Brewery Railways

Burton upon Trent when renown as one of the most significant brewing towns in the country, was famous for having its own internal railway system solely to serve the breweries.

Brewers aside however, the plans were not met with enthusiasm, largely because of the many proposed railway crossing that would disrupt the traffic. In 1859, notices were posted all over the town prompting readers to meet at the Court House in Station Street to sign a petition to the House of Commons “Against such railways crossing the Public Streets”. Slightly surprisingly, one of the signatories was W.H.Worthington (who would eventually go on to become Burton’s first Mayor). This might suggest that the Worthington Brewery could manage without them more than some of its competitors!

As anticipated, the town’s internal railway had become more infamous than famous with vehicle drivers and pedestrians alike by the time it had reached its peak of 32 railway crossings.


The crossing in New Street with Burton General Hospital in the foreground.


A later photo from a little further down from the New Street Crossing above, this time in Duke Street with the ‘new’ wing of the Burton General Hospital behind.


A view of the Station Street crossing in action.


A view of the opposite side of the road reveals one of the more ‘modern’ style of control box.


A later view of the same Station Street crossing. I am not too hot on brewery trains but I CAN say that the car waiting is a 1965 Ford Corsair with its distinctive pointed front.


The present day site of the Station Street crossing still has lots of features that can be picked out from the photos above but even still, it is difficult to image trains running back and forth across the road all day.

The crossing next to the Blue Posts in High Street was some time later immortalised by being featured in an L.S. Lowry painting, ‘The Crossing’.


 

 

Station History

Old Station (1839)

Burton’s first railway station was opened in 1839 by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway on its original route from Derby to Hampton-in-Arden meeting the London and Birmingham Railway for London. The station stood at end of what was then called Cat Street, which was eventually renamed in 1844 to the now much more familiar Station Street.

In 1848, the North Staffordshire Railway Company opened a line from Crewe to Derby, with a branch line from Uttoxeter which connected Tutbury and Burton. A small passenger train known affectionately as the Tutbury Jinny, seen below, was a popular sight at the old Burton station.  It operated a push-pull service between the two stations.

This later became known as the more colloquial ‘Tutbury Jinnie’ and became important for commuters and shoppers, who travelled from Tutbury to Burton.

In its heydey, the ‘Tutbury Jinnie’ provided eight trains each way on weekdays and two on Sundays. However, as the motor car became more accessible, a survey in 1960 revealed that the service was only carrying an average of twelve passengers and running at a loss of around £7000, which was quite a significant sum at the time. The service managed to survive until it was withdrawn in 1960 when a ceremonious packed last train left Tutbury at 8:12pm on 11th June.

It can be seen above and below in its more ‘modern’ guise in its final years.

Tutbury station was fully closed in 1966 but was re-opened by popular request in 1990 and remains in use today.

A year after the previous line, in 1849, the Midland Railway Company, which now owned and operated the Birmingham to Derby line, opened a line from Burton to Leicester which crossed the Trent by a substancial viaduct still known today as the Leicester Line Bridge.

Burton’s main streets became congested by drays delivering barrels to the station from the breweries which were mostly located near the river. As early as 1853 it was proposed to lay a railway track from the main line south of Horninglow Street as far as the breweries in High Street to service them.

Under an Act of 1859 the Midland and other railway companies were authorised to construct two branches from the North Staffordshire line in Stretton, one running across Guild Street and High Street and the other under Hawkins Lane, across Anderstaff Lane (later Wetmore Road), and southwards along the west arm of the Trent. The branches met at sidings on the Hay behind the High Street breweries. A separate Act of 1860 authorised a private line from the Guild Street branch to serve Allsopp’s brewery on the north side of Horninglow Street. The construction of the Hay branch was instrumental in the demolition of the old medieval bridge over the Trent and its replacement by a new bridge opened in 1864.

Further lines in the central and eastern parts of the town were laid privately by brewing companies under an Act of 1862 and by the Midland Railway Company under Acts of 1864 and 1867. To serve brewery premises on the west side of town lines were laid by the Midland company in 1874, including one along the disused Bond End canal. Lastly, the London and North Western Railway Company in 1882 made a line along the east side of the Trent and Mersey canal between Shobnall and the Stretton junction.

The below extract from a map produced in 1865 shows the yet disjointed Station Street (now renamed from Cat Street) and Borough Road. It is also interesting to note that the soon to be demolished windmill is still in place on what would become the rear of the Station Hotel. It would also be a few years before Saint Paul’s Church followed by Saint Paul’s Institute and the Liberal Club (eventually destined to become the Town Hall) appeared.

As an ever increasing centre for beer brewing, Burton soon became criss-crossed brewery companies’ private lines and the numerous level crossings became the bain of the town!


New Station (1883)

A construction of a new much needed station was agreed in 1881. The first part of the plan necessitated the Station Bridge to be constructed to join the top of Cat Street (Station Street) to Borough Road, prior to which, there was only a foot crossing. The new station was built 150 yards down the line. It was built as an island platform with bays at each end, with substancial buildings along its length. At the same time, the number of tracks was quadrupled to cater for much greater needs.

Buildings, including freight handling and a booking hall, were built at the upper bridge level. They were built in early English retro-style, partly timbered to look older than they actually were. Access down to the platforms was reached by a wide flight of steps with one side for ascending, the other for descending.

The new station was opened in 1883 and the old station was demolished. It had much larger buildings at the upper level and a large canopy provided shelter at the front.

The distinctive canopy survived pretty much unchanged by the time the above 1910 photograph was taken. Trams had by now replaced horse drawn hanson cabs. The canopy was eventually removed to meet the demand for car parking.

Still little changed by 1960. The tramlines were of course, long replaced by a suitable surface for cars together with improved street lighting. The lattice work of the canopy had been replaced with simpler boarding.

Views of either side of the platform looking in the Branston direction from viewpoints at the upper level which used to be inside the station buildings but now form part of the car park.

And a marvellous wider view to put everything in perspective.

A posed picture by some of the senior staff from the Bass Brewery prior to a trip financed by the company. Bass trips, with other breweries following suit, became legendary with numerous trains being specially commissioned for trips to various seaside resorts.

A view of the distinctive platform clock which I am sure I can remember, together with the news kiosk which did a brisk trade in newspapers, confectionery and cigarettes.

Before being whisked away in old fashioned style. Burton Station still very recognisable as the express train heads south towards Branston.

Two views of the platform in around the 1950s. The above one shows the most familiar view with brewery buildings having taken over the site of the original station. The below view shows that at the time, the platform extended on the other side of the Station Bridge, showing the Station Hotel which still stands, built soon after the station to take advantage of the new prime position.

Just down the line, visible from the station platform in its day, in front of what was Ind Coope Ltd, bottling store (now IMEX Business Park) was a typical signal box.

In 1870 a new locomotive shed was built to the south of the station. This consisted of a roundhouse built round a 42 feet diameter turntable. In 1892 another roundhouse was added, with a 50 feet diameter turntable. In 1923 these were replaced by still larger 57 feet and 55 feet turntables respectively. It can be seen below, still in regular use in 1960 a few years before it fell into disuse.

By 1948 it had 111 locomotives allocated to it, but with the arrival of diesel locomotives it became a sub-depot of Nottingham and was finally closed in 1968.

I am reliably informed that the above photo shows an LMS Class 5-4-6-0 at Burton.

A few photos fortunately providing more or less the same view through the ages with the Ind Coope brewery building in the background.

The second, I am informed by enthusiasts, is an LMS Hughes/Fowler Crab 2-6-0 No. 42826 with the same building little changed other than the signage to advertise its new usage.

The final photo, in more modern times. The building still survives but with less prominence as the town has developed around it.

For the enthusiasts, 5MT number 45140 again taken at Burton. Though having little knowledge of trains, I can very vaguely remember the days when trains looked like proper trains.

And, an early colour photo showing locomotive 64354 sitting at Burton Station – enough to bring the schoolboy out in anyone!

The above photo shows work at what was known as the Shobnall Crossing close to the present day Moor Street bridge.

And at the other, Northern, end of town, a view over Wetmore Sidings.

Only just about making it through quality control – but two photos too good to omit showing the north-bound platform.

Finally, a few more photos towards the end of its life.

One of the very last photographs taken of the distinctive platform building.

Most of the private brewery railway lines were closed between 1963 and 1968 and the tracks were removed, with road transport now far more preferred.

The station was rebuilt yet again in 1971. The booking office remains in around the same place and the platform stairs are largely original to the previous station. The final photos show the present station for comparison.


 

 

1857 White’s Directory of Derbyshire

In the early 1800s, a number of publishers produced county directories, a sort of forerunner of the Yellow Pages, which have become a valuable source of historic information. Among the most popular were Bradshaw & Parsons Directory of Staffordshire, Bagshaw’s Derbyshire Directory and White’s Directory of Derbyshire.

Below is an extract from the 1857 Whites’s Directory of Derbyshire. Burton upon Trent, at this time lying in both Staffordshire and Derbyshire with the county line being formed by the river Trent, appeared in the Derbyshire edition. It was organised by Town and each was described in some detail so providing an invaluable record. The Burton upon Trent entry is fully transcribed below, surrounding townships were in separate sections, I have included Winshill as an example:

BURTON-UPON-TRENT is an extensive parish, principally in the Offlow Hundred, Staffordshire, and partly in Repton and Gresley Hundred, Derbyshire. The entire parish comprises 7 townships, viz. : Burton-upon-Trent, Burton Extra, Branstone, Horninglow, and Stretton, in Staffordshire, with Winshill, and part of Stapenhill, which are in Derbyshire, with about 10,000 acres of land, and in 1851 had 2,250 houses, and 12,373 inhabitants, of whom 6,189 were males, and 6,184 females. The manor of Burton-upon-­Trent, with several hamlets, was granted in the 37th Henry VIII. to an ancestor of the present Marquis of Anglesey, who is lord of the manor, principal owner of the soil, and te impropriator of the great tithes of the whole parish. The east and west sides of the parish swell gradually into hills, and have a strong red loamy soil, suitable for the growth of barley and wheat, the former of which is extensively cultivated, and sold to the numerous malting establishments at Burton. The rest of the land is chiefly meadow, forming rich loamly pastures, which are often flooded by the waters of the Trent and Dove, which latter flows on the north side of the parish.

A well-built market town of considerable antiquity, is pleasantly situated on the west bank of the Trent, which here flows in two broad streams, and is crossed by an ancient stone bridge of 36 arches, in the centre of which is a stone which marks the boundaries between the counties of Derby and Stafford. It is in 52o 53’ north latitude, and 1o 35’ west longitude, and is distant 11 miles S.W. of Derby, 13 miles N.E. of Lichfield, 24 E. of Stafford, and 125 N.W. of London by the road, and 129 by the railway. The town of Burton has been considerably improved during the last 25 years, several New Streets have been made, many old buildings removed, and handsome houses erected on the sites. The principal streets are, High Street, Horninglow Street, New Street, Station Street, Lichfield Street, and Bridge Street; the former is the principal thoroughfare, been well flagged and paved, and contains many handsome houses, shops, and excellent inns; it is of considerable length, and runs paralell with the river from north to south. In 1851, it had (including Burton Extra and part of Horninglow) 1604 inhabited houses, 50 uninhabited, and 22 building; with 7,934 inhabitants, of whom 3,943 were males, and 3,991 females. Burton has long been celebrated for the excellence of its ale, and immense quantities are sent to all parts of Great Britain, to many foreign countries, the East and West Indies, Australia, and to all parts of the world. During thc reign of the second Catherine of Russia, great quantities were exported to the Continent, it being the favourite beverage of that queen, but this trade was extin­guished by the Berlin Decree, which shut out our manufactures from the Continent, but the taste for pale ale has greatly increased in this country, and most of the brewers are now employed in supplying the home market. The first Brewery established here was in 1610, but 30 years ago the number was only 5, it is now 19; and a greater extent of business is done at some of the older establishments than was done by the whole town at that time. The superior properties of Burton ale is partly attributable to the excellent hard water which is obtained from the neighbouring hills; and Dr. Darwin ingeniously supposes that some of the saccharine acid in the malt combines with the calcareous earth of hard water, and forms a sort of mineral sugar, which is convertible into spirits. Most of the breweries have also very extensive malting establishments, the consumption of which during the season, 1855-56, amounted to 1,216,000 bushels, of which quantity 704,000 bushels were made in the town. The cotton spinning and power-loom weaving were carried on to a considerable extent by Messrs. Peel & Co. till within the last few years. One of the factories is now occupied by Mr. John Taverner, tape manufacturer; another is used as stores by the brewers, and the others are unoccupied. There are also three Iron foundries, and an Engineer and Millwright’s establishments here. The river Trent is Navigable for barges up to the town, and the canal, which connects that river with the Mersey, opens a water communication with all the principal towns in the kingdom. The town has several times been inundated by the Trent, particularly in the years 1771, 1792, 1795, and 1798, when most of the streets were laid under water.

The New Sewer, formed in 1843, is a very great improvement to the town of Burton, and has effectually removed those continual nuisances so detrimental to the health and com­fort of the inhabitants. Previous to the year 1788, High Street was not paved, nor had it a sewer of any kind, and the centre of the street was so low that it fanned a general receptacle for the refuse water from all the houses. At intervals, stepping stones were placed to enable persons to cross. In that year, an act of parliament was obtained for paving, repairing, cleansing, and lighting the town, and for removing and preventing nuisances, soon after which, a sewer of about two feet diameter was formed from the Bridge to High Street, but not being properly constructed, was continually stopping up for want of a regular fall. In 1843, however, it was determined to employ an engineer to see how far it was practicable to carry out the sewerage, so as effectually to drain the town; the result was satisfactory, and the Feoffees liberally responded to the wants of the town, by a grant of £400. The sewerage extends a distance of 2,159 yards, and the most sanguine expectations of the projectors have been fully realised. Each time a boat passes into the lock, which may be estimated at 12 times a day, the lock full of water is turned down the sewer, from Bond-end Wharf to the Bridge, by which means no filth can possibly accumulate, or offensive effiuvia be omitted.

