for the handling of the company's finances. However Joseph battled on regardless. Apparently Joseph junior at this time also owned the Eagle Foundry in West Bromwich producing brick making machinery for all clays; pumps for all liquids & capacities; & castings of every description. [1]
In the 1901 census Joseph Hamblet junior is listed as Brick Master, Iron Founder & Farmer. He was living with his wife, Pheobe & their 3 children at Chelsham Court in Chelsham, Surrey. So he must have done a lot of traveling between home & work.
Evidently things at the brickworks did not improve & in February 1908 five directors resigned from Hamblet's Board & this included Joseph Hamblet junior & Hector Tulloch. It was then left to Colonel George Dibley, already Managing Director of Kingsbury Colliery Ltd. to take over as Chairman of Hamblet's. Hamblet's continued to struggle financially & in 1915 Piercy's Brickworks closed due to a shortage of men & fuel as a result of the Great War. [1]
However I have found that the Hamblet's Blue Brick Co. Ltd. is still listed in Kelly's 1916 edition.
In 1898 a new limited company was founded by Joseph Hamblet junior & this company was called Hamblet's Blue Brick Co. Ltd. & in doing so Joseph junior purchased the old concern for £180,000 pounds. Joseph junior as MD & Chairman at this new company was joined by Major Hector Tulloch CB of Bickley, Kent & John Parker of Nottingham, both as company directors. [1]
From the outset this new company was doomed to fail financially. The way the company had been structured regarding the sale of it's shares & payments to shareholders failed to attract new share holders in it's fourth year & Joseph junior was highly criticised in the June 1902 edition of the Building News magazine for the handling of the company's finances. However Joseph battled on regardless. Apparently Joseph junior at this time also owned the Eagle Foundry in West Bromwich producing brick making machinery for all clays; pumps for all liquids & capacities; & castings of every description. [1]
In the 1901 census Joseph Hamblet junior is listed as Brick Master, Iron Founder & Farmer. He was living with his wife, Pheobe & their 3 children at Chelsham Court in Chelsham, Surrey. So he must have done a lot of traveling between home & work.
Evidently things at the brickworks did not improve & in February 1908 five directors resigned from Hamblet's Board & this included Joseph Hamblet junior & Hector Tulloch. It was then left to Colonel George Dibley, already Managing Director of Kingsbury Colliery Ltd. to take over as Chairman of Hamblet's. Hamblet's continued to struggle financially & in 1915 Piercy's Brickworks closed due to a shortage of men & fuel as a result of the Great War. [1]
However I have found that the Hamblet's Blue Brick Co. Ltd. is still listed in Kelly's 1916 edition.
Next I found this Notice in the Birmingham Post dated 20th of November 1917 - "Hamblet's Brickmaking Plant For Sale", with it taking place on the 6th & 7th of November 1917.
© The British Library Board.
The sale of the works plant etc must have been successful as we find the Ireland Green Brickworks site was sold in 1919. The site later came into the hands of the local council who first filled the three large marl holes with municipal waste & the land was then used to build industrial units & houses.
My next find in the London Gazette dated 9th of March 1920 announces that a General Meeting would take place on the 15th of April 1920 at 2pm to lay out the accounts of Hamblet's Blue Brick Co. Ltd. & to declare the company had been wound up & it's assets disposed of.
I mention at this point that after Joseph Hamblet junior's resignation in 1908 from the board of Hamblet's Blue Brick Co. we find that in the 1911 census Joseph is listed as brickmaking & living with Pheobe & their two sons at Copenhagen House, Elstree Hill, Elstree, Middx. His two sons, George, 27 & Wilfred 17 are listed in this census as assisting him at the brickworks. It is unknown at which brickworks this was. Joseph died in 1922.
I have just been sent this link to Joseph Hamblet's Patents.
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/035251897/publication/GB190616012A?q=joseph%20hamblet
So here are a few instructions on how to view each Patent.
I mention at this point that after Joseph Hamblet junior's resignation in 1908 from the board of Hamblet's Blue Brick Co. we find that in the 1911 census Joseph is listed as brickmaking & living with Pheobe & their two sons at Copenhagen House, Elstree Hill, Elstree, Middx. His two sons, George, 27 & Wilfred 17 are listed in this census as assisting him at the brickworks. It is unknown at which brickworks this was. Joseph died in 1922.
I have just been sent this link to Joseph Hamblet's Patents.
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/search/family/035251897/publication/GB190616012A?q=joseph%20hamblet
So here are a few instructions on how to view each Patent.
From the selections on the left, click on JH name, that patent comes up, then click on the arrow side of Bibliographic data, then select original document or one of others.
Photo by Frank Lawson.
