William Bennitt, Oldbury
Photo by Richard Thorpe.
William Bennitt was primarily an Iron & Coal Master in Oldbury & it appears from bricks & copings found William was certainly involved in brickmaking. Born in 1800 William's family had been involved in iron making since 1780 in Oldbury. William owned the Oldbury Blast Furnaces on Inkerman Street, which I have coloured yellow on 1881 OS map below & at this map date the ironworks had been replaced by two brickworks, one of which the Newfield Brickworks was owned by William's son Pynson Wilmot Bennitt & I write about Pynson later.
So I have two options for the location of William's brickworks & the option I prefer was on Inkerman Street next to his Ironworks. With not having a map from 1860 when his bricks were made I have used the 1881 OS map below. So in 1860's the area which I have coloured green from information on the web, this was the site of the ironworks & I am assuming the area where the Newfield Brickworks was later built was either open fields or was being used for other purposes. It's with one of William's copings being stamped "Blue Brick & Tile Works, Oldbury (shown below) & then finding in Jones 1865 edition the first entry for Pynson Wilmot Bennitt, brickmaking at the "Brick & Tile Works, Oldbury Works" that has drawn me to the conclusion that with William's ironworks being known as & recorded as such just as the "Oldbury Works", William's brickworks was next to his ironworks in the green coloured area. Please note the Newfield Brickworks was not built until the late 1860's or early 1870's by Pynson Wilmot Bennitt, with the first trade directory recording it in 1873. So initially Pynson took over & operated his father's brickworks from 1865 before building his Newfield Brickworks in the red area.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1881.
The 1851 census records William as a Iron & Coal Master living at Stourton Hall, Kinver with his wife Louise & six children. The couple produced thirteen children in total. William was also a Justice of the Peace & held the rank of captain in the army from 1852.
The London Gazette dated 10th of October 1856 reveals the first recording of William Bennitt being a co-partner with Job Taylor at Alston Colliery which had an associated brickworks which I have coloured green on the 1881 OS map below & this is my second option to the location were William may have had his bricks & copings made. Henry Dawes leaving this partnership in this Notice was William's father-in-law.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1881.
William left the partnership of Bennitt & Taylor, owners of Alston Colliery on the 24th of February 1865 as per this London Gazette Notice. Therefore we can date William Bennitt bricks being made between the late 1850's to 1865, but as previously wrote William Bennitt bricks may have been made on Inkerman Street, my preferred option with finding the trade directory reference. If I do find concrete evidence to were William had his bricks made, I will update the post.
Photo by Elizabeth Thomson.
Photo by Ian Suddaby.
Ian found this example in Broxburn, West Lothian, so it had travelled a fair distance.
Another London Gazette Notice dated 27th of July 1866 records William Bennitt, an Ironmaster was declared bankrupt & was to surrender himself to the courts. So it appears it will have been at this time when his ironworks closed down & were demolished.
Pynson Wilmot Bennitt, Oldbury
Pynson Wilmot Bennitt was born in Dudley on the 17th of June 1836 to William & Sarah Lousia Bennitt. Pynson went on to achieve a BA in 1858 & then a MA in 1862 at Trinity College, Oxford. The 1861 census records Pynson aged 24 as a Ironmaster, so had joined his father at the Ironworks between his degrees.
With coming to the conclusion Pynson's father William operated a brick & tile works next to his Ironworks on Inkerman Street in the early 1860's we find Jones's 1865 edition now records Pynson had taken over the control of this brickworks & was now running it in his own name. The entry is Pynson Wilmot Bennitt, Brick & Tile Works, Oldbury Works, Oldbury. As previously wrote in William's entry the Ironworks was simply known as the Oldbury Works. So the location of the 1865 brickworks will have been in the area which I have coloured green on the 1881 OS map below. Kelly's 1870 & 72 editions just lists brick & tile maker P.W. Bennitt at Oldbury. I am therefore assuming Pynson was still operating the same works.
So as previously wrote with the closure of ironworks after his father had been declared bankrupt in 1866 we find Pynson built a new brickworks next to the former ironworks on Inkerman Street & Pynson called his brickworks the Newfield Brickworks coloured red on the 1881 OS map below. Littlebury's 1873 edition is the first directory recording Pynson's new works as New Fields Brickyard, Oldbury. This entry is repeated in a 1875 Factory & Workshops Acts article on the web in Google Books. Kelly's 1876 to 1888 editions record Pynson's works as Littlefields, Oldbury & this is the name of the area in Oldbury, the Inkerman Street brickworks was situated in.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1881.
The 1871 census records Pynson as a Brickmaster & was employing 14 men, 4 women, 7 boys & 13 girls. Then the 1881 census records Pynson was employing 30 hands.