The Town Hall, in the Market Place, is a commodious structure, created in 1772, by the late Lord Paget, father of the Marquis of Anglesey, the present owner of the manor, to whose ancestors it was granted in the reign of Henry VIII., and all such privileges, liberties, and franchises belonging to the same, as had heretofore been enjoyed by the abbots of Burton. In the exercise of these privileges, the lord of the manor appoints a steward and a bailiff, who retain their office during his pleasure. The steward presides as judge in a court for the recovery of debts under 40s., called the Genter’s Court. This court was judicially acknowledged by the Court of King’s Bench, on an informa­tion in the nature of a quo warranto, brought by the attorney-general in the reign of Queen Elizabeth against Thomas, then Lord Paget, who claimed the same as a prescrip­tive right in the abbots of Burton beyond the memory of man. The Genter’s court is held in the Town hall every third Friday, and has exclusive jurisdiction over the manor. The bailiff, John Richardson, Esq., in right of his office, is coroner; he has also a concurrent juriadiction with the county magistrates as a justice of the peace, but being a practicing attorney, he does not act in that capacity. In addition to the Genter’s court, the lord of the manor annually holds a Court leet and view of frank-pledge, at which the election of officers takes place, among whom are six decimers, and three constables. The Market is on Thursday. Here are four annual Fairs—held on Candlemas day, April 5, Holy Thursday, and October 22 to 29. The latter was granted by King John, and is noted for the sale of horses and cheese, A Hiring for servants is held on the Monday after New Michaelmas day, and a Feast on the nearest Sunday to Street Modeven’s day. Races were formerly held here, but have been discontinued some years.

The Gas Works, in Station Street, were erected in 1832 by a proprietary of £20 shareholders, at a cost of £2,500, and were leased at that time for a period of 21 years, to Mr. Samuel Sanders, since which period they have, by an act of parliament, come into the hands of the Town commissioners, who, in 1854, erected New works, in Anderstaff Lane, the original works having become too small for the requirements of the town. The Birmingham and Derby branch of the Midland railway has a convenient Station on the west side of the town, and communicates with the North and South Staffordshire, the Burton and Leicester and other lines.

The Bridge is the most interesting object of antiquity which the town possesses, and is supposed to have been erected by Bernard, Abbott of Burton, about the year 1174; others assign the erection to a much earlier period, Its zig-zag form stretches across the two steams of the Trent, and the adjoining low meadows, which are subject to inundation, a distance of 1,545 feet, and has 36 arches, three of which are entirely blocked up, and five more of them are only visited by the water in the time of floods, From its extreme narrowness and unnecessary length, many serious accidents have occurred, and it is a matter of consideration with the inhabitants how the danger shall be obviated. A battle was fought upon the bridge in 1322, when Edward III. obtained a decisive victory over the Earl of Lancaster; and it is supposed that the chapel which formerly stood at the end of the bridge was built to commemorate this victory. Mass was frequently said, in order to raise funds to defray the expenses of the bridge.

The Abbey appears to have been a place of some magnitude, from the few vestiges that are still to be seen. Tanner says: Ulfric Spot, finished and endowed, A.D. 1004, an abbey here for monks of the order of Street Benedict. It was dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary and Street Modoven, and valued 26th Henry VIII., at £267 14s. 5d. per annum. But on the record in the first fruit’s office, the yearly valuation of this monastery is given at £501 7s. The Abbey and its dependencies were exempt from all exactions, duties, and services, except trinodas necessitas, the erection of fortresses and bridges, the repairing of highways, and the repelling of invasions. The abbot and convent surrendered this house Nov. 14th, 1539, and in 1541, Henry VIII, who, after robbing it of part of its estates, refounded it as a Collegiate Church, dedicated to Jesus Christ and his mother Mary; and granted for their support, the manor of Burton, and thirteen other manors, & Co., belonging to the monastery. This Church was but of short continuance, for it was dissolved in 1545, when all the lands and endowments of the same then worth £356 16s. 3d. per annum were conveyed by the said king to Sir William Paget, an ancestor of their present owner, the Marquis of Anglesey. The seal of this college is one of the most beautiful specimens of that style of engraving now extant. It represents our Saviour and his disciples at the last supper, with the arms of Ulfric, the founder, at the bottom. On the margin is a Latin inscription, signifying it to be.

The common seal of the dean and chapter of the collegiate church of Christ, at Burton-upon-Trent. Several abbots, at different periods, were re­turned as members of parliament, and they were empowered to hold a weekly market, collect tolls, and institute fairs. The Church was a handsome structure, 228 feet long and 52 feet wide, ornamented with an elegant tower at each end. The cloisters measured 100 feet square. Portions of the walls are still visible near the present Church, and the dormitory, fraytor, and all the other buildings, were on a scale of proportionable magnitude. The anicient mansion called the Abbey House is said to have been that part of the building which formed tbe private residence of the abbot, it is now occupied and held on lease by Thomas Thornewill, Esq., who has, at great expense nearly restored it to its pristine beauty, which had been destroyed by modern additions and repairs. The porter’s lodge is now converted into a blacksmith’s shop, and fragments of the wall which surrounded the abbey and its extensive gardens may still be seen. There are two other houses in the grounds, called the Priory and the Manor; the latter is occupied by the Marquis of Anglesey’s agent.

The Parish Church, dedicated to Street Modwen, is a handsome structure with a fine tower and was built in 1720, on the site of the ancient Church, which had been greatly dilapidated during the parliamentary war. It has 8 bells, a set of musical chimes, and a good organ, erected in 1771. The Churchyard is now very spacious, 1½ acres of land on the margin of the Trent being added in 1830, by the Marquis of Anglesey. Several stone coffins have been dug up; one of which is placed in an upright position, on the margin of the Trent, and a lid ornamented with rude sculpture is placed against the wall on the south side of the Church. The Marquis of Anglesey is impropriator and patron of the living, which is a perpetual curacy, but is now called a vicarage, value £192; the Rev. Samual Stead, M.A., incumbent.

Holy Trinity Church, Horninglow Street, is a beautiful edifice, in the florid Gothic style of architecture. It is partly built of brick cemented so as to correspond with the stone buttresses, pinnacles, and other ornamental portions of the building. The interior is exceedingly neat and has a richly foliated Gothic window of stained glass, with representa­tions of Street Peter and the four evangelists. It was built in 1824, by the executors of the late Isaac Hawkins, Esq., at a cost of £7,000, and will accommodate about 1,000 hearers; 700 sittings are free. There is an endowment of about £80 per annum from Queen Anne’s bounty, and from a small sum in the funds from other sources. The Marquis of Anglesey is the patron, and the Rev. Peter French, M.A., is the incumbent.

Christ Church, New Street, is an elegant cruciform structure in the early English style, with a tower surmounted by an elegant spire. It was consecrated in September, 1844, and was built at a cost of £2,750, raised by private subscriptions and a grant from the In­corporated Society for building churches. It has 600 sittings on the ground floor, and 400 in the galleries, and the whole of the sittings both free and appropriated, have carved stall ends; but the latter have small low doors. The living is a perpetual curacy, value £200 in the patronage of the vicar, and the incumbency of the Rev. William Morgan, B.A., who resides at the parsonage, a neat house in the Tudor style, erected between the church and its schools. Catholic Chapel, Guild Streetreet, is a neat brick building, erected a few years ago, the Rev. Thomas Telford is the priest.

Independent Chapel, High Street, occupies the site of a nonconformist meeting-house, built in 166l, when the Rev. Thomas Bakewell was ejected from the rectory of Rolleston. This chapel, however, was rebuilt about 80 years ago. The present edifice is in the Gothic style, and was rebuilt in 1842, at a cost of £2,200. The front is of hewn stone, and has a large window of beautiful proportions, filled with Gothic tracery which gives it a chaste and noble appearance. The interior fittings are all of oak, and it will seat 600 persons. The Rev. Daniel Horscraft is the pastor. The Wesleyan Chapel, Horninglow Street is a neat brick building, rebuilt in 1813; it is neatly fitted up with galleries, and the body of the chapel has been recently pewed; attached to it are two neat houses for the ministers. The Particular Baptist Chapel, Station Street, was erected in 1793, and was considerably en­larged and beautified with a Grecian portico, in 1842, at a cost of £1,150. The General Baptist Chapel, Burton Extra, was opened in 1825; Zion Chapel, (General Baptists) Union Street, was erected 1855; it is a handsome brick building, capable of seating 600 persons. The Primitive Methodist Chapel, Station Street, is a neat brick building, erected in 1829. And the Wesleyan reformers have a small chapel in George Sunday Schools are attached to all the churches and chapels, and are numerously attended.

The Free Grammar School, Friar’s walk, adjoining the church-yard, was founded in 1520, by William Beyne, Abbot of Burton, who built a school house on ground belonging to the Abbey. The endowment consists of a farm of 120 acres at Orton-on-the-Hill, in Leices­tershire, let for £250 a year, and 111 acres of land at Breaston, let for £202 per annum. The head masteter receives two-thirds of the rents arising from the lands, and the second master one-third. The former has also £3, and the lattir £6 a year, from the bequest of Elizabeth Paulett. The school is free to sons of parishioners, with preference to those who apply for classical instruction. The number is limited to 65. The present school was built in 1834, atthe cost of £600. It contains an ancient carved oak desk, supposed to have been in use ever since the foundation of the school. The Rev. Henry Day is Head master, and Mr. Henry Hodson, second master.

Allsopp’s Charity School is endowed with land now let for £24 per annum; left by Rd. Allsopp, in 1728, for the instruction of 30 poor boys. Six of the scholars are clothed out of the rents of the land now let for £6 a year, left by Francis Astle, in 1735. The feofees of the Town Lands are trustees of this school and the 30 poor boys are now instructed at the large and handsome National Schools, (Christ Church) Church street, erected in 1844, at the cost of about £1000. They form a handsome building in the Tudor style, and will accommodate about 400 children; the average attendance is 130 boys, and about the same number of girls, and 100 infants.

The National Schools, (Holy Trinity) Horninglow Street, were built by subscription, in 1827, and are supported by voluntary contributions; about 100 boys and 70 girls receive instruction; and an Infant school was erected in 1846, by subscriptions, and a grant of £100 from the National Society, in Anderstaff Lane, the average attendance is about 95.

The British Schools, Guild Streetreet, were built in 1843, on land given by the Marquis of Anglesey, at the cost of about £900, raised by subscriptions, and a Parliantentry grant of £274 12s. 19d. They are substantial buildings, and comprise a good house for the master and mistress, and two spacious rooms for about 160 boys and 100 girls.

The Burton Literary Society, High Street, commenced in 1844, has a reading room and a library of about 1,100 volumes on various scientific and interesting subjects. It is supported by a subscription of 20s. per annum from the first class, and a quarterly subscrip­tion of 2s. 2d. from the second class, and 5s. per annum the third class. The former have the privilege of attending the reading room at all hours of the day, the other from 5 o’clock in the evening until 10; but the latter have only the use of the library. The reading room is well supplied with London and provincial newspapers, and the most popular periodicals of the day; Mr. S. Simnett, Secretary and Librarian.

Natural History Society and Museum, High Street, established in 1842, contains a valuable collection of British and foreign birds, insects, fishes, fossils, minerals, and antiquities. This interesting exhibition is at all times open to the public free.

The Self-supporting Dispensary, in High Street, is a valuable institution, established in 1830, by which means the poor have the best medical and surgical aid, for the small charge of a 1d. a week, and also the privilege of choosing their own surgeon. The total receipts for the year ending Oct. 31, 1855, was £657 7s. 6d. The disbursements £653 16s. 3d. Mr. Thomas Ash is the dispenser.

The Savings’ Bank, established in 1818, is held at the Town Hall, which is open every Saturday, from 2 to 3 o’clock. The amount of deposits for the year ending 20th Nov. 1855, was £36,078 1s. 8d., and the number of depositors 1,352, of whom 24 were charitable and 29 friendly societies. The respective balances of 763 depositors did not exceed £20. 354 not exceeding £50, 131 not exceeding £100, 37 which did not exceed £150, 13 not exceeding £200, and 1 which exceeded that sum. William Coxon, actuary.

The Permanent Library, at Mr. R. R. Bellamy’s, Bridge Street, was commenced in 1838; it is supported by a number of shareholders and upwards of 70 subscribers, and contains 2000 volumes. The shares are £10 each, and an annual subscription of 16s. Subscribers, not being shareholders, pay 21s. a year.

Young Men’s Christian Association, Guild Streetreet, established about 11 years ago, has a reading room, and library containing about 1,400 volumes. Mr. John W. Lomas, Secretary.

Petty Sessions are held every Tuesday, at the County Court House, and Police, Station, Station Street. The magistrates for the district are—Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., Robt. John Peel, Esq., Michael Thomas Bass, Esq., M.P., John Bott, Esq., Charles Walter Lyon, Esq., and Henry Allsopp, Esq. Mr. Jno. Thornewill, clerk to the magistrates; Jno. Anderson, inspector of police; here are also two constables.

The Stamp Office, High Street, is at Mr. Samuel Whitehead’s; it is open from nine to five o’clock.

The Inland Revenue and Corn Returns’ Office, Market Place; Mr. Ambrose Martin, supervisor.

The New Small Debts Act, or County Courts.This important act, which superseded the Court of Requests, came into operation on the 15th March, 1847.

Burton-upon-Trent County Court is held at the Court House, Station Street, Monthly, and the district comprises the following places:Anslow, Barton Blount, Barton-­under-Needwood, Branstone, Bretby, Burton Extra, Burton-upon-Trent, Castle Gresley, Catton, Caldwell, Church Broughton, Church Gresley, Coton in the Elms, Drakelow, Dunstall, Egginton, Foston and Scropton, Hanbury, Hatton, Hilton, Hoon, Horninglow, Linton, Lullington, Marston-upon-Dove, Milton, Newton Solney, Osleston, Repton Rolleston, Rosliston, Stanton and Newhall, Stapenhill, Stretton, Sutton-on-the-Hill, Swadlincote, Tatenhill, Thurvaston (Upper), Tutbury, Walton-upon-Trent, Wichnor, Winshill. J. T. Cantrell, Esq., Judge Philip Hubbersty, Esq., Wirksworth and John Thornewill, Esq., Burton-upon-Trent, registrars. George Ley, High bailiff, Burton-­upon-Trent.