It appears that it was not the end of the Hamblet name as we find in Kelly's 1921 edition the listing of Hamblet's Blue Brick Co. West Bromwich. This listing is the same as the wound up company but without Limited in it's name. So this begs the question of who was running this new company & the location of it's brickworks ? Hamblet's Blue Brick Co. West Bromwich continues to be listed in Kelly's Trade Directories until the last one that I have available in 1940 & in the 1928 to 1940 editions the entry is Hamblet Blue Brick Co., 6, Grange Road, West Bromwich. 6, Grange Road is today a semi-detached house, so I am assuming this was the owners address or the company's office address.
Doing more research has resulted in finding a letter by Michael Hammett on a genealogy website to Ray Hamblett. Michael writes that in the 1961 edition of the Directory of Clay Products, there is an entry for the Hamblet's Blue Brick Co. (associated with Barnett & Beddows) at the Atlas Brickworks, Aldridge & from the Trade Marks section of this Directory both companies are listed as using the Atlas trade mark on their blue bricks. So it "appears" that Barnett & Beddows may have been producing bricks stamped Hamblet at their Atlas Works on Stubbers Green Road, Aldridge since 1921. Barnett & Beddows Atlas Works along with several other brick companies in the same area of Aldridge were extracting the high quality Etruria Marl to produce their blue bricks.
My next find is a 1985 article by Martin Hammond in the British Brick Association magazine. Martin writes that he has found on the current Barnett & Beddows letterhead, the address of Barnett & Beddows Ltd, Atlas Brickworks, Aldridge, Walsall incorporating Hamblet Blue Brick Co. & the Manners Brick Co. (Eastwood, Nottingham).
So in conclusion it appears that Barnett & Beddows were producing Hamblet bricks for the Hamblet Blue Brick Co. from 1921 until the Company was incorporated into Barnett & Beddows which was by 1985 or may have been slightly earlier. The following bricks "may" have been made at Barnett & Beddows Atlas Works with them having dimples in the frog possibly signifying the year they were made.
Barnett & Beddows ceased brick production at their Atlas Works in 1983, however the company continued to extract clay which was then sold to other manufacturers. The Atlas Works finally closed in 1988. Then together with the neighbouring Springfield Brickworks site previously owned by Edward Barnett on his own, both sites became one & Salvesen Brick built their Sandown Works there which was operational by 1992. The works was then sold to Chelwood Brick with Salvesen pulling out of the the construction industry. Wienerberger then took over the Sandown Works with the acquisition of Chelwood Brick in the early 2000's. Today this Sandown works is still producing high quality engineering bricks from the Etruria Marl.
In 1990 Ibstock opened their new "Atlas Brickworks" on Stubbers Green Road & is just across the road from Wienerberger. I have also found that Ibstock now uses the "Atlas" trade mark name on their bricks & it appears they had acquired the Atlas name from Barnett & Beddows, but at this moment in time I have been unable find how this exactly happened. Mike Chapman has told me Ibstock purchased their brickworks site off Rosemary Recordon, who was Works Director of Barnett & Beddows & a descendent of the Beddows family, so the connection appears to be with Rosemary. Alas she died many years ago, so we many never get the answer on how events unfolded.
With finding Joseph's brother John also pursued a career in brickmaking, I have written this dedicated account of his career.
John Hamblet is first listed as a brickmaker, aged 18 in the 1851 census living with his brother Joseph Hamblet aged 31 in Rounds Green, Oldbury. So I am assuming John was working at Joseph's brickworks at this date.
John Hamblet
With finding Joseph's brother John also pursued a career in brickmaking, I have written this dedicated account of his career.
I next found both a newspaper article referring to John in December 1859 & then the 1861 census records John Hamblet as a Railway Contractor, Brickmaker & Publican in Ledbury. After which John moved to be a brickmaker in Southall, Middx. John then declares himself bankrupt from this Southall venture & after settling his debts in the courts as recorded in the London Gazette dated 14th December 1866, John moves on to be a brickmaker in Ampthill, Bedford. This latest venture was even shorter lived as we find he is again declared bankrupt in the London Gazette dated 18th of October 1867. By the time of this 1867 Notice John was living in West Bromwich & was soon to be running the Paddock Brickworks in Oldbury by 1873, coloured yellow on the 1886 OS map below.