The 1891 census reveals Pynson was now retired & living off his own means. The 1902 map reveals a railway line had been built though the former brickworks site to a Goods Station positioned were the green coloured brickworks had once stood. So it appears Pynson closed his Newfield Brickworks between 1888 & 1891 & then sold his land to the railway. Pynson then moved his family to Totnes in Devonshire were he died on the 24th of November 1896 aged 60 leaving effects to the value 5,569 pounds to his wife & children.
Photo by Elizabeth Thomson.
Photo by Alison Milton.
Alison spotted this smooth faced paver while visiting St. James the Great Church at Long Marston, Warwickshire.
Oldbury Brick Co.
The Oldbury Furnace Yard Brick & Tile Co. Ltd. is listed with offices at 82 New Street, Birmingham in Kelly’s Birmingham 1883 edition. Then the 1884 Worcestershire edition of Kelly’s reveals the Oldbury Furnace Yard Brick & Tile Co. Ltd. was on Inkerman Street, Oldbury with Joseph William Howlett as Managing Director. Kelly’s 1888 edition now records the works was being run by Joseph William Howlett in his own name. The London Gazette dated 25th of March 1890 records the Oldbury Furnace Yard Brick & Tile Co. had been struck off the Joint Stocks Register & were declared Insolvent. The 1886 OS map below shows there were two brickworks on Inkerman Street & the Oldbury company's works was the one nearest Freeth Street which I have coloured green. The next owners of this works in Kelly’s 1892 edition were Allbrooke, Haynes & Allbrooke & their entry reads Furnace Yard Brickworks, Oldbury (Late Oldbury Brick Co.). The other brickworks on Inkerman Street, called the Newfield Brickworks was owned by Pynson Wilmot Bennitt.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1881.
Samuel Barnett & Sons, Dudley Port
I first start by telling you about Samuel Barnett's father John & grandfather William who were brickmakers on Portway Road, Oldbury. William Barnett 1802 - 1881 is listed in trade directories from 1865 to 1880 as brickmaking on Portway Road, Oldbury, then Kelly's 1884 edition lists John Barnett at the Portway Road works. The 1851 census records John as an engineer, but by the 1861 Census John was a brickmaker & living on Portway Road, so I think it's safe to say he was working at his father's brickworks. The 1851 census records William & wife Mary were living on Shidas Lane with the 1861 & 1871census recording them as living on nearby Eels Street which is marked on the map below just off Portway Road. William a Brick Master in the 1861 census was employing 4 men, 4 women, 4 girls & 11 boys. I have coloured William & John's brickworks purple on the 1882 OS map below. The other Portway Road works on this map were owned by John Sadler (red) & Septimus John Sadler (yellow). Shidas Lane is coloured green. John Barnett is recorded as retired & living on his own means in the 1891 census, so it appears he sold his brickworks around 1885/6 (last TD 1884) to John Sadler because the 1900 OS map no longer shows his brickworks & the land the works had stood on, now formed part of an extended clay pit belonging to John Sadler's Shidas Lane brickworks. So far no bricks stamped W. Barnett or J. Barnett have turned up.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.
John Barnett's son Samuel was the only one of his three sons to become a brickmaker/brickworks owner. Samuel was born on the 7th of April 1854 & in the 1881 census while his father is listed as a brickmaker & a publican at the Three Crowns on Portway Road, Samuel is listed as an Agent aged 26. However a 1907 British Clayworker article states that at the age of 16 he lost his left arm in an accident in the Mill house of the brickworks he was working at & then for the next ten years until 1882 he worked as an Engineer. Samuel then returned to brickmaking taking a lease out on the Rattlechain Brickworks in 1882. Samuel soon turned around this unprofitable brickworks replacing the fourteen arched kilns with one continuous kiln to produce red bricks & one continuous kiln to make the highly profitable blue bricks which lead to output increasing to 180,000 bricks per week. The 1891 census records Samuel as a Brick Master (owner) aged 38 & living on Brades Road, Oldbury. The first trade directory entry found for Samuel Barnett is in Kelly's 1892 edition which records him with the address of Park Lane, East Tipton & this will have been the Wellington Brickworks as shown on the 1884 OS map below. Samuel had taken over this works in the late 1880's. Samuel then preceded to buy the freehold to the Groveland & Tividale estates which lead to him to build another works called the Stour Valley New Brickworks on this land.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1884.
Kelly's 1896 now records Samuel Barnett (red & blue) with three brickworks, Wellington, Rattlechain & the Stour Valley New Brickworks in Dudley Port, Tipton. The last two works are shown on the 1902 OS map below, with the Wellington Brickworks being situated just off the top left hand corner of this map.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1902.