THE BURTON-UPON-TRENT POOR LAW UNION, formed in 1837, comprises 53 parishes and townships, of which 40 are in Derbyshire and 13 in Staffordshire, with an area of 90,652 acres of land, and a population of 31,843 souls. The following is an enumera­tion of the parishes and townships in the county of Derby, viz: Ash, Barton Blount, Bearwardcote, Bretby, Burnaston, Castle Gresley, Catton, Caldwell, Church Broughton, Church Gresley, Coton-in-the-Elms, Dalbury with Lees, Drakelow, Egginton, Etwall, Findern, Foremark, Foston and Scropton, Hatton, Hilton, Hoon, Ingleby, Linton, Lul­lington, Marston-upon-Dove, Mickleover, Newton Solney, Osleston and Thurvastan, Rad­bourn, Repton, Rosliston, Stanton and Newhall, Stapenhill, Sutton-on-the-Hill, Swadlin­cote, Trusley, Twyford and Stenson, Walton-upon-Trent, Willington, and Winshill. The 13 parishes and townships in the county of Stafford are, Anslow, Barton-under-Needwood, Branstone, Burton-upon-Trent, Burton Extra, Dunstall, Hanbury, Horninglow, Rolleston, Stretton, Tatenhill, Tutbury, and Wichnor.

The Union Workhouse, erected in 1839, is a handsome brick building, ornmented with stone, situated at the west end of Horninglow Street. It was erected at a cost of £8,300, and, with an additional sum of £700 expended for furniture, will make a total of £9,000. It contains ample accommodation for 400 inmates, and is well ventilated and supplied with fittings of the most substantial character. The present number of in­mates is 165. William Coxon in clerk and superintendent registrar; Alex. and Jane Phillips, master and matron; William Freeman, schoolmaster, and Emma Oakden, schoolmistress; Robt. R. Bellamy, registrar of marriages; John Killingby, relieving officer and registrar of births and deaths for the South district; Gervase Smedley, relieving officer, and registrar of births and deaths for the North district: Richard Stone, Esq., of Derby, auditor; and John Dawson, porter. The following is a list of the surgeons : Robert Shirley, Belcher, Burton-upon-Trent district; Robt. John Bell, Mickleover; Benjamin Miller, Barton-under-Needwood; George Ambrose Cope, Etwall; H. Edwards, Tutbury; George Lowe, Rosliston; Arthur Hewgill, M.D., Repton; and Spencer Thomson, M.D., Gresley district. The average weekly cost of the in-door paupers for the half-year ending March, 1856, was 2s. 5¾d. for food, and 3½d. for clothing.

WINSHILL township and small village, upon a declivity 1½ miles E. by N. from Burton-upon-Trent. to which parish it belongs, contains 1,150 acres of fertile land, 88 houses and 405 inhabitants, of whom 196 were males and 209 females, in 1851; rateable value, £2,313. The Marquis of Anglesey is lord of the manor and principal owner. There is an extensive corn mill on the Trent bank, and a factory for manufacturing tape, occupied by Mr. John Taverner; also Bladon House, a respectable boarding school. This manor belonged to the monastery of Burton, and having been granted after the dis­solution to the first Lord Paget, is now the property of his descendant. The Anglesey Coal Company, established in 1856, have extensive collieries here, situated on the Burton and Ashby-de-la-Zouch road, 1¾ miles E. from the former, and 7¼ miles N.W. from the latter. The coal obtained here is of a superior quality for making coke for malting, and also for steel converting; it is likewise in great demand for household purposes. The men employed are assisted by a steam engine of 20 horses power. Messrs. Bond, Brailsford, Hunt, & Wigfall are the proprietors. In 1846, a small National school was built by subscription; it a neat brick building, and is licensed for divine service, as a Chapel of Ease to Holy Trinity. The Wesleyans have also a chapel here. (For Directory, see end of Burton.)

The Towns Lands consist of about 40 acres in small detached parcels, with several tenements, producing an income of £190 a year, including the rent of Finney’s close and the Workhouse garden. For a long period they have from time to time been conveyed together to trustees or feoffees, for the common benefit of the inhabitants of Burton. The feoffees are also entitled to the sum of £1,800, which has been accumulated from fines received on different renewals of leases for lives. The interest of this money, £84 a year, is applied with the other income. The rents of the town lands are collected by the town masters, (to whose office the constables of the preceding year, appointed at the Court-leet, succeed as a matter of course,) and are paid by them to the treasurer of the feoffees, at their general annual meeting, held annually on the 21st December.

CHARITIES,(under the management of the feoffees of the Town Lands). Mr. Finney gave a close in Anderstaff Lane, and directed the rents to be given in apprenticing yearly some poor boy. The close is let for £11 18s. 8d.

The Workhouse Garden, in Anderstaff Lane, is let for £5 8s. a year, in respect of which it had long been customary to furnish annually six coats for poor men, but the practice was discontinued about 30 years ago. The rent is carried to the general account of the town lands.

The Pavement House consists of a messuage, shop, two cottages, and 36 perches of land, the rents of which are appropriated by ancient usage to the reparation of the pave­ment of the inferior inhabitants in High Street.

The New Close is a piece of lands of about 20 acres, formerly part of the town moors. It is now let in leys or gates for depasturing cows, and the clear profits have been applied since 1815 for repairing the pavements in Burton and Bond End.

Daniel Watson, in 1779, left a stable, coach house, and stable yard, in Cat street, and directed the rents to be given to the poor on Whit-Monday.

Isaac Hawkins, in 1712, left £100 to be laid out in land, for the maintenance of some poor man in Burton. This legacy was expended in land called the Low Gate Piece, now let for £7 7s. a year.

Mrs. Almond’s gift. There appears to be no original writings respecting this charity. It consists of a farmhouse and 30A, of land at Aston, a close 6A. 2R, called Blackwells, at Rolleston, and an allotment in Horninglow of 1A. 1R. 19P. The rents amount to £71 18s. 8d. In addition to the above, there belongs to this charity a part of certain lands in Rolleston, which were received in exchange from Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., for land belonging to this charity. The annual value of this land was £2 2s. a year, but through mistake the rents have been carried since the enclosure to the account of Parker’s almshouses. Of the above rents, £5 17s. is paid for weekly distribution of bread; £6 6s. to the poor of Horninglow, Stretton and Branston, in sums of 3s. each and under; and £29 17s. to the poor of Burton and Burton Extra, chosen by the feoffees in sums of 5s. each.

William Hawkins, in 1724, left a rent charge of £5 a year to be distributed in bread. This amount has for some time been paid, towards furnishing 12 poor women of Burton with gowns.

Richard Steele left a rent charge of 21s. per annum, which is divided equally be­tween the poor of Burton, Branston and Stretton.

Richard Caldwell, M.D., in 1582, left in trust with the bailiff of Lichfield £160, to be lent free of interest to clothiers of small wealth and ability, or else to other handicraft­men, dwelling in Burton-upon-Trent. The sum of £40 is lent from five years to five years, and the sum of £120 alternately, in four sums of £30, aud twenty of £6 for five years. The bailiffs of Lichfield go over to Burton at the time when the securities are to be renewed, and they receive applications for, and advance the loans.

The Almshouses in the Swine market, for five poor women, were founded by Elizabeth Paulett, in 1591. The endowment consists of 25A. 1R. 22P. of land at Fenny Bentley, and several dwellings and shops adjoining the almshouses, producing an annual sum of £81 17s. The same donor also bequeathed a rent charge of £10 a year, of which £1 is given to the almswomen, and the remainder as noticed, with the Grammar school. The rent charge was exchanged in 1795, for £333 6s. 8d., three-per cent. consols. Each of the inmates receive 6s. per week, paid quarterly, and a supply of coals out of the rents of the town lands.

Parker’s Almshouses, High Street, were founded in 1634, by Ellen Parker, who left £800 in trust to build 6 almshouses for 6 poor widows or old maids of Burton and Stretton. The property consists of buildings and land in Anderstaff Lane, Horninglow, and Rolleston, let for £54 5s. 3d. per annum. The inmates have each 4s. weekly, and about £6 added from the funds of the town lands.


LIST OF STREETS, & Co., BURTON-UPON-TRENT 1857

Abbey Street, High Street
Anderstaff Lane, Horninglow Street
Bank square, High Street
Bond End, Abbey Street
Bond Street, Green st
Bridge Street., Horninglow Street
Brook Street, Horninglow Street
Church Street, New Street
Cross Street., Station Street
Dale Street, Park Street
Derby Lane, Station Street
Duke Street., New Street
Fennell Street, High Street
Fleet Street, Abbey Street
Friar walk, Market Place
George Street, Guild Street
Green Street, Bond End
Guild Street., Horninglow Street
Hawkins Lane, Horninglow Street
High Street, Market Place
Horninglow Street., High Street
Lichfield road, Lichfield Street
Lichfield Street, High Street
Market Place, High Street
Moor Street, New Street
Mosley Street, Station Street
Orchard Street, New Street
Nelson Terrace, Station Street
New Street., High Street
Paget Street, Station Street
Park Street, High Street
Stanley Street, Mosley Street
Station Street, High Street
Union Street, Station Street
Victoria Crescent, Horninglow Road
Wellington Street, Derby Lane

MISCELLANY, consisting of Gentry, Clergy, Partners in Firms, and others not arranged in the classification of Trades and Professions.

Post Office, High Street; Mr. John Whitehurst, postmaster.

Letters arrive from:
Derby, Leeds, & Co., (1st mail) at 1 a.m., (2nd mail) at 11 a.m.
London and all parts, (1st mail) at 2 30 a.m., (2nd mail) at 1 p.m.

Letters despatched to:
Birmingham, Tamworth, & Co., at 10 15 am.
Derby, Leeds, & Co., at 12 noon.
London, and all parts, at 10 p.m.

Money Order Office, open from 9 to 6 o’clock.
Branch Post Office, at William Peace’s, Victoria crescent.


BURTON UPON TRENT DIRECTORY 1857

Adams Mr. Edmund, Station Street
Alcock Edward scripture reader, Horninglow Street
Allen Charles, clerk, Station Street
Allen Francis Chawner, clerk, Lichfield Road
Allen James, clerk, Station Street
Allen John, brushmaker, New Street
Allsopp Henry, Esq., High Street
Atkins Michael, coach builder, Station Street

Bagnall Ann, furrier, Horninglow Street
Ballard William, manager of gas works, Anderstaff Lane
Barratt & Son, gun makers, High Street
Batkin Henry, cutler, High Street
Baxter Mr. Benjamin, Horninglow Street
Bell Adam, clerk, Lichfield Street
Bennett Edwin, joiner, & Co.; Cross Street
Birch Mrs. Sarah, Bank square
Birkin Chamberlain, horse breaker, Guild Street
Bishop Mr. William, Station Street
Bladon James, lessee of the market, and inspector of weights & measures, Market Place
Booth Mrs. Mary, Horninglow Street
Bloor John, cooper, High Street
Brooks Moreton, gents., Lichfield Road
Broster George, tripe dresser, High Street
Brown Henry, bank manager, High Street
Bryan Jesse, slater, Anderstaff Lane

Carter Mrs. Elizabeth, Station Street
Carter Thomas, coml. trav., Abbey Street
Chappells John, national schoolmster, Station Street
Chatterton John, pawnbroker, Union Street
Child John, inland revenue officer, Horninglow Street
Clark Henry, timber & Co. merchant, The Priory
Cliff James, engineer, High Street
Cooke Mark, agent, Horninglow Street
Cox Thomas, clerk, Union Street
Coxon James, clerk, Guild Street
Crichley Rev. Thomas, curate of Christ Church, Union Street

Davies Rev. Samuel, (baptist) Alma house
Dawson John, porter, Workhouse
Day Rev, Henry, headmaster grammar school, Lichfield Street
Dilworth Richard, station master, (M. R.) Station Street

Earp Thomas, agent, Horninglow Street
Farmer Mrs. Ellen, Brook Street
Ford Miss Ann, Horninglow Street
Franklin William, dyer, New Street
French Rev. Peter, M.A., incumbent of Holy Trinity, Horninglow Street

Gates Mrs. Elizabeth, Lichfield Street
George John Joseph, building surveyor, Nelson Terrace
Goer Thomas, cheese factor, High Street
Gorton Thomas, assistant overseer, Mosley Street
Govan Andrew, farm bailiff, Station Street
Green Rev. Walter, curate of Trinity Church Union Street
Gregg Rev. John Robert, curate, Market Place
Gretton Miss Fanny, Horninglow Street
Gretton John, Esq., High Street
Grundy Richard, inland revenue officer, Horninglow Street

Hales Thomas, commercial traveller, Station Street
Hanson Thomas, bird preserver and fishing tackle maker, High Street
Hanson Mr. John Nicholas, Station Street
Harris Edward, brewer; Lichfield Road
Harris Mr. William, High Street
Haywood Rev. George, (reform) George Street
Heafield Thomas, clerk, Station Street
Healey John, clerk, Station Street
Hill John, brewer, Lichfield Road
Hill William, clerk, Station Street
Hill Robert, commercial traveller, Station Street
Hodgson Stanley, surveyor of taxes, Guild Street
Hodson Miss Ann, Horninglow Street
Hodson Henry, 2nd master Grammar school, Station Street
Hodson Mr. Thomas, High Street
Holloway Mr. Charles, Lichfield Road
Holmes Ed., assistant brewer, Horninglow Street
Horscraft Rev. Daniel, (Ind.) High Street
Hunter John, joiner & Co., Duke Street

Jackson Mr. Henry, Horninglow Street
James Ezra, sup. brewer, Horninglow Street
Johnson Eliza, berlin wool and fancy repository, High Street
Jefford John, clerk, Horninglow Street
Johnson Miss Elizabeth, High Street
Jones William Esq., M.D., Lichfield Street

Keenan John, trav, draper, New Street
Kenney Rev. Richard, (baptist) Lichfield Road
Kent William, maltster, Horninglow Street
Killingley John, relieving officer and regr. of births and deaths, Horninglow Street

Lander Thomas, land agent, Manor House
Lathbury Miss Elizabeth, Nelson Terrace
Leigh Henry B., Esq., Hunter’s Lodge

Martin Ambrose, supervisor Inland revenue, Market Place
Martin William Shubrick, managing brewer, New Street
Massey Richard, brewer’s clerk, Mosley Street
Miller Mrs., Union Street
Mathews John, head brewer, High Street
Mayberry Richard M., clerk, High Street
Meakin Francis Lewis, brewer, Lichfield Street
Meakin George, brewer, Abbey Street
Merry Charles, accountant, Station Street
Moor Mrs., Horninglow Street
Morgan Rev. William, B.A., incumbent of Christ church, Church Street
Morris Samuel Coates, Esq., Bridge Street
Morris William, manager, Station Street
Mortimer Joseph, grocer’s manager, New Street
Moth John, Inland revenue officer, Station Street
Moulder Mrs. Elizabeth, Horninglow Street

