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Glass Identification - Post here for all ID requests => Glass => Topic started by: tropdevin on April 21, 2008, 09:06:43 AM

Title: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: tropdevin on April 21, 2008, 09:06:43 AM
I am trying to track down the name of any glass manufacturers operating in Mexborough in the early 1840s (with no success so far).

A successful company was started there in 1850 (the Don Glass Bottle Works, which in 1869 led to the Barron's Phoenix Glass Works).  And in the 1860s Caleb Kilner opened a factory (the Providence Glass Works) in neighbouring Connisborough.

There are glass workers in Mexborough in the 1841 census, and people in those days walked to work.  Were they just working in small enterprises, or was there a major factory there in 1841?

Any help gratefully received!

Alan
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: Sue C on April 21, 2008, 09:49:03 AM
There is a little bit here
http://www.lindleyancestry.co.uk/mexbrough_st_john_the_baptist.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stairfoot

And these people may be of some help,  http://www.mexboroughheritage.co.uk/
And this may help too http://www.dearnevalley.info/contents.html
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: tropdevin on April 21, 2008, 11:29:51 AM
Hi Sue

Thanks for the links - I'd already tried 3 of them, and sadly none refer to the pre-1850s factories.

Alan
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: Sue C on April 21, 2008, 12:39:08 PM
Hi Alan, had another look around, but dont know if this is any good for you.
http://www.rotherhamunofficial.co.uk/history/tradeandindustry/glass.html
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: Anne on April 21, 2008, 01:43:02 PM
Alan, I had a scout through Baines' Yorkshire 1822 and there's no glassworks listed for Mexborough in the directory then - the book uses the older spelling of Mexbrough so that may help a little in your searches. The population is given at around 840 so it wasn't a big place at that time - perhaps this indicates that any glassworks were later than 1822. If you have a population figure from the 1841 census a significant increase would indicate more industry. I'll have a looksee if I have any other West Yorks early directories here.
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: tropdevin on April 21, 2008, 04:45:24 PM
Hi Anne

I've checked out the 1837 Rotherham area in White's Gazetteer, and only two Glass manufacturers are listed: Close & Clark at Catcliffe, and Beatsons in Rotherham.  Beatsons would be a 5 mile journey each way to and from work, and Catcliffe is even further, so I doubt that either fit the bill.  There were Glass Manufacturers in or near Mexborough some years later as I noted above, but none are evident in 1840.

To explain my interest, a certain William Thynn Gillinder is the glass worker who was living in Mexborough in 1841, with his elder brother Thomas (also a glass blower) and his family. They must both have worked somewhere!

Alan
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: Sue C on April 21, 2008, 05:09:49 PM
Hi Allan, i dont see the problem of the glass works being five or six miles away, my nearest town is six miles away and i have walked it many times, as a matter of fact my son used to walk it twice a day when he worked for a time in the town.
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: Anne on April 21, 2008, 05:48:56 PM
Hi Alan, there's an entry on Curious Fox by someone looking for the same family names (Thynn Gillinder) http://www.curiousfox.com/history/durham_50.html - may be worth contacting them if you haven't already found them.
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: tropdevin on April 21, 2008, 06:13:07 PM
Hi Anne and Sue

Thanks for your further contributions.

I have been in touch with some of the distant Gillinder relatives, but not those you mention. Intriguingly, there are two people called William Gillender (or Gillinder - it seems to be optional), born in the same small part of the North East, one in 1820 and one in 1823. Both have fathers called William, and mothers with the maiden name Thynn - now is that a coincidence or what...! And it is not an error - they really are two different families - the other William Gillinder is a blacksmith.

I was not meaning to imply that 5 miles was physically too far to walk, but more that factories such as Baccarat , Val St Lambert and others wanted their workers right on their doorstep to call in at a moment's notice.  But if the Gillenders were just blowing bottles and so on out of tank glass that may not have been a problem.

Alan
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: Littleblackhen on July 29, 2009, 11:53:30 PM
I just noticed this bell for sale on ebay which may be relevant to this discussion, although I am not sure where it would fit in.  It is made by Whitefriars but is inscribed with BEATSON CLARK 1930 - 1980 STAIRFOOT WORKS.  I thought it might be of interest.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Whitefriars-Amber-Crystal-Glass-Bell--Beatson-Clark_W0QQitemZ370235348450QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090727?IMSfp=TL0907271710003r7168
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: Anne on July 30, 2009, 02:03:15 AM
Another topic on Stairfoot Glass here: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,20720.0.html
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: tropdevin on July 30, 2009, 10:23:40 AM
Hi

Thanks for the links.  I found a book on Yorkshire glass factories, and there was indeed a glass works in Mexborough when the Gillinders were living there.  It was the Mexborough Flint Glass Works, owned by Ben Micklethwaite, who later sold it to a George Bache (NOT Bacchus!). Much of the accepted history about William Gillinder is incorrect (for example, he did not learn his trade in Birmingham, and it is highly unlikely that he ever worked for Bacchus & Sons) I wrote a detailed article based on factual evidence about William Gillinder's early years for the 2009 PCA Bulletin.

You can download the text of the article here as a Word document (http://www.pwts.co.uk/pages/PCA%20Article%20William%20Gillinder.doc). Please note it is copyright Alan Thornton 2009.

Alan
Title: Re: Mexborough glass makers 1840
Post by: Frank on December 02, 2012, 01:12:52 PM
Mexborough glass works was set up after the repeal, in 1845, of the Glass Act according to Ashurst but as he gives an 1842 date for a 7 pot furnace, clearly wrong. It did not exist until after Woods were set up in 1832 but somewhere in between then and 1841 from Alan's research census data.