Kelly’s 1876 edition records the partnership of Crowther & Hamblet at the Paddock Brickworks, Oldbury & Charles William Crowther was John’s son-in-law. Charles had married John’s daughter, Annie in 1873. Terry Callaghan tells me that the bridge this C & H coping can be seen on, on the Sutton Park Line, Sutton Coldfield was built in 1879. This Crowther Hamblet partnership may have only lasted between 1873 & 1876 as we find Charles Crowther is listed as a baker in the 1881 census. John Hamblet then at a date unknown was next in partnership with Samuel Tittley at the Paddock Brickworks, but this partnership was dissolved on the 31st of August 1880 as recorded in the London Gazette. Kelly's 1880 Worcestershire edition also records this Hamblet & Tittley partnership at the Paddock Brickworks. We then find in May 1883 John Hamblet an out of work brickmaker formerly at the Paddock Brickworks was declaring himself bankrupt. I next found that his former business partner Samuel Tittley in December 1883 who had also run the Phoenix Brickworks in Oldbury (coloured green on the 1886 OS map above) on his own was declaring himself bankrupt as well. This December Notice also records the conclusion of John Hamblet's liquidation.
However that was not the end of John Hamblet's brickmaking career as the 1891 census records John Hamblet aged 58, as a Brick Manufacturer/Employer in Oldbury. So I am assuming this was at the Paddock Brickworks again. The Paddock Brickworks is no longer shown on the 1900 OS map, so must have closed in the 1890’s.
I round off this post with two bits of info found while doing my research. First, while I was looking for the actual Brick Patents taken out by Joseph Hamblet, which I am sorry to say don't appear to be on the web, I found a US Patent taken out by Joseph Hamblet Davies in 1886 & to my surprise this was not for bricks, but was for an umbrella design. Has any one seen one of these umbrellas ?
Second, a Notice in the London Gazette dated 12th of August 1862 records the partnership of Joseph Hamblet & Elisha Clay at the Cliffey Brickworks, Hanley Castle, Worcestershire which had been dissolved by mutual consent on the 9th of August 1862. This Joseph Hamblet is then recorded as running the brickworks from this day forth. With there being no address given for this Joseph Hamblet, I am unsure if this is our Joseph Hamblet (1819-1894). Our Joseph as you have read formed many business partnerships during his life, so with this brickworks being not too far away from West Bromwich, there is the possibility that this was our Joseph.
I wish to thank the following people who's help or information on the web has helped me bring this post to the web.
Caroline Allen
Alan Cox, Mike Hammett, Martin Hammond - British Brick Society.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1886.
Photo by Terry Callaghan.
Kelly’s 1876 edition records the partnership of Crowther & Hamblet at the Paddock Brickworks, Oldbury & Charles William Crowther was John’s son-in-law. Charles had married John’s daughter, Annie in 1873. Terry Callaghan tells me that the bridge this C & H coping can be seen on, on the Sutton Park Line, Sutton Coldfield was built in 1879. This Crowther Hamblet partnership may have only lasted between 1873 & 1876 as we find Charles Crowther is listed as a baker in the 1881 census. John Hamblet then at a date unknown was next in partnership with Samuel Tittley at the Paddock Brickworks, but this partnership was dissolved on the 31st of August 1880 as recorded in the London Gazette. Kelly's 1880 Worcestershire edition also records this Hamblet & Tittley partnership at the Paddock Brickworks. We then find in May 1883 John Hamblet an out of work brickmaker formerly at the Paddock Brickworks was declaring himself bankrupt. I next found that his former business partner Samuel Tittley in December 1883 who had also run the Phoenix Brickworks in Oldbury (coloured green on the 1886 OS map above) on his own was declaring himself bankrupt as well. This December Notice also records the conclusion of John Hamblet's liquidation.
Photo by William Arnold.
William Arnold spotted this C & H coping on the towpath of the Worcester & Birmingham Canal near the Shortwood Tunnel.
I round off this post with two bits of info found while doing my research. First, while I was looking for the actual Brick Patents taken out by Joseph Hamblet, which I am sorry to say don't appear to be on the web, I found a US Patent taken out by Joseph Hamblet Davies in 1886 & to my surprise this was not for bricks, but was for an umbrella design. Has any one seen one of these umbrellas ?
Second, a Notice in the London Gazette dated 12th of August 1862 records the partnership of Joseph Hamblet & Elisha Clay at the Cliffey Brickworks, Hanley Castle, Worcestershire which had been dissolved by mutual consent on the 9th of August 1862. This Joseph Hamblet is then recorded as running the brickworks from this day forth. With there being no address given for this Joseph Hamblet, I am unsure if this is our Joseph Hamblet (1819-1894). Our Joseph as you have read formed many business partnerships during his life, so with this brickworks being not too far away from West Bromwich, there is the possibility that this was our Joseph.
I wish to thank the following people who's help or information on the web has helped me bring this post to the web.
Caroline Allen
Alan Cox, Mike Hammett, Martin Hammond - British Brick Society.
All those named above who have contributed photos & info.
London Gazette
National Library of Scotland & Ordinance Survey - maps
Ancestry - Census info
Kelly's Directories
British Library Board