Ordish Mrs. Ann, keeper of museum, High Street
Osborne William, clerk, Horninglow Street

Parsons Fredk. Joseph., wine & spirit merchant, High Street
Peel Street John, Esq., Lichfield Street
Pendleton William, brewer, High Street
Payne Mrs. Maria, High Street
Phillips Alex. and Jane, master & matron, Workhouse, Horninglow Street
Poyser Thomas, Esq., Horninglow Street
Pratt Joseph, fruiterer, High Street
Pratt Miss Sarah, High Street
Proudman John, manager at Burton Brewery Co., High Street

Radford Mr. James, Lichfield Street
Ratcliff Samuel, Esq., Horninglow Street
Richardson Mrs. Caroline, High Street
Richardson John, solicitor, high bailiff and coroner for the borough, High Street
Richardson Mrs. Mary, Station Street
Robinson Rhd., accountant, Horninglow Street
Robinson Thomas, clerk, Lichfield road
Robinson Thomas, brewer; h. High Street

Salloway Mr. Edward, Horninglow Street
Salt James, carrier to Derby, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, New Street
Saunders Mrs. Mary, Horninglow Street
Shardlow William, carriers agent, Station Street
Shipley Samuel, inland revenue officer, Mosley Street
Shreeve William Henry, inland revenue officer, Lichfield Street
Simnet John, temperance hotel, Union Street
Small William, solicitor, Lichfield Road
Smith David, clerk, Horninglow Street
Smith Robert Thomas, accountant, Cross Street
Stanley Miss Mary, Horninglow Street
Stanley Mr. William Day, High Street
Stanley William, painter, Market Place

Staton John, plaster, cement, and gypsum manufacturer, Park Street
Stubbs Mr. Solomon, Guild Street

Taylor Miss Frances, Horninglow Street
Taylor James, woodman, Abbey Street
Telford Rev. Thomas, Catholic Priest, Cross Street
Thompson John, brewer, Horninglow Street
Thornewill Robert, ironfounder, & Co.,  The Abbey
Townsend Mrs. Susannah, Station Street
Townsend William, clerk, Lichfield Road
Tranmer Rev. Francis T., (Wesleyan), Horninglow Street
Treace John, commercial traveller, Station Street
Trease Mr. John, Horninglow Street
Turton Henry, Engineer, Station Street

Wall Richard, highway overseer, Station Street
Warham John Robson, ironfounder, & Co., New Street
Whitehead Mrs. Cath., Lichfield Street
Williams Mr. David, Hawkins Lane
Whitehead Samuel, solicitor’s clerk, and stamp distributor, High Street
Wilson, Rev. John, (Wesleyan), Horninglow Street
Wilson Bateman, clerk, Horninglow Street
Wood Halder, managing brewer, Guild Street
Wright Joseph, ironfounder, and inventor of the patent reciprocating vertical fire bars, Horninglow Street
Wright Joseph George, librarian Young men’s Christian association; Guild Street
Wright Joseph, merchant’s clerk, High Street
Wyllie Stewart Eaton, brewer, Lichfield Street
Wyllie William, brewer; h. Lichfield road

Yates Mrs. Elizabeth, High Street


BURTON UPON TRENT BUSINESS DIRECTORY, 1857

ACADAMIES (Marked ** take Boarders).

British, Guild Street., Jas. Samble and Anne Standley
Cleaver Mary, Horninglow Street
Cooke Jane, Horninglow Street
Dunwell William, High Street **
Dyche Mary Ann, Bridge Street
Free Grammar, Friar’s walk, Rev. Henry Day, head master; and Henry Hodson, second master
Graggs Mary & Jane, Horninglow Street
King Matilda, Station Street
Leedham Mary Jane, Horninglow Street **
National, (Christ Church,) Church Street, John Chappell & Ann Ford; Harriet Cox, infant mistress
Trinity, Horninglow Street., Henry Taylor & Sarah Ann Gould.
Infant’s, Anderstaff Lane, Mary Hoose
Union, Horninglow Street., William Freeman & Emma Oakden
Wragg Jemima, Market Place

ATTORNIES

Bass Abraham, Bridge Street
Coxon William, (& clerk to the Union,) Horninglow Street
Drewry James, High Street
Goodyer Henry, Guild Street
Perks John, Lichfield Street
Richardson & Small, High Street
Thornewill John, (and clerk to County Court, and to Magistrates,) Station Street, Green street

AUCTIONEERS

Leedham Fras., Nelson terrace
Wilkins Stephen, High Street
Bakers & Flour Dealers.
Burton William, Park Street
Coates Samuel, High Street
Dales John, Guild Street
Duker John George. New Street
Evans Thomas, High Street
Hicklin John, Lichfield Street
Insley George, High Street
Lee Francis, High Street
Mason John, Horninglow Street
Mason Joseph, Mosley Street
Mason Joseph, Station Street
Merrey Jas., New Street
Oxford Jas., Station Street
Patrick John, Station Street
Rice Thomas, New Street
Scattergood William, Horninglow Street
Sheavyn Samuel, Bridge Street

BANKERS

Burton, Uttoxeter, & Ashbourn Banking Co., (draw on Roberts & Co.) High Street.; Edwin Brown, manager
Savings’ Bank, Town Hall, (open every Sat, from 2 to 3); William Coxon, sec.

BASKET MAKER

Parker Isaac, High Street

BLACKSMITHS

Bircher Joseph, Anderstaff Lane
Brandon John, Horninglow Street
Brandon Thomas, Guild Street
Hill John, New Street
Johnson Richard, Station Street
Robinson George, High Street
White Charles, New Street

BOOKMAKERS, PRINTERS & CO.

Bellamy Robt. Raynar, (and Registr. of mars.) Branch Post-Office, Bridge Street
Darley William Butterfield, (and bookbinder, patent medicine vendor, and licensed to sell stamps,) High Street
Goodman Caleb, High Street
Whitehurst Jno., High Street

BOOT AND SHOE MAKERS

Adams William, Station Street
Bagnall George, Horninglow Street
Bagnall Richard, Station Street
Bagnall Thomas, High Street
Cartmall Charles, Anderstaff Lane
Cooper John, High Street
Dean George Port, High Street
Dean Philip, High Street
Dyche John, Bridge Street
Eaton John, Station Street
Foster William, High Street
Gilbert William, Station Street
Goodhead Hugh, Moor Street
Jackson George, High Street
Langley Charles, Union Street
Langley Robert, Horninglow Street
Norton Thomas, High Street
Nutt Henry, New Street
Port George, Mosley Street
Redfern Thomas, High Street
Rose William, New Street
Siddals Edmond, Victoria Cresent
Simnett John, Union Street
Smith Elijah, Cross Street
Smith Joseph, Horninglow Street
Walker William, Horninglow Street
Ward Richard, Park Street
Wardle William, Horninglow Street
Whitehead Jas., Market Place

BOWLING GREENS

Atterbury Jas., Bank Square
Buxton Thomas, Derby Lane
Mc George Jas. H., High Street

BRAZIERS AND TINNERS

Ash Jas., High Street
Barratt William, sen., High Street
Rattcliff Edwin, High Street
Redfern Benj., New Street
Slater Henry, Station Street
Wilson Robert, High Street

BREWERS AND MALTSTERS (Marked ** are also Exporters).

Allsopp Samuel & Sons, High Street **
Bass, Ratcliff, and Gretton, High Street **
Bell John, Lichfield Street
Cooper Charles, High Street
Eadie James, Cross Street
Hill Charles & Son, Lichfield Road
Ind Coope,& Co. Paget Street
Meakin & Co., Abbey Street
Middleton William, High Street
Nunneley Joseph, Bridge Street
Perks & Co., Horninglow Street
Salt Thomas & Co., High Street **
Saunders William, Horninglow Street
Thompson Jno. & Sons, Horninglow Street
Tooth Bros., Victoria Cresent **
Wilders Burton Brewery Co., High Street **
Worthington & Robinson, High Street **
Wyllie Brothers, High Street
Yeomans John, High Street

BRICKLAYERS AND BUILDERS

Bowler Joseph, New Street
Clark William, Bridge Street
Keates John, Wellington Street
Keates John D., Lichfield Street
Lowe Thomas, New Street
Mason William, Guild Street
Sidley Robt., Station Street
Yeomans George, Moor Street

BRICKMAKERS

Bradley George, Moor Street
Lowe Thomas, Ashby Road
Simnett Samuel, Station Street

BUTCHERS

Atkin William, High Street
Bell William, Lichfield Street
Hanson Samuel Wilson, Horninglow Street
Heath Thomas, High Street
Lea Jno, Horninglow Street
Moorcroft William, Station Street
Port Francis, High Street
Robinson Joseph, Station Street
Shutes William, Bridge Street
Smith John, New Street
Simnett Ed., Horninglow Street
Stanley William, High Street
Tivey William, High Street
Whitehead David, High Street
Wilson Charles, Guild Street
Woodward Thomas, Guild Street

CABINET MAKERS AND UPHOLSTERERS

Chambers Thomas, Lichfield Street
Hunt William High Street
Rowland Charles, Station Street
Wilkins Stephen, High Street
Woolley George, High Street

CHEESE FACTORS

Daniels and Goer, High Street
Etches Bros., Railway station
Kettle George M., Horninglow Street. Thomas Earp, agent

CHEMISTS AND DRUGGISTS

Brookes Hugh, High Street
Hallam Charles M., High Street
Lomas John W., High Street
Pountney William, High Street
Ratcliff Jas. & Samuel, High Street
Taylor Thomas, High Street
Townsend William, High Street

CHIMNEY SWEEPERS

Dolman Edward, Duke Street
Peach Jno., Station Street
Saltinstall Jno., New Street

COAL AND COKE MERCHANTS

Anglesy Coal Co., Winshill; Bond, Brailsford, Hunt & Wigfall, proprietors.
Appleby John, Station Street
Heath Joseph, Railway Station, Station Street
Jenkins Lambert, Railway Station, High Street
Walker William, Railway Station, Station Street

CONFECTIONERS

Bickley John, High Street
Coates Samuel, High Street
Lee Francis, High Street
Oxford James, Station Street
Scattergood William, Horninglow Street
Whittingham John, High Street
Wright William, High Street

COOPERS

Dearle Edward, Union Street
Ewers John, High Street
Jelly William, Cross Street
Johnson Chpr., Horninglow Street
Morris John, (and vat maker), Horninglow Street
Southerns Thomas, High Street

CORK CUTTERS

Cashman Michael, (and sock manufacturer) wholesale and retail, Horninglow Street
Wilders Henry, Market Place, Victoria crescent

CORN MERCHANTS

Bailey William, High Street
Douglas James, (and flour) Station Street

CORN MILLERS

Buxton John, Derby Lane
Wilson Joseph & Co., Burton Mill

CURRIERS AND LEATHER CUTTERS

Elliott Robert Spencer, (and Tanner), High Street
Marshall William, High Street
Pountney Thomas, Bridge Street

ENGINEERS AND MILLWRIGHTS

Capes & Burton, (and portable and steam engine manufacturers, Britannia Foundry, Horninglow Street

FARMERS

Greaves Elizabeth, Horninglow Road
Lathbury John, Whetmore House
Ordish James, Park Street
Parker Rd., (cowkeeper) George Street
Port John, Lichfield Road
Shutes William, Bridge Street
Wood William, Lichfield Road

FIRE AND LIFE OFFICES

Birmingham District, (Fire) William Nichols, Guild Street
County, (Fire) William Coxon, Horninglow Street
European, (Life) John W. Lomas, High Street
Industral & General, (Life) William Pountney, High Street
Mutual, (Life) C. Goodman, High Street
National Economic Hail Storm, John Riley, High Street
Norwich Union, William Scott Goodger, Bridge Street
People’s Provident, John Riley, High Street
Provident (Life) William Coxon, Horninglow Street
Royal Exchange, Henry W. Hodson, High Street
Scottish Amicable (Life) W. Dunwell, High Street
Star, Thomas Lowe, New Street
Traveller & Marines, John Riley, High Street
Times, Robert Thomas Smith, Cross Street
Unity, (Fire) John Riley, High Street
Yorkshire, John Whitehurst, High Street

FISHMONGERS

Appleby William, High Street
Wilson John, High Street

GARDENERS AND SEEDSMEN

Appleby William, Station Street
Heath Richard, High Street
Staley Thomas, New Street
Wardle William, Station Street

GLASS AND CHINA DEALERS

Abbott Richard, Bridge Street
Wildman Sarah, High Street

GREENGROCERS

Appleby Henry, Lichfield Street
Bagnall Richard, Guild Street
Bladon Mary, High Street
Brown Oliver, Park Street
Redfern Thomas, High Street
Young Robert, High Street

GROCERS AND TEA DEALERS

Adams John & Son, High Street
Bickley John, High Street
Birch Henry High Street
Brookes James, (wholesale & retail), New Street
Burton John, Guild Street
Buxton Joseph, Moor Street and Station Street
Buxton William, Park Street
Dales John, Guild Street
Dams Allen, Horninglow Street
Dickinson John, High Street
Dukes John George, New Street
Evans Thomas, High Street
Gane Elizabeth, New Street
Goodhead Samuel, Horninglow Street
Goodger William & Son, Bridge Street
Haddon Martha & Son, (John), Moor st and Horninglow Street
Hickling John, Lichfield Street
Hudson William, Horninglow Street
Killeen Charles, New Street
Lathbury Richard, High Street
Leedam William Whittingham, High Street
Mason John, Horninglow Street
Mason Joseph, Moseley Street
Mason Joseph, Station Street
Ratcliff Jas. & Samuel, High Street
Sanders Charles, New Street
Scattergood William, Horninglow Street
Streeter Harriet, Lichfield Street
Wayte Ann M., High Street and Lichfield Street
Whittingham John, High Street
Worsey Thomas, High Street
Wright William, High Street

HAIR DRESSERS

Bradley William, New Street
Foster Henry, Horninglow Street
Goodwin John, High Street
Hanson Thomas, High Street
Lakin Charles, Horninglow Street
Martin John, Station Street
Port Horatio, Lichfield Street

HATTERS

Hawkins John, Bridge Street
Kelsey John, High Street

HOOP (Wood) MAKERS

Riley Charles, Victoria Crescent
Riley William, Moor Street
Tunnadine Henry, Horninglow Street

