Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, is a wonder material.
It’s highly malleable, does not rust when exposed to air, takes a high polish, and
lcan be cast into any shape. Birmingham artisans made cutlery and iron tools
since at least Tudor times, and in the 18
th century the city was famous
for its metal ‘toys’ (buttons, buckles, etc.).
Matthew Boulton of Soho was a
toy-manufacturer.
 |
| Brass casting. |
Brass manufacture is said to have been introduced to
Birmingham in 1740 by a Mr Turner, on Coleshill St. The growth of the city’s famous canal
network made it easy to transport raw materials and finished goods. By the mid-19
th
century Birmingham’s brass bolts, wire, lamps and chandeliers, nails, cabinet
and gas fittings were exported worldwide. Firms like
Winfield’s capitalised on the increasing popularity of brass bedsteads.
%2Bcasting%2Bengillmag1883.jpg) |
| Brass strip casting. |
Winfield’s exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in the
Crystal Palace, Hyde Park.
The royal
commissioners and executive committee of the Exhibition visited Birmingham that
summer: ‘At the factory of Mr Winfield, for brass-founding, a very touching scene
took place...after being conducted around the interior, and having the
different branches of the business explained to them...[the visitors] were
ushered into a large school-room... A bell was sounded, and immediately all the
work-people, male and female, came flocking into this apartment...all were
dressed in their everyday attire – the paper apron and cap retained, and in
most instances the shirt-sleeves turned up over the elbows. A choir was
immediately formed, and a vocal performance commenced’.
A senior clerk of the firm, who gave a
congratulatory address to its august visitors, had reportedly worked for Winfield’s for 25
years (
Illustrated London News, 28
June 1851).
 |
| Making brass moulds. |
A government investigator interviewed adults and
children at
Winfield’s Cambridge St works in the 1860s (
3rd Report, Children’s Employment Commission).
Brass foundries were important employers for
boys (girls worked in the packing rooms). Children started work around age 7, or more usually age 9 or 10.
The choking, poisonous fumes in the founding and casting shops
affected adult and child workers. The men making ‘yellow’ brass in particular
suffered from lung diseases. Henry Peel (27), a brass-caster at Timothy Smith
& Sons, said that ‘you get old’ at age forty: ‘I hope to live over 40’.
Illustrations of brass strip casting, the brass workers' frieze, and the canals are from the English Illustrated Magazine, 1883. Making moulds and brass casting are from the Boys' Book of Trades, c.1890s. Author's collection.
Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys is back with a new series. This week on the programme he visited some industrial sites and we've been treated to some fascinating archive footage of workers. During the second episode he had a ride on the Waverley paddle steamer, and visited the David Livingstone Centre at Blantyre - I was especially interested as I did not realize that the famous missionary was a child worker in a cotton factory. Episode 3 was another treat as Mr Portillo visited a modern steel rolling mill, the Clyde Falls at New Lanark, and explored the Union Canal and the Falkirk Wheel, which I would love to visit one day. Over the next few weeks, I'll be taking a look at some of the fabulous heritage sites I visited last year, but haven't had time to blog about yet, as I'm busy writing Regency Spies.
