In this post I cover the brickmakers who operated in Rowley Regis, Cradley, Netherton, Halesowen & Old Hill.
With already writing about Cakemore & Doulton from this area, I have added the links to these posts below.
Samuel Partridge
Partridge, Guest & Raybould
Partridge & Guest
Samuel Partridge is listed in White's 1851 edition as brickmaking in Old Hill, Rowley Regis. I next found Joseph Guest, a Master Brick Maker in the 1851 census, Marshall Fredrick Raybould, brickmaker & John Tranter, brickmaker joined Samuel at his Powke Lane brickworks sometime around 1854/55, trading as Samuel Partridge & Company. I have calculated the 1854/55 date from the length of time I know M.F. Raybould was brickmaking for. The London Gazette records John Tranter left the partnership on the 23rd of September 1856 & S. Partridge, J. Guest & M.F. Raybould would continue to operate the Powke Lane brickworks under the style of S. Partridge & Co. I have coloured the Powke Lane brickworks green on the 1881 OS map below. Although Partridge did not own Pearson's Colliery next door it appears he obtained his coal from this colliery with there being a tramway running from the colliery up to his kilns.
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1881.
By April 1858 S. Partridge & Co. were now trading as Partridge, Guest & Raybould, with this new company name coming from an article in the Staffordshire Advertiser dated 10th of April 1858 which reported on the size of common bricks which were to be made to a standard size of 9 ins x 4 1/4 ins x 3 ins. This notice listed 42 brickmakers who all worked within a 12 mile radius of Birmingham & had agreed to this standard size. I am assuming this standard size of common brick was eventually taken up by all brick makers in the country.
Kelly's 1860 edition is the first directory listing of Partridge, Guest & Raybould (red & blue), Old Hill, Rowley Regis & this entry is repeated in Kelly's 1872 edition.
The London Gazette records Samuel Partridge, Joseph Guest & Marshall Fredrick Raybould, brick & tile makers, Powke Lane, Old Hill had dissolved their partnership by mutual consent & the works would then continue under the style of Partridge & Guest. M.F. Raybould had left the partnership to concentrate on running his works in Harborne, Birmingham which he had taken over in 1872/3 from John Sadler. Kelly's 1876 edition is the first listing of Partridge & Guest at Old Hill.
Photo by Colin Wooldridge.
In the 1871 census Joseph Guest, a Brick Master & a widow aged 61 & is recorded as living on Moor Lane, Rowley Regis as the Head of the family together with his daughter Sarah Smart & her husband Stephen Smart, a Stationary Engine Driver & their three children.
Joseph Guest died on the 6th February 1882 & son-in-law Stephen Smart, a Colliery Engineer in the 1881 census then went into partnership with Samuel Partridge, trading as Partridge & Guest, Brick Manufacturers. Stephen Smart is recorded as a Brick Manufacturer in the 1891 census.
The London Gazette records on the 31st of January 1892 the partnership of Samuel Partridge & Stephen Smart was dissolved by mutual consent. All debts due to & by the said firm will be discharged & paid by the said Stephen Smart. This London Gazette article does not say the firm would carry on under the sole control of Stephen Smart, but with Kelly's 1896 entry still recording Partridge & Guest it appears Stephen Smart did continue to run the Powke Lane brickworks as Partridge & Guest. I then found Samuel Partridge died on the 23rd of December 1892. A search of the census has revealed non of Samuel's sons took up brick making, hence the company of Partridge & Guest being turned over to Stephen Smart in February 1892 & this is backed up with the 1901 census recording Stephen Smart as a Brick Manufacturer & Employer.
Now on to Stephen Smart's sons who worked for him at the Powke Lane brickworks, some longer than others. At least two of his sons were at the brickworks in the 1880's. Frederick William Arthur Smart b.1870 in the 1891 & 1901 census is recorded as a Stationary Engine Driver at a brickworks. Edgar Smart b.1869 is recorded as a Brickworks Manager in the 1901 census. With finding these two brothers were to later run the company, I write more about them later. Eldest son Joseph Edward Smart b.1867 was a Brick Setter in the 1891 census, then Brickworks Foreman in 1901 census, but sadly died in 1908. Horace Smart b.1873 is recorded as a Stationary Engine Driver in the 1911 census, but had gone to work at a Flour Mill by the 1921 census. Freeth Smart b.1876 is recorded as a Stationary Engine Driver at a Brickyard in the 1901 census, then Assistant Manager at a Brickworks in the 1911 census, however by the 1921 census Freeth was a Winding Engineer at a colliery owned by the Earl of Dudley.
P & G stamp mark on a coping brick photographed by Elizabeth Thomson.
Stephen Smart died in September 1910 aged 71. Information from the 1911 census reveals it was Frederick Smart who took control of Partridge & Guest with him being recorded as a Brick Manufacturer. Brother Edgar in the 1911 census is only recorded as a Clerk at a brickworks when previously he had been recorded as a Brickworks Manager under his father, however we find things were to change later. Then it appears brother Freeth played a part in the running of the company with him being recorded as an Assistant Manager in the 1911 census. I then found by the 1921 census Freeth had left Partridge & Guest & had become a Winding Engineer at a colliery. In the 1921 census Edgar is now recorded as a Brick Manufacturer, Employer same as Frederick in the 1921 census, so Frederick & Edgar had gone into equal partnership in the running of Partridge & Guest, however this partnership did not last long as the London Gazette records the partnership of Frederick Smart & Edgar Smart trading as Partridge & Guest, Brick Manufacturers, Powke Lane, Old Hill had been dissolved by mutual consent on the 31st of May 1923 & the said company would then be solely run by Frederick Smart.
The Birmingham Daily Post dated 8th October 1924 reports that a new company called Partridge & Guest Limited with a Capital of £10,000 in £1 shares had been formed to acquire the business of brick & tile manufacturers carried on by F.W.A. Smart at Powke Lane, Old Hill. It appears from this notice it was a company formed by Frederick Smart & brothers Alfred Hill Bassano & Charles Walter Bassano, however I am not sure what position Fredrick Smart held within the company with the 1939 Register only recording him as a Manager of a Brickworks aged 70. I did find from a 1934 newspaper profile article on Alfred Bassano which stated he was a Director of Partridge & Guest Limited. Another find in a 1938 newspaper article records Mr. S. Ganner, Works Manager was representing Partridge & Guest at a funeral. I then found Samuel Ganner left P & G in 1939 taking up a similar job at Barnett & Beddows. A May 1939 job advert by P & G requiring a youth in the office is the last newspaper reference found for the company.
Charles Bassano had died in 1933 & Charles Bassano died in 1946, then on the 5th of March 1947 Fredrick Smart died, so I am assuming other people were involved in the running Partridge & Guest Ltd. A notice in the London Gazette reports Partridge & Guest Limited had been placed into Voluntary Liquidation by it's Members (no names given) & on the 2nd of May 1947 at a special meeting the Company's accounts were to be laid before it's Members, after which the Liquidator would wind-up the company.
As a footnote, the notice reporting on the Probate of Fredrick Smart's Estate records he left £1519 17s 1d to his son Harold Smart, a brick maker. So that poses the question was Harold working at the Powke Lane works. In the 1939 Register Harold was recorded as a Brickworks Engineer living on Shenstone Valley Road, Halesowen. If Harold was working at Powke Lane brickworks which was not to far from his home, I doubt very much if he was involved in the running of the company after his father's death. So who was running the company remains a mystery.
More Brickworks will be added when time allows.
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