HORSE AND GIG AND CAB PROPRIETORS

Eardley Ellen, Bridge Street
Teat Samuel, Horninglow Street

HOSIERS

Cooper John, High Street
Fitchett Benjamin, Horninglow Street
Herratt Samuel, (and toy dealer) High Street
Jackson George, High Street
Mansfield Ann, Horninglow Street
Roe Thomas, High Street

INNS AND TAVERNS

Anchor, Joseph Bowler, New Street
Angel Commercial Inn, Jas.
Atterbury, Bank square
Barley Mow, William Wood, Park Street
Bear Inn, Thomas Frederick Dugmore, Horninglow Street
Bell, Joseph Phillips, Horninglow Street
Black Horse, John Oakden, Moor Street
Blue Posts, Mary Yeomans, High Street
Boot, Fras. Whitby, High Street
Bowling Green Inn, Thomas Buxton, Derby Lane
Carpenters’ Arms, William Gretton, New Street
Coach & Horses, John Redfern, High Street
Devonshire Arms, William Appleby, Station Street
Dog, Jno. Carder, Lichfield Street
Dingo, Joseph Bircher, Victoria Crescent
Fox & Goose, Ellen Eardley, Bridge Street
George Inn, Henry Townsend, High Street
Guild Tavern, Ann Greves, Guild Street
King of Prussia, William Gibson, New Street
Lamb, William Milward, High Street
Leopard, William Swindale, Abbey Street
Midland Coml. Hotel, Michael Atkins, Station Street
Nag’s Head, John Ducker Keats, Lichfield Street
Old White Lion, Frederick Dickinson, Lichfield Street
Plough, Thomas Soar, Horninglow Street
Queen’s Commercial & Posting Hotel, John Witton Lees, Bridge Street
Rising Sun, Robert Smith, Horninglow Street
Royal Oak. John Hooper, Market Place
Sarcen’s Head, William Hoult, Bridge Street
Spirit Vaults, William Chambers, Bridge Street
Spread Eagle, Joseph Baker, New Street
Spread Eagle, Joseph Hill, Lichfield Street
Star, Sarah Meason, High Street
Swan, Thomas Johnson, Anderstaff Lane
Talbot, Martha Blood, Horninglow Street
Union Inn, James Gaunt, Horninglow Street
Wheat Sheaf, Edward Morrall. High Street
White Hart, commercial and posting Hotel, James Henderson Mc George, High Street
White Horse, Frances Woolley, High Street
White Lion, John Downing, High Street

BEERHOUSES

Annable Benj., Horninglow Street
Allard Samuel, Green Street
Appleby John, Station Street
Atkin Edward, New Street
Atkin Abraham, Victoria Cresent
Barnes Abraham, Cross Street
Beddows Thomas, New Street
Bircher William, Anderstaff Lane
Bond William, Station Street
Blant Joseph, New Street
Brailsford John, Guild Street
Cookes William, Union Street
Cooper Charles, High Street
Cross Thomas, Lichfield Street
Dyche Samuel, Horninglow Street
Elson George, Anderstaff Lane
Fern John, Lichfield Road
Finch George, Victoria Cresent
Fisher Peter, Duke Street
Goodhead James, Station Street
Harrison Joseph, High Street
Jeffcoat Enoch, Cross Street
Johnson Richard, Station Street
Johnson William, New Street
Marlow William, Guild Street
Orme Thomas, New Street
Orton Richard, Park Street
Robinson Fras., Lichfield Road
Sandars Samuel, Anderstaff Lane
Smith Henry, Moor Street
Southern William, Lichfield Street
Strettan Thomas, Anderstaff Lane
Stringer Elizabeth, Horninglow Street
Thacker John, Horninglow Street
Turner David, Victoria Cresent
Turner Edwin, Anderstaff Lane
Ward John, Abbey Street
Watson George, Mosley Street
Winfield Williams, High Street
Yeomans Thomas, Lichfield Street

IRONFOUNDERS AND ENGINEERS

Halbard Philip, (and stove grate manufacturer), Horninglow Street
Thornewill & Warham, New Street
Wright, Salisbury & Co., (and stove grate manufacturers) ,Anderstaff Lane

IRONMONGERS

Ash James, High Street
Barratt William, senior, (and letter cutter, stove grate, kitchen range, and cooking apparatus manufacturer), High Street
Bindley Thomas, High Street
Ratcliff Edward, High Street
Smith George, High Street
Wilson Robert, High Street

JOINERS AND BUILDERS

Bagnall Thomas, Mosley Street
Corder John, Lichfield Street
Deville Samuel, George Street
Dickinson Daniel, (and boatbuilder), Lichfield Street
Heath Richard, High Street
Hunter & Bennett, Duke Street
Mason Henry, Station Street
Sherwin Joseph, Union Street
Stratton John, Lichfield Street

LIBRARIES

Darley William B., (circulating), High Street
Permanent Library, Bridge Street, Robert Bellamy, librarian
Young Men’s Christian Association, Guild Street.; Joseph G. Wright, librarian

LINEN AND WOOLEN DRAPERS

Douglas George, High Street
Hawkins, Son, and Nephew, Horninglow Street
Jones William. High Street
Kelsey John, High Street
Ordish Walter Daniel, High Street
Robinson John, High Street
Sowter Thomas, Station Street
Styan John Chpr., High Street
Walker William, High Street

MILLINERS

Bladon Mary, High Street
Bryan Mary, High Street
Carter Elizabeth, Station Street
Evans & Ordish, High Street
Ewers Eliza, New Street
Fitzsimons John, High Street
Gaunt Diana, Horninglow Street
Glover Elizabeth, Market Place
Heginbotham Elizabeth, Lichfield Street
Jefford Ann, Horninglow Street
Jones Rebecca, High Street
Milner Lucy & Elizabeth, High Street
Morris Amelia, Station Street
Redfern Jane, High Street
Robinson Mary, (and silk mercer), High Street
Rose, High Street
Southerns Ann and Sarah, Horninglow Street
Wheatcroft Ann, High Street
Willsher Sarah Ann, Orchard Street

NAIL AND RIVET MAKERS

Jackson George Frederick, New Street
Renwick Thomas, New Street
Stringer Elizabeth, Horninglow Street
Whiteman, Brett, and Bartle, Horninglow Street

NEWSPAPERS

Burton Times, published every Saturday, by John Whitehurst, High Street
Burton Weekly News, published by Robt. R. Bellamy, every Friday, High Street

PAINTERS & CO.

Green John, High Street
Harrard Math., Anderstaff Lane
Newbold George, Lichfield Street
Rastall Joseph, Horninglow Street
Stanley William, High Street

PLASTERERS

Simpson John, New Street
Simpson, John, jun., Moor Street

PLUMBERS AND GLAZIERS

Fitchett William, High Street
Fletcher Samuel, Lichfield Street
Knight Frederick, New Street
Nichols William, (& gas fitter & coppersmith) Guild Street
Sandars Samuel, Station Street
Turner James, Guild Street

PROFESSORS OF MUSIC

Barratt George Paul, (and organist and teacher of the
pianoforte, thorough bass, harmony, and composition), Station Street

Day Lewis, Lichfield Road
Orme George, High Street

REFRESHMENT ROOMS

Doherty Laura, Maria, (and dealer in British wines), Station Street
Whittingham John, High Street

REGISTER OFFICES FOR SERVANTS

Doherty L. M., Station Street
Jackson George, High Street
Simnett William Henry, Guild Street

ROPE AND TWINE MAKERS

Elson James, High Street
Lowe John, Fleet Street

SADDLERS AND HARNESS MAKERS

Brooke William, High Street
Gibson Thomas, High Street
Newbold Thomas, High Street
Orme Thornas, New Street
Ward William, High Street

SHOPKEEPERS

Bannister S., Horninglow Street
Collier William, Cross Street
Cox Thomas, Moor Street
Dales Robert, Station Street
Dickinson Daniel, Lichfield Street
Elson George, Anderstaff Lane
Elson Thomas, Anderstaff Lane
Harris Jas. Kellem, Station Street
Heath William, High Street
Hurst George, New Street
Patrick John, Station Street
Merry James, New Street
Newell Henry Thomas, New Street
Renwick Thomas, New Street
Slater William, Moor Street
Talbot Jane, Park Street
Underwood Thomas, High Street
Walker William, Horninglow Street
Waterson Thomas, Anderstaff Lane
Woolley Wm, Horninglow Street
Yeomans Handel, Victoria Crescent

STONE MASONS (Marked * are Merchants).

Bassett David, Station Street
* Clark Thomas & Son, Green Street
* Clark William, Bridge Street
Harrison Joseph, High Street
Parker James, Horninglow Street

STRAW HAT MAKERS

Egginton Mary, Bridge Street
Gaunt Diana, Horninglow Street
Jones Rebecca, High Street
Jefford Ann, Horninglow Street

SURGEONS

Belcher Robert Shirley, Lichfield Street
Hawkeswotth Charles A., High Street
Leedam William A., High Street
Lowe George, Horninglow Street
Mason William, Horninglow Street

SURVEYORS AND LAND AGENTS

Grace Robert, Station Street
Spooner Thomas, Union Street
Whitehead Henry Egginton, Lichfield Street

TAILORS AND DRAPERS

Brunt and Ward, High Street
Dakin John, Horninglow Street
Dakin Joseph, Guild Street
Denston Moses, jun., Cross Street
Feakes William, Horninglow Street
Goodhead William, Union Street
Gothard William James, High Street
Jackson George, High Street
Leedam Charles, High Street
Mousley William, Lichfield Street
Marklew Edward & Son, High Street
Orgill Matthew, High Street
Orgill Thomas, High Street
Parry Richard, Victoria Crescent
Smith Thomas, Bridge Street
Webb John, High Street
Weston Charles, High Street

TIMBER AND SLATE MERCHANTS

Clark Thomas & Son, Green Street
Perks Charles & Sons, Lichfield Road
Riley William, Moor Street

TOBACCONISTS

Doherty Laura Maria, (and dealer in foreign & British
cigars, Meerschaum and other pipes), Station Street

Moger Joseph, Market Place

TURNERS AND CHAIR MAKERS

Gilbert William, Guild Street
Moore Charles, Guild Street
Noon William, Anderstaff Lane
Simpson Thomas, Guild Street
Simpson William, High Street
Summers Charles, New Street
West Thomas, Bridge Street

UMBRELLA MAKERS

Martin John, Station Street
Tong John, High Street

VETERINARY SURGEONS

Taylor Thomas, High Street
Wildsmith George, Market Place

WATCH AND CLOCK MAKERS

Sherwin Joseph, High Street
Steer John, High Street
Sutton John, Lichfield Street
Wilson Thomas, High Street
Worthington Thomas, High Street

WHEELWRIGHTS

Bailey Edward, Horninglow Street, Duke Street
Port Philip, Hawkins Lane
Sandars Samuel, Anderstaff Lane

WHITESMITHS AND BELLHANGERS

Barratt William, sen., (and locksmith), High Street
Mansfield Samuel, (and machinist) Horninglow Street
Webster George, High Street

WINE AND SPIRIT MERCHANTS (Marked * are also retaillers)

Lyon, Joule, and Parsons, Bridge Street
* Mc George, Jas. H., High Street
Morrall Edward, (ale and porter merchant), High Street
* Smith Edmund., Market Place
* Smith William, Horninglow Street
Worthington William & Son, (importers) High Street Railway Conveyance.


BURTON UPON TRENT TRANSPORT

Midland Railway Co.’s Station, Foot of Station Street.
Trains several times a day, to all parts; Rd. Dilworth, station master

Omnibus from the Queen’s Hotel meets every train

Carriers by Railway.

Midland Railway Co., (to all parts); Pickford and Co., agents

Water Conveyance.

Grand Junction Canal Co., (carriers by fly boats to all parts), Bond End; William Shardlow, agent

Carriers from the Inns.

Those marked 1 go from the Angel; 2, Bear; 3, Blue Posts; 3½, Coach & Horses;
4, Star; 5, White Horse; and 6, White Lion.
3 Alrewas, Harrison, Thurs.
4 Appleby, J. Fish, Thurs.
1 Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Thomas Broadhurst, Thurs.
6 Austery, Orton, Thurs.
2 Barton – under – Needwood, Geary, Tu., Thur. & Sat.
3½ Barton-under-Needwood, Bakewell, Thur. & Sat.
2 Birmingham, Boswell, Tues.
1 Church Broughton, Joseph Jackson, Thurs.
3 Church Broughton, William Cooke, Thurs.
1 Coton, Whetton, Thurs.
3 Coton, William Lester; Thurs.
Derby, James Salt, from New Street, Mon., Wed. & Fri.
5 Egginton, Baldwin, Thurs.
4 Gresley, Gilbert, Thurs.
1 Hanbury, Jas. Burnan, Thurs.
5 Hartshorn, Glover, Thurs.
6 Hartshorn, Cooke, Thurs.
1 Hatton, George, Locker, Thurs.
5 Hilton, Yeomans, Thurs.
1 Marchington, Parker, Thurs.
3 Newall, Thomas Taylor, Thurs.
1 Netherseal, John Mear, Thurs.
3½ Newborough, Easom, Thurs.
1 Overseal, Redfern, Thurs.
4 Overseal, Stewardson, Thurs.
1 Repton, Marshall, Thurs.
4 Repton, Maddocks, Mon. and Thurs.
3 Ticknall, Jas. Peace, Thurs.
2 Tutbury, Mayer, Mon. and Thurs.
1 Walton, Redfern, Thurs.
3 Yoxall William Mosedale, Thurs.
3½ Yoxall, John Upton, Thurs.


WINSHILL TOWNSHIP

Anglesey Coal Company, Ashby Road, Bond, Brailsford, Hunt., and Wigfall, proprietors.
Bailey Misses, boarding school, Bladen hill
Cooper Thomas, brickmaker
Croxall Ann, schoolmistress
Douglas James, flour factor, Alma House
Emery Henry, vict., Royal Oak
Finlay John, Esq., Trent Cottage
Fletcher David, shoemaker
Forman Robert, coal master, Bridge end
Hunt Sarah, shopkeeper
Lowe Thomas, brickmaker
Measham George, beerhouse
Morris Samuel, pipe maker, Bridge end
Plummer John, vict., Jolly Farmer
Sharratt Thomas, beerhouse
Shephard Joseph, brick maker
Siddalls John, brick maker
Taverner John, tape manfactr., Forge mills
Tomlinson Robert S., surgeon, Wood field
Toone Thomas, pipe maker
Wardle Frank, Esq., High Field
Wilson Joseph and Co., corn millers, Burton mill
Woodhead Mr. George, Bridge end

WINSHILL FARMERS

Fitchett Joseph & Richard
Hallam Charles
Hallam Francis
Henson Thomas
Hardy Richard
Newton William
Sale William
Taylor Thomas


 

 

Thornewill Family

Thomas Thornewill (senior) was baptised in Burton Parish Church on 4th October 1719, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Thornewill.