The 1901 census lists Samuel Barnett, Brick Manufacturer aged 47, sons, William b1878, Brick Yard Manager: Joseph b.1880 & Thomas b.1882, both as Brick Yard Clerks; Arthur b.1884, Auctioneers clerk & finally Bert b.1886, no trade. Kelly's 1904 edition onwards only lists the Rattlechain & the Stour Valley New Brickworks & there is the addition of & Sons Ltd to the company name & we know from the census that Samuel's sons had been working for him since at least 1901. The Wellington Works does not appear on the 1901 map, so this works must have closed around 1898/9, houses are shown built on the brickworks site in 1901.
The 1911 census lists Samuel Barnett aged 56, a Brick Manufacturer, Employer & living at 1 Tividale Road, Tipton. Sons Joseph 30 & Bert 28 were still living with their father & both are listed as Brick Manufacturers Assistants. Meanwhile in the 1911 census sons William 33 is listed as Brick Manufacturer - worker & Thomas 29 as a Brick Master - worker & these two brothers were living next door to one another at 154 & 152 Tividale Road, Burnt Tree respectively. So with all of Samuel's sons being listed as workers they were working for their father at his two works. Son Arthur did not join his father in the family business.
In December 1914 Samuel Barnett purchased the freehold to Gower Brickworks together with it's brickmaking plant, machinery, 6 kilns & other buildings for £3,200 at Auction. From a web article it appears Barnett purchased this works to stop a rival brickmaker moving into his "territory". He then set about dismantling the works & sold the land for landfill. The sale of Gower Works came about by the Wood Brothers being declared bankrupt on the 3rd of November 1914, so a very quick turn round by the administrators dealing with this bankruptcy.
A tragic accident occurred on the 4th of May 1918 when Samuel Barnett was thrown from his pony & trap after his horse was startled by a traction engine, thus resulting in him dying from his injuries, more can read at this Link. Son Bert was also in the trap & was thrown out, but survived the ordeal.
It appears sons William & possibly Thomas took over the running of the brickworks with both being beneficiaries in Samuel's Will. Probate records he left a cool £57,789 14s & 10d which equates to well over a million & a half pounds in today's money.
Kelly's 1928 edition lists the company of Samuel Barnett & Sons Ltd as only operating the Stour Valley New Brickworks, but a web search reveals the Rattlechain Brickworks was operational in the 1960, but it is unknown who was operating this works. With the death of William Barnett in 1929, aged 51 it appears the Stour Valley New Works closed as the company & this works is not listed in Kelly's 1932 edition.
Photos by Elizabeth Thomson.
Research has revealed that the brickworks operating as the Titford Brick Co. situated on Penncricket Road just south of Titford in an area called the Ashes was also established by Samuel Barnett (b.1854), the exact date of which is unknown. The 1902 OS map is the earliest map showing this works. After his death in May 1918 his eldest son William took over the running of this works & the two remaining works in Tipton. There are no trade directory entries for the Titford Brick Co. William Barnett died in 1929 & both his sons were Master tailors, however at the time their mothers death in 1952, Samuel is listed as a Company Director & William (junior) as a Clothier. Going back to William Barnett's 1929 Probate Notice, Brickworks Manager Mr. E. Harrold is listed as a beneficiary, so was Mr Harrold running the Titford Brick Co. for the family after William's death ? On the 14th of August 1959 the Titford Brick Co. was placed into voluntary liquidation by Chairman A.E. Barnett. The completion of the liquidation of the Titford Brick Co. took place on the 10th of May 1960. I have not been able to ascertain who’s son A.E. Barnett was.
Below is the 1937 OS map showing the works & two bricks made by the company. Today this former brickworks site is the Dale Road Industrial Estate next to the M5 & Blackheath is just off the bottom of this map.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1937.
Photo by Rob Sutton.
Rob Sutton who is Chair of the Moor Pool History & Preservation Society in Harborne, Birmingham came across these bricks while he was researching the history of the building of the "Garden Estate" where he lives.
P. W. Brick, Oldbury
I photographed this P. W. Brick in a friend's collection in 2017 & it was not until 2023 when this P. W. Brick, Oldbury turned up at Cawarden that David Kitching then found a little bit of info on the company.
The Birmingham Daily Gazette dated 18th of October 1928 records the "New Company" of P. W. Brick Co. Ltd with a Capital of 4,600. Manufacturers of bricks, tiles & building materials of all kinds. The company's directors are listed as G.H. Webb & A.L. Parker, addresses not stated.
From this info I have not been able to establish the location of their Oldbury brickworks. The only Oldbury brickworks not accounted for in 1928 was the Gower Brickworks, but with the Wood family owning this works until 1914, I thought this Gower Works had been taken over by the company who had taken over the Wood's Brades Brickworks in 1916. This company being called the Blades Blue Brick Co. then re-named Blue Bricks (Oldbury) Ltd., 1924 to 1940.
The London Gazette dated September 1938 reveals P. W. Brick Co. Ltd. was struck off the Joint Stocks Register with the company not being wound up. So if more info turns up, I will update the entry.
More Brickworks will be added as time allows, so please call back. Thanks.