The Thornewill firm dates back to at least 1732 making iron goods. Thomas Thornewill (junior) was apprenticed in that year, at the age of thirteen.

Thomas Thornewill (senior) married Elizabeth Astle on 20th October 1746. She was the widow of Francis Astle, a noted local feltmaker and hatter who had died in 1735. He had left most of his properties to his wife Elizabeth (by a will of 20th May 1735), including a freehold house, on the south side of New Street. She was to have the use of this house for the remainder of her life, and it was then to be sold by Astle’s executors, Thomas Towndrow (gentleman) and John Downes (feltmaker), and the proceeds invested in land worth £5 a year to provide clothing for four poor boys of Richard Allsop’s Charity School in Burton.

Thomas Thornewill of Burton, now listed as ‘Edge Tool maker’ settled the property and its contents to Elizabeth, so that if he died they would pass to her. In 1751, Thomas leased a garden adjoining his freehold property on its eastern side, from William Jordon (cooper) for an annual rent of six shillings. This is significant in that it was the first move towards an expansion of the Thornewill property between New Street and Park Street (which was then known as Pinfold Lane).

Elizabeth, Thomas Thornewill’s wife, died in 1755 and it became the duty of Francis Astle’s executors to dispose of the freehold property in accordance with his will. The freehold property was advertised for sale in the “Derby Mercury”. Thomas Thornewill of Burton and his brother Francis of Clay Mills, both now listed as ‘Edge Tool Makers’ purchased the freehold property in New Street from Thomas Towndrow, the surviving executor or trustee of Francis Astle, for the sum of £140.

By 1760 the Thornewill brothers had established a small business there still making edge tools such as axes, knives and spades. From this time on they began to systematically expand their property in New Street whenever the chance arose. It was not however, their only business interest. A reference to Clay Mills in a 1760 indenture shows that the Thornewills were already in possession of the Forge Mill there. This was sited on the Mill Fleam, a watercourse branching from the River Dove, on or near the site of an old water corn mill. The exact dates when the Thornewills leased the mill and opened the forge are not known, but were probably around the year 1740.

Water power was needed for working the bellows and hammers in the forge and also to operate rolling and slitting mill. The forge usually consisted of a “finery” in which the iron was hammered into blooms and a “chafery” in which the blooms were reheated and beaten into bars. In the rolling and slitting mills the iron was rolled into sheets and then cut into rods ready for the nailers. The Thornewill’s forge may not have had rolling and slitting mills attached in 1760, but it certainly had in 1807 when they purchased the premises outright.

In 1760 about 25,000 tons of iron were imported annually into England (approximately 50% of the requirements) mainly from Russia and Sweden. The Thornewills used this imported iron, which they purchased from the Burton brewers of the time, such as Benjamin Wilson, John Walker Wilson and Samuel Sketchley. The brewers normally accepted some iron, flan or timber as part payment for the beer that they exported along the Trent to the Baltic countries.

Thomas Thornewill (ironmonger and spademaker) leased the White Hart Inn in High Street from the Earl of Uxbridge on 23rd September 1769. Later in the year, he sub-let a house and garden on the north side of New Street (which he previously leased from the Earl of Uxbridge) to John Shorthose (turner). In a property lease of 1770 John Shorthose is described as a spademaker and was an employee at the Thornewill works in New Street.

In March 1772, Thomas and Francis Thornewill leased from the Earl of Uxbridge, two further tenements and a garden to the east of their freehold property, and also a property to the west. Ever expanding, Thomas also leased land at Stretton, including some waste land near the forge.

By 1778 the Thornewill’s business had grown considerably. They were in possession of extensive properties in Burton, particularly in New Street, and at Clay Mills, Stretton. They were purchasing large quantities of imported iron, (for example, in August, 1778 Thomas Thornewill bought 658 iron bars imported by John Walker Wilson from St. Petersburg, Russia, for £273 7 6) and were manufacturing considerable quantities of spades, iron hoops, iron plate and other forms of hardware. They were probably the main suppliers of iron hoops to the Burton brewers of the time, and this was no doubt the way in which the firm developed as brewery engineers.

At the beginning of 1784, Thomas Thornewill made his will, and in this he left his leasehold properties to his daughter Sarah Spiers. After Thomas’s death Sarah sold the property lying to the east of the freehold property, to George Wood for £125, and it was not until 1834 that the Thornewills were able to buy it back from George’s son William. The Wood family, together with William Shorthose, Philip Port and William Smith were also, at this time, eager to acquire land on the south side of New Street, where they operated (approximately 1775 1835) a large screw making works. No doubt the Thornewills supplied this firm with iron.

Thomas Thornewill (senior) died in 1786 and the firm came under the management of Thomas, his son, and Francis, his brother.

In the same vein as his father, in 1801, Thomas Thornewill leased two more properties on the South side of New Street.

Francis Thornewill made his will in 1805 which showed that he was a man of considerable wealth. He left the bulk of his estate to his sons, John and Francis, but he was still able to leave £500 to his daughter Anne; and £200 to his grand daughter Anne Neal. He died just 2 years later in 1807 having done much to build up the business. He had also been one of the Townmasters in 1792 and was a Feoffee in 1794.

In March 1807, Thomas Thornewill (junior) purchased outright for £3,220, extensive properties and rights at Clay Mills from the Earl of Uxbridge. These included:
(a) “Cliffcroft” 7 acres of land containing Dove Cliff House, that was built for him about 1700, gardens, plantations, pleasure grounds, etc.
(b) Clay Mill forge with “all those iron works and all the slitting mills, forges, warehouses, buildings and works belonging thereto”.
(c) A warehouse and tenement near the Grand Trunk Canal in Stretton.

The Grand Trunk Canal had been opened in 1770 and was a considerable improvement on the Trent navigation.

By 1811, Thornewill’s were operating a forge at Wichnor as well as at Clay Mills. At the latter there was also a foundry and an iron casting house.

In the 1818 edition of the Bradshaw & Parsons Directory of Staffordshire, there are two Thornewill listings, the new one being in New Street. These appeared as:

  • J. & F. Thornewill spade manufactures.
  • John Thornewill & Co. merchants.

Although not listed in the Directory, Thornewill & Co. also held the forge at Stretton (Clay Mills) and William Gretton was the iron master there. At the time, there were also recorded living in the area around the works an iron founder, a foundry man, three spade makers, end three nailers, in addition to six patten ring makers and fourteen screw forgers who worked at the nearby screw mill.

By 1834, the Bradshaw & Parsons Directory had pretty much been replaced by The White’s Directory of Staffordshire. The listed had changed slightly to:

  • John & Francis Thornewill Iron and brass founders and spade manufacturers.
  • John Thornewill & Son Iron Merchants.

In 1835/36 the leases for the New Street properties were successfully renewed. By 1837, most of these premises together with the freehold property were in the possession of Robert, John and Francis who were now running the business.

By 1837, Thomas Thornewill made his will. By this time, he was 77 years of age and had taken little part in the running of the business for some time. A few of the main clauses of his will illustrate the considerable wealth that the Thornewill family had acquired since 1760 when Thomas (senior) and Francis (senior) had raised the £140 to buy the freehold premises in New Street. It listed:

  • To Mary, his daughter £3,600.
  • To Ann Fenwick (daughter) £3,700.
  • To Jane (daughter) £3,100.
  •  To Frances Hewitt (daughter) £1,000 q + £2,700 in trust.
  • Residue from the sale of two farms at Yoxall and Hadley End, and other estates; personal effects; and Dove Cliff House, together with the nearby forges, workmen’s houses furnaces rolling and slitting mills, watercourses, weirs, fisheries, and adjoining lands, all to pass to Edward, his son.

During 1839, the New Street premises were further extended and the firm constructed a number of new buildings on its existing land. A large area of land extending to Pinfold Lane was also purchased by Robert Thornewill from Thomas Lambert and in 1840, the date above a new archway marked the alterations.

A large two storied building was built in 1845. Mr. William Jones, the tenant of the neighbouring property, wrote a letter to Robert Thornewill complaining about the number of windows in the upper storey of the new building.

On 1st Feb 1847, Robert Thornewill purchased the leasehold premises, to the west of the freehold property, from Thomas Cooper. These very old premises had, for the previous one hundred and fifty years been used by Francis Astle, Thomas Cooper and others, as a hat factory. At a later date the houses were demolished or extensively modified to form the present offices.

An Indenture of partnership between Robert Thornewill and J.R. Warham (engineer), now described as engineers, ironfounders and iron merchants was signed on 2nd July 1849

Robert Thornewill purchased a piece of land adjoining the west side of the works in Park Street from William Wood in 1852. This meant that the site now occupied a complete 2 acre plot of land between New Street and Park Street.

It was probably about this time also that the business changed considerably in the types of goods that it produced. From its beginning to about 1845 it was little more than a hardware firm making iron, copper, and brass goods for use locally, particularly in the Burton breweries. From 1845 onwards it became an engineering firm in the true sense, and it is significant that Bagshaw, in his Directory of Derbyshire of 1846, lists the firm of Robert Thornewill of New Street iron and brass founders and steam engine makers. These early engines were probably sold mainly to local collieries and breweries.

The 1851 White Directory of Staffordshire, stated that Thornewill and Warham Iron foundry and Engine and Machine Works in New street “employs 75 men and 25 boys”. He also mentioned that Thornewill & Co. had an ironworks at Clay Mills, and that Edward Thornewill lived at Dovecliff House, Rolleston.

Dovecliff House, Rolleston

Robert Thornewill (senior) died in 1858 and his share of the business passed to his wife Martha Hammond Thornewill (neé Wright), in accordance with his Will of 20th Feb 1856.

An article in The Burton Weekly News of 30th March 1860 stated “apart from brewing, the only considerable manufactory now is Messrs Thornewill and Warham’s iron foundry and Engine and Machine Works.”

By this time the firm was producing approximately fifteen to twenty steam engines annually. These consisted of pumping, haulage and winding engines and tank locomotives which were sold mainly to collieries in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire. A few were sold to Burton breweries and to ironworks and lead mining companies in the Midlands.

On 25th November 1868, the partnership of M. H. Thornewill and J. R. Warham was dissolved to allow Robert Thornewill pictured above (son of Robert Thornewill (senior) who had died in 1858) to enter. At this time the property, stock and other assets of the firm were valued at £43,048 1 6 of which M. H. Thornewill held £27,720 15 7 and John Robson Warham £15,327 5 11.

Under the new partnership agreement J. R. Warham was to control 6/12ths, M. H. Thornewill 5/12ths, and R. Thornewill 1/12th of a total capital of £44,000.

At the end of 1878, Thornewill and Warham purchased a piece of land with a number of properties, on the corner of Lichfield Street and Park Street, from Frederick Gretton, a brewer of Burton, for £2,500. It adjoined John Bell’s brewery on its north east side. In 1879 some of this land was sold to the Midland Railway Co., who built a line through Thornewill and Warham’s premises from the south side of Station Street to the Bond End Railway.

Two years later, in 1880, Thornewill and Warham purchased property on the south side of New Street, to the west of their own premises, from the Trustees of G. R. Bircher. This consisted of premises fronting New Street, originally an inn known as the Old Queen’s Head, and 423 sq. yds. of ground to the rear.

In approximately 1885 Thornewill and Warham exported three engines to Japan to be used for winding and hauling at Taskanna Colliery. After 1885 the number of engines made for export increased considerably the following extracts from the firm’s order book illustrates this:

  • 1886 Two pumping engine for a sewage works at Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • 1889 Two engines for pumping and winding to the Taeping Colliery Co. in China.
  • 1892 Winding engine for the Dundee Coal Co. in Natal, South Africa
  • 1897 Pumping engine for a Gold Mining Syndicate in British Guiana.
  • 1902 Winding engine sent to the Rajah of Sarawak in Borneo.

Not only did Thornewill and Warham considerably expand the extent of their market, they also greatly extended the range of their manufactures. By 1880 they were producing a full range of brewery equipment, including various types of refrigerators, and indeed were capable of producing all types of machinery and metal goods.

On 26th March 1886, J.R. Warham died, leaving his share of the business to his wife, Anne Jane Warham of Birmingham, and to his son, William Warham (gentleman) of Seaham Harbour, Co. Durham. M.H. and Robert Thornewill purchased these shares and thus the business became an entirely family concern again after a break of 37 years.

In 1889, Thornewill and Warham made the contribution to Burton for which they are best known… having built the Andresey Bridge by special commission, they were commissioned by Michael Arthur Bass (later to become Lord Burton) to build the Ferry Bridge. The Ferry Bridge was opened on 3rd April 1889, and the viaduct linking it to Bond End added a little later at the total cost of just over £10,000. A few weeks later on 24th April 1889 Martha Hammond Thornewill died, and her share of the business passed equally to her three sons, Rev. Charles Francis, Robert and Arthur, in accordance with her will of 1st Feb 1889. Charles Francis sold his share in 1890 and Arthur his in 1893, leaving Robert in control of the business.

Andresey Bridge

Ferry Bridge

By 1895 Thornewill and Warham were manufacturing approximately twenty steam engines a year. Between 1870 and 1895 they made 500 (including locomotives). Of the 329 that can be traced in the engine order book they were installed in the following types of works:

  • Collieries 202
  • Breweries 50 + 16 locomotives in Burton breweries
  • Waterworks 12
  • Ironworks 10
  • Potteries 10
  • Engineering 6
  • Sewage Works 5
  • Railways 4
  • Gasworks 3
  • Quarries 3
  • Lead mines 2
  • Building works, brickworks, canal company, flour mill. dock company and woodworks 1 each.

In 1907, assignment of the business changed from Robert Thornewill Esq. to Thornewill and Warham Ltd. Robert Thornewill died in 1914, leaving two daughters, Ella Violet and Kathleen Hamilton

1919 marked the end of an era when Thornewill and Warham Ltd. went into liquidation and a new company of the same name was formed. This was purchased by S. Briggs & Co. Limited which remains successful today but was moved from the New Street premises to new premises in Derby Street to make way for the Octagon Shopping Centre.


 

 

Hoar Cross Hall – General History

Hoar Cross Hall was, from the early 17th century, the second seat of the Ingram family whose principal residence was Temple Newsam in Yorkshire. In 1661 Henry Ingram was raised as Baron Ingram and Viscount of Irvine. On the death of the 9th Viscount in 1778 the Viscountcy became extinct. The estates descended to his daughters and in 1841 to Hugo Charles Meynell (grandson of Hugo Meynell and son of Sir Hugo Meynell who had married Elizabeth Ingram in 1782). Upon inheritance Meynell incorporated Ingram into his surname to become Meynell Ingram.

The old house was rebuilt in the 1860s in much grander style, most of which comprises the existing Hoar Cross Hall.

His son Hugo Francis Meynell Ingram married Emily Charlotte Wood, daughter of Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax. Meynell Ingram died in 1871 and Emily Charlotte built the church in his memory. She remained in occupation of the Hall until her death in 1904 when her nephew Fredreick George Lindley Wood (later Meynell) inherited the estate.

Hoar Cross Hall has thankfully managed to survive as an hotel and health spa and is a Grade II listed building.


 

 

Railway

Though many will be able to remember the old railway station on the site of the current one, this was not the original Burton station. It was in fact opened in 1883 to replace the first station opened in 1839, further up the line at the very end of Station Street (then Cat Street).

At the same time, the new Station Bridge was built prior to which, there was only a foot crossing between Station Street (Cat Street) and Borough Road where the new Saint Paul’s Institute and Liberal Club had recently been opened (later to become the Town Hall). The number of lines was also quadrupled to cater for much greater needs.

Select page to view:


 

 

Fire Brigade – Burton Steamer

SHAND MASON – MERRYWEATHER STEAM FIRE ENGINE

Whilst the steam Fire Engine had made its appearance in the early nineteenth century it was not until the latter half of the eighteen hundreds that it had developed into an efficient Firefighting machine.

There were two major makers in Britain. Mem weathers, and Shand Mason and Co. Research into Newspaper archives and local History sections at Burton Upon Trent Library uncovered a delivery of a steam Fire Appliance to Burton Corporation in 1876.

When Burton’s steamer reached the end of its days with the Brigade it was sold off, and acquired by a Sir Thomas Stafford Bazley, Bart. This change of homes probably occurred during the late twenties or early thirties.

In 1963 a Mr Bob Bonner founded the Fire Brigade society, and one of the earliest members, a Mr Geoff Bottomly was appointed as Museum Secretary, and started a two year project to acquire items of interest.

Early in 1966 Geoff discovered that an old steam Fire Engine was situated at Hatherop and negotiations with its owner, Sir Thomas Bazley resulted in the Engine being loaned to the Fire Brigade Society.

In November 1967 custody of the steamer was passed to Geoff and the Engine joined the now growing fleet of Appliances known as The Transville Fire Collection. The steamer was to remain in the fleet for twenty five years until its return to its home town of Burton upon Trent in 1992.

In the Summer of 1972 the steamer along with other Fire Appliances was featured in a Granada Television Film about the Fire Brigade Society.

On January the 29th 1992, Geoff was informed that the Engine was to be sold in a Sotheby’s auction at Hendon on 30th March. Concerned about its fate if it went to auction, Geoff thought that it should end its days in some appropriate locality. So at the beginning of March he wrote to Gloucester and the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and to Bass Museum in Burton upon Trent informing them of the machine’s existence, and of its proposed disposal by auction at the end of the month.

A reply came from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service expressing an interest that if funds could be raised, it might be worthwhile contacting Sir Thomas with a view to a direct purchase. As an end result, it can still be enjoyed on display at the present day fire station.

Finally, a treasured photo that reminds that it was once a serious fire fighting machine, seen here on exercise in the New Street fire station yard.


 

 

Public Library

The first Permanent Library, at a property owned by Mr. R. R. Bellamy in Bridge street, was opened in 1838. It was supported by a number of shareholders and just over 70 subscribers, and contained around 2,000 volumes. The shares were £10 each together with an annual subscription of 16 shillings. Subscribers who were not shareholders were allowed to join for a Guinea (21 shillings) a year subscription making it a fairly exclusive club.

The Burton Literary Society, High street, commenced in 1844 and had a reading room and a library of about 1,100 volumes mostly, but not exclusively, of a scientific nature. It was supported by a subscription of £1 per annum for first class, 8s 8d for second class, and 5 shillings per annum for third class. First class had the privilege of attending the reading room at all hours of the day, second class in the evenings only from 5:00 to 10:00pm, third class only had restricted access. The reading room also had London and provincial newspapers available together with most of the popular periodicals of the day. The Secretary and Librarian was Mr S. Simnett.

The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Guild street, established around 1846, introduced a reading room, and library containing about 1,400 volumes. Mr. John W. Lomas was Secretary. In 1867 the (Church of England) Young Men’s Christian Association was transformed into the Mechanics’ Institute. By 1868 it had a reading room and a library of 4,000 books, and by 1871 it had been moved to premises in Station Street.

In 1876, the Mechanics’ Institute and the Burton Literary Society were amalgamated as the Burton Institute. This moved to new premises in Union Street in 1879. A very tall in its day, narrow building of four bays designed in Italian Gothic style, by Reginald Churchill of Burton as seen above. The institute occupied the ground floor with a library of now nearly 8,000 volumes and a reading room; the second floor was occupied by the School of Art and part of the third floor by the School of Science.

The institute grew from 650 members in 1888 to 966 in 1896, when it was dissolved and its premises were acquired by Burton Municipal Corporation for use as Burton’s first Free Library, available to everyone. By this time, the collection had grown to 19,000 volumes together with an additional reference only section of 1,700 books.

Part of the building and 3,000 books, largely technical, was reserved as a subscription library. This had three levels of membership; first class at 21 shillings, second class at 10s 6d and third class at 5 shillings for an annual subscription, the different classes of subscription again being used to determine what hours of access were permitted.

In 1902, the Borough Librarian had salary of £120 plus an additional £45 for his additional duty of Secretary for both the Schools of Art and Design. If that wasn’t enough, he was also absent for some hours to fulfil his other duty as Museum Curator just up the road on the corner of Guild Street. At this time, the library was investing something like £50 a year on new books.

Aside from the main Union Street library, due to lack of space, branch reading rooms for newspapers were established at Uxbridge Street and Victoria Road schools which were open in the evening from 6:00 – 9:30pm.

Towards the end of its time, the Union Street library was hopelessly inadequate and the later librarian, Kenneth Stanesby spent most of his energy leading campaigns for a replacement library (added to his duty of ejecting schoolboys from playing in the lift which was a popular free entertainment of the time). The new Burton library was finally opened in 1976 at Riverside, off High Street on the redundant Bass Maltings site. The Union Street building was unceremoniously demolished in 1977.


 

 

Sir Stanley Clarke OBE

In brief, Stanley William Clarke was businessman and racecourse owner. Born in Burton upon Trent from a fairly humble background, he rose to become chairman and president of St Modwen Properties plc and was a founder and chairman of  Northern Racing. He was appointed CBE in 1990 and knighted in 2001.

Stanley was born in Woods Lane, Stapenhill in 1933. His father suffered from ill-health with long periods out of work, his mother, Mabel, worked in service at Dunstall Hall. Young Stanley contributed to the family by delivering newspapers as well as meat for a local butcher. After attending Burton Technical College, he started work as an apprentice plumber. During his twenties, he purchased a plot of land for £125 but sold it before long for £650. His business empire had begun!

After getting married to his wife Hilda, Stanley formed a building company with his brother-in-law, Jim Leavesey. The company became Clarke Quality Homes and grew radidly to become one of the largest house builders in the Midlands. The house building company was eventually sold to Balfour Beatty in 1986 leaving him to concentrate on his other company, St Modwen Properties Ltd (later St Modwen Properties plc), which took on much larger developments which included Burton’s Octagon Shopping Centre, Stoke-on-Trent’s Festival Park, Britannia Stadium and regeneration of Trentham Gardens.

His success allowed him indulge his life long love of horse racing but, unlike most who have to content themselves with buying a racehorse, in 1988 at age 55, he bought Uttoxeter Racecourse! Though the course was struggling at the time, it was quickly transformed under Clarke’s ownership. He gave each of his courses a distinctive green and white livery as part of a re-branding that concentrated on quality.

Stanley Clarke was not a man easily missed. Broad of frame and of smile, he made a huge impact on British racing by buying up eight further racecourses and applying at all of them the simple policy: giving the customers what they want. He always enthusiastically encourage feedback from people at his racecourses whether it be by walking around with a name-badge on his jacket or distributing “How are we doing?” questionnaires.

Clarke’s racecourses portfolio included – Bath, Brighton, Chepstow, Yarmouth, Fontwell, Hereford, Newcastle, Sedgefield, and of course, Uttoxeter – and was instrumental in creating a more aggressive, commercial approach among courses. His acquisition of Brighton was a particular success. The seaside course had become run-down and in decline, but Clarke’s pizazz saw it restored virtually to former glories. The courses eventually became ‘Northern Racing group’, and was one of the first racecourse groups to negotiate directly with the bookmaking industry to secure a deal for transmitting pictures from those tracks to Britain’s betting shops and beyond.

Clarke’s involvement in racing extended beyond ownership of nine courses; he was also a successful racehorse owner and held a permit to train. In his younger days, he and his wife, had featured prominently on the point-to-point circuit, with good horses such as Mount Argus and Captain Frisk. As always, what he touched turned to Gold and in 1997, he realised one of his highest ambitions and won the Grand National with his horse Lord Gyllene. Each Grand National seems to come up with headline news, but that year, more so than ever. It took place on a Monday, having been delayed by 48 hours by a bomb scare. Amid a festival atmosphere, of a type Clarke was always trying to engender at his courses, Lord Gyllene was ridden by Tony Dobbin to a runaway victory.

The New Zealand-bred gelding was one of a succession of high-class jumpers to run in Clarke’s black-and-white-striped colours. Barton won the 1999 Royal & Sun Alliance Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, and is one of a few horses to defeat the triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate.

Another Cheltenham Festival winner was Rolling Ball, who also won over the Aintree fences but is best known for victory in the 1991 Royal & Sun Alliance Chase on only his second start over fences. So excited was Mrs Clarke by the success that she fainted afterwards in the winner’s enclosure. Another quality Clarke horse was Lord Relic, who won the 1993 Challow Hurdle at Newbury by 10 lengths. Stanley Clarke was also a member of the Jockey Club and served as a board member of the Racecourse Association for over 10 years.

Sir Stanley’s legacy is also that he is remembered through the millions of pounds he gave to or raised for wide ranging charities. These included Lichfield Cathedral, Queen’s Hospital Cancer Appeal, Racing Welfare Charities and the Animal Health Trust at Newmarket all benefited hugely from his generosity. He even stepped in and rescued Burton Albion when it was facing financial ruin.


Sir Stanley achieved his deepest private aspiration towards the end of his life by gaining ownership of Dunstall Hall for £4.5 million and fully restored it (which was featured on Channel Five TV). His plan for Dunstall Hall was not only to make it his residence, but also to turn the dilapidated estate into a prestigious conference venue to ensure its ongoing survival.

Having already been awarded an OBE in 1990, Sir Stanley was knighted in 2001 and was soon afterwards, elevated to High Sheriff of Staffordshire. Very sadly, soon afterwards, he was diagnosed with cancer. After battling determinedly, he died on 19th September 2004. From his humble beginnings, St Modwen’s Properties plc was by then valued at around £268 million.


 

 

Burton Infirmary

The last years of the nineteenth century were to see radical changes in every aspect of the Infirmary’s development. That these changes all occurred about the same time was probably quite fortuitous, but coming as they did in the dying years of the Victorian era it seemed as though all concerned were determined that the Infirmary and all its work would advance into the new Edwardian age in perfect order.

The original Duke Street building was over twenty years old and although additions had been made from time to time, they had been more of a patchwork than a redevelopment. In 1893, the surgeons reported that the floors in the large surgical ward and the operating room were in an unsanitary condition. New floors were laid at a cost of £104. It was reported: “The new floors are of the best English oak and care has been taken to make the joints so tight that no germs can be harboured therein”. The committee’s views on bacteriology may have been rather naive, but it was certainly a compliment to the hospital carpenter. By 1894 it became obvious that something more radical was required and an extension fund was opened which eventually reached the sum of over £20,000 which was a considerable sum.

Duke Street

It was probably Lord Burton who was responsible for the choice of architect. Living in Burton as he did (he had a town house in the High Street as well as the Rangemore estate) his enormous wealth and social standing gave him almost autocratic powers quite beyond anything conceivable today and it would not seem in the slightest degree incongruous to him to call in one of the leading architects in the country to pull down and rebuild the small Infirmary in Burton upon Trent. Nor would it occur to Aston Webb, later to be knighted for his services to architecture, and at the time occupied with designing the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington and later the University of Birmingham, to refer Lord Burton to a local builder. Aston Webb came to Burton, assessed the situation, and produced his plan.

Any architect concerned with hospital building in the late nineteenth century had to tread very warily indeed. There was one person of very considerable power who knew more about the design and building of a hospital than the surgeons and architects put together. Long before her time in the Crimea, and even more so after it, Florence Nightingale had been collecting volumes of data on every aspect of hospital work, from the structure of the building itself down to the most minute details of plumbing and kitchen equipment. Her experience in the unworkable hospitals in the Crimea had not enamoured her towards those responsible for building them and on her return to England she was fully determined that things would change. At first involved with the Army Medical Service her association with civil hospitals followed almost automatically. She was just too late to stop the rather panic building by the War Department of the New Military Hospital at Netley. Some £70,000 had been spent on this rather magnificent piece of architecture before she saw the plan and deemed it unworkable; but not even her personal friendship with Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister, could make the Government scrap £70,000 with the considerable loss of face such an act would entail. The finished hospital confirmed her worst forebodings. A magnificent sight from across Southampton Water, within its walls it reduced the nurse’s working capacity by half as she engaged in a perpetual marathon walk along its miles of corridor. It was to be a hundred years before her advice was taken and Netley eventually pulled down.

She had better fortune with the new St. Thomas’ hospital on the south bank of the Thames which was to open in 1870. The woman who opened her ‘Notes on Nursing’ with the words, ‘it may seem a strange principle to enunciate as the very first requirement in a hospital that it should do the sick no harm’, would have been the first to acknowledge with everyone else that a hospital’s purpose was the welfare of the patient. What she altered were the priorities. Her view that the well-being of the patient depended mainly on nursing care, which was certainly true at that time, made the first priority in hospital design not the patient but the nurse. Only by making her working conditions the primary consideration could the hospital succeed. Work study is by no means a modern conception. So detailed was her knowledge of every facet of hospital life that she would have a water tap moved two yards to save the nurse that number of steps. For the first time residential accommodation for the nurse was properly designed and made available for the Nurse Training School in the new St. Thomas’s hospital.

Her second concept, quite radical in its time, but no more than common-sense would dictate, was the building of any large hospital on the pavilion system. With sepsis the great bug-bear of the time it seemed reasonable to design a hospital as a series of self-contained but completely separate units which enabled spreading infection to be at least contained and not run rampant throughout the whole hospital. The system at St. Thomas’s was to have another value in another war which she could scarcely have foreseen. The bombs which were to fall on London seventy years later destroyed two of the units, leaving the rest to carry on undisurbed.

The architects had to conform if for no other reason that her standing in the country and with the Government itself was such that no committee concerned with building a hospital of any size in any part of the country would have a stone laid without her opinions on the plans and her opinions could be vitriolic.

Although Florence Nightingale played no part in the new Burton Infirmary there can be little doubt that Aston Webb knew all about Netley and St. Thomas’s, and although Burton was a small unit it was built on the Nightingale lines. The days of special departments were a long way ahead. Wards were medical or surgical and the design of a ward in any hospital built between 1870 and 1900, whether in a teaching hospital in London or a small Infirmary at Burton, was exactly the same.

New Street

The new hospital was completed in 1899 with a complement of seventy-two beds which was a much larger increase in capacity than the figures imply since Typhoid Fever and Diphtheria, formerly such a problem to the staff, were now admitted to the new Isolation hospital and the Infirmary ceased to admit fevers of any kind. Inevitably within a few years the hospital was too small for the increasing number of patients and over the years became a kind of architectural hotch potch, with so many additions, subtractions and divisions that by 1930 Aston Webb’s original design had become almost unrecognisable.

When opened in 1899, however, it was a small compact hospital of no great architectural merit, but not unpleasing to the eye (Aston Webb would never have built anything shoddy) and within its compass contained every modern development of the time. It was built in three separate units. A two storey block with a central doorway was laid out on the Duke Street front. On the ground floor the Matron’s quarters and Board Room were on the left of the entrance, with a fairly commodious flat for the still single House Surgeon on the right. Above these quarters was the single Ratcliff ward named after the Misses Ratcliff of the brewing family who had offered to defray the cost of one complete ward as their contribution to the new hospital and eventually paid for the whole block.

From the entrance a corridor ran the whole length of the property from Duke Street to New Street. The main unit of four wards was set back from the entrance block in parallel with it, while a new Casualty, Out-Patient Department and Dispensary were built on the New Street front where the main entrance to the hospital was sited, with nurses’ and domestic servants’ accommodation above.

Apart from some variations in size each ward was of identical construction. Rectangular in shape with long windows down either side and beds between, the ceilings were high, allowing the requisite cubic feet of air space per patient while keeping the floor area to a workable size. Piped water, which had been an innovation in the eighteen-sixties when even the largest private houses had no more than a single tap laid on to the ground floor, was now available throughout the hospital, but only to the ward kitchens and sluice rooms. In the ward itself the huge flat-topped cabinet in the centre always held in pride of place a basin and ewer with a small hand towel neatly folded. Filled with warm water by a junior probationer, for the surgeon on completing his ward round, it became a kind of ritual procedure for sister to fill the basin and stand ready to hand the chief his towel.

While piped water throughout the hospital was standard, central heating was a completely new innovation but, with some doubts as to its efficiency, the open coal fire was still a standard feature of every hospital ward. Built in the form of a cube about five feet high and faced with green tiles these were sited in the centre of each ward with an open coal fire on two sides. Unlike the American stove with its central chimney the flues were carried under the floor, in itself a form of central heating as old as the Romans, to emerge in a buttress-like chimney stack on the outside wall. No doubt they were somewhat dirty and repeated filling of the scuttles an unwelcome chore for the porters, but they gave a feeling of warmth and welcome to the visitor which no later form of heating has ever replaced, and never again will the patient have the comfort of dozing off with the firelight flickering on the walls and the night nurse in her chair before the fire, able at the turn of her head to see all that was going on.

At the far end of the ward the sluices and toilets were built out in a three-sided annexe which by its three windows gave maximum ventilation where it was most needed at a time when ventilation depended entirely on windows and flues. At the ward entrance the kitchen, serving also as sister’s room was fitted with the kitchen range, complete with open fire and side oven, where for many years breakfast and tea for the patient were prepared by the nursing staff. A small window opening from the kitchen to the ward still enabled sister, having a quiet cup of tea, to command a view of all her patients, and what was sometimes more important, keep an eye on her junior staff.

The building of the new Infirmary was not without its prohlems. Once the decision was taken at a meeting in the board room of Bass’s office under the chairmanship of Lord Burton, and Aston Webb called in for preliminary talks, a building Committee consisting of four members of the main committee and Philip Mason the surgeon had been elected in May, 189fi, to look after the hospital’s interests. It was a matter the members took very seriously. They were prepared to pay for the best materials and equipment and while the building contract had been given to the local firm of Lowe’s, on Aston Webb’s advice leading firms from London were called in to deal with their various specialities. Any flaw or defect detected by the Building Committee had to be put right and the members kept a very careful check through every stage of the new development. For over three years until final completion in 1899 the committee met almost monthly and more often than not Aston Webb was in attendance, brought down from London to deal with every problem as it arose, He had probably sensed something of the situaton and assessed the type of committee with which he was dealing, when in his original agreement with Lord Burton and the main committee he had accepted a fee of live per cent on the building costs but wisely inserted a clause that the committee would be responsible for his railway journeys to and from London; over the years they were not a few.

The innovation of installing ‘the electric light’ had been taken with some trepidation, and a few gas jets had been left at strategic points throughout the building in case of emergencies. For a few months there were problems. Bulbs grew dim and flickered out; fuses blew and left the ward in darkness; newly-plastered walls had to be reguttered for new wires; and Verity & Company of London, who had installed the equipment, had to pay a few extra visits at their own expense. The central heating brought its own problems. The pipe from the boiler was too small and the number of radiators required to heat the high ceiling wards had been under-estimated. But while the patients at the far end of the ward had to have extra blankets and hot water bottles, at the near end where the ward wall adjoined the kitchen they were perspiring from another cause. The kitchen ranges with open coal fires had been fixed against the adjoining wall and with coal at eleven shillings a ton causing little need for economy, the fire roaring day and night made the wall almost too hot to touch. All the ranges had to be brought out four-and-a-half inches and an extra layer of brick work put in to absorb the heat.

The operating unit had been fitted out by Aston Webb but the new operating table had been the personal responsibility of Walter Lowe and Philip Mason who had purchased it in London, and on its breaking down were duly asked by the committee to have it repaired and ‘find out how the accident had happened’. Some of the expressions used in connection with this unit sound rather strange today. The word ‘theatre’ did not come into use for some years. It was still just the operating room and what is now the anaesthetic room was referred to as the preparation room. It takes a moment or two’s reflection to appreciate that the ‘lavatory basins’ installed in the operating room were in fact the surgeons’ wash basins, the word still being used in the true meaning of its Latin derivation; and the modern anaesthetist might be interested to know that the ‘vomiting sink’ in the preparation room was no longer considered necessary. One somewhat startling expression occurs during the discussion on the size of the doors opening into the preparation and operation rooms ‘in reference to the facility for getting the ambulances in and out of these rooms’. Why a word originally meaning to walk should have come to mean to carry is a problem for the etymologists, but the expression, with only one connotation at the present day, was used by the Victorian surgeons to denote any conveyance on which a patient could be carried in this case the trolley on which he was brought to and from the ward.

Another advance in development was the first installation of a lift to avoid carrying patients up and down the stairs on canvas stretchers but it proved to be no quicker. Matron timed it to take three minutes to rise from the ground to the first door and Aston Webb’s enquiries of the makers brought the explanation that it was manually operated by one man winding it up and down and that it was impossible to do it any faster. Electric power had not yet been extended to lifts.

Some of the complaints were rather puerile in the true sense of the word. Matron complained that small boys were climbing on to the window ledge of her new sitting-room which faced directly on to Duke Street and upsetting her privacy. After some discussion it was gravely decided ‘to take no action at the moment thinking that when the novelty wore off the annoyance would cease. Small boys appear to have been the source of some concern in the committee on various occasions. A new boundary wall in Duke Street had to be topped by iron spikes to prevent their walking along it; and it was not long before attention was drawn to the habit of boys slipping into the new Out-Patient Department in New Street to utilise the toilets provided there for the patients. The cure of this problem by increased staff supervision merely produced a worse one. The little boys used the entrance porch Instead. By the end of 1899 most of the teething problems had been overcome.

New furniture (from Maples of London) had been installed, the board room lilted out at a cost of over £100. This even included a piano for the wards. It had taken some four years to complete, but the committee could fairly congratulate themselves in having produced a hospital which though small in size could compare with the best in standards and equipment. Aston Webb had done litem well, but was no doubt happy to see the end of the Buildings Committee as the new century began.

Over the years the nursing staff had increased in size and Miss Ransford, who had been Matron since 1888, resigned in 1900. She had dealt with the Typhoid epidemic of 1892 and had been mainly responsible for the eventual cessation of the admission of infectious fevers to the hospital altogether. In spite of all the troubles and turmoil of the rebuilding programme she had increased her staff and continued the training school.

When it had been decided in 1885 to discontinue the association with Derby and train its own staff in Burton, the committee had asked Miss Ransford’s predecessor, Miss Browne, the last of the Lady Superintendents, to draw up a report on the nursing situation. It was her opinion that the Infirmary, with some sixty beds, dealing with just over three hundred In-Patients and nearly six hundred Out-Patients, could be adequately nursed by herself at £80, three nurses at £18 to £25, and three probationers at £8 a year. It was little enough to start a training school, but there was nothing to stop any hospital doing so; no Nursing Council, no State Registration, nothing but the arbitrary rules laid down by Florence Nightingale Thomas’s Hospital in 1860, and more or less copied by Miss Browne at Burton.

– Young women of suitable age and good character will be received into the Infirmary to be trained as nurses at wages of £8 a year.
– They will also be taken for training on giving their services without pay or, in special cases of payment of £1 a week.
– The course of training extends over a period of twelve months, during which time the pupils are required to act as assistant nurses and are subject to all rules connected with the Infirmary.
– One month’s trial is allowed and if at the expiration of that time the Matron reports the pupil suitable to follow the occupation of a nurse she will sign an agreement binding herself for one year.
– No distinction will be made in any way for probationers in the Infirmary whether they pay for their training or are paid by the committee; or give their services…
– All nurses and probationers have to sign an agreement binding them for one year.

Uniforms to be provided :
One heavy dress – £0 14s 6d
Three linen dresses – £1 0s 0d
Six aprons – £0 8s 0d

‘One heavy dress every year and the linen dresses and aprons every two years.’

The acceptance of unpaid probationers and more particularly of those who actually paid for their training was a dangerous step which no doubt Florence Nightingale had taken with her eyes open. It was crucial to the success of the nursing service she was trying to develop that it must attract women of some education which at that time could only mean women of a higher social class – a class to which she herself belonged and of whose foibles she was well aware. For this type of woman to accept a salary in the eighteen-eighties was to put her on a par with a paid governess, to reduce her social status, and almost ostracise her from her own kind. The Lady Probationer was an initial necessity to attract the educated woman to the new service; she was unpaid and was giving a charitable service, and if she paid for her tuition it was no different from paying the music master to teach her the pianoforte. Florence Nightingale knew how to deal with the snobbery of her time and also the inevitable effect of her decision. It split the nursing service right down the middle. The Infirmary rules might say there would be no difference in any way in the treatment or training, but the salaried probationer knew better. Quarrels and jealousies arose. The paid probationer felt the Lady Probationers were better treated and more favoured for promotion; and the latter suggestion at least was not without reason.

Lady Probationers received quicker promotion, not because they were ladies but because being ladies they were more highly educated. Necessary as the Lady Probationer was in the early years, as the service developed the situation became as untenable as the position of the Lady Superintendent, and Miss Ransford, the first of the new Matrons, had stopped it altogether. From the nineties onwards all probationers were paid their salary of £8 a year, and shortly afterwards the legal agreement signed by the nurse binding her to a year’s service, was also cancelled.

The Matron held supreme pride of place in an institution run on almost convent lines. The surgeons no doubt appeared daily and although received with some deference were visitors from an outside world. The Secretary was a member of committee and acted in a purely honorary capacity and when he or the chairman paid their calls they were received by Matron in her sitting room where the problems of the day were discussed and Matron’s views given very serious consideration. Within the hospital walls it was a female society. Even when departments developed outside the province of pure nursing Matron still remained in control. The cooks in the kitchens came under the charge not of the chef but the kitchen sister. The living-in domestic staff, and of course the nurses, came under Home sister’s rule; even when the X-ray Department came into being some years later the radiographers were trained nurses and all directly responsible to Matron. This closed community of unmarried women was made closer still by the fact that few of them were local girls with families or relatives in the town. It was considered wrong, and probably rightly so, for a nurse trained in the hospital to be promoted to Sister without widening her experience for a year or two in another hospital and many in fact did not return. Most of the Sisters, therefore, came from other hospitals and other towns. It was even considered unwise to admit local girls for training and every attempt was made to recruit them from elsewhere, even as far away as Ireland, on the grounds that local girls might be too ready by accident or design to gossip at home about the hospital or its patients. The privacy of the patient was sacrosanct, not only to the surgeon but to the nurse. For many years the age of a private patient was not allowed to be recorded on his notes or temperature chart. The appointment of a Matron was a matter of great importance. She could make or mar the whole hospital. She had autocratic powers but had to use them with tact and discretion. Burton was fortunate.

By 1900 the Infirmary had achieved a position of some standing, mainly through the reputation of Walter Lowe among other Midland surgeons and their hospitals, and when Miss Butler was appointed Matron to the new hospital she was selected from a list of no fewer than ninety-four applicants for the post. The above photo taken at Christmas 1906 provides a good feel for a typical ward when the hospital was new.


 

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