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Verity's Limited

D

Dorothy Dodson

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My father worked at Veritys from the 1930s - actually he got the job, via one of his nephews, my dad had been out of work during the depression of the 30s for 4 yrs. I think he started there just before i was born in 1937.

He was an 'emery bobber' and they used make industrial fans. He said that they manufactured the fans for the "Queen Elizabeth" liner (or was it the Queen Mary?).

As i got older i recall that he came home looking as though he had been down the mines. He didn't serve in the forces as he was graded unfit due to bronchial trouble. But i remember that he used to do fire watching nearly every night. Yet i also remember that he would be fire watching, in our road, when the raids were on

He was never on a very high wage, and even when it was possible to earn higher money, he was always frightened to take the plunge, in case there was ever another depression. He always used to say that the bosses would say " last in first out. "

I remember one night (this would have been after the war) that someone came from the factory to tell my mum that my dad had been taken to the eye hospital, and he was being kept in, because a lump of emery (or whatever)had gone into his eye.

I remember us getting on the tram into town, and my mum going to the reception (or whoever was in charge) to ask about my dad, and was told that she couldn't see him because it wasn't visiting time. She didn't argue or question the logic of it.

So we went back the next day. It seems that he had piece of emery lodged at the back of his sight, and they were keeping him very still in case it moved, in which he would have been blinded. However, he did recover and was sent to a convalescent home at Blackwell that Birmingham Eye hospital had in those days.

The snow was thick on the ground and everywhere was icy. But we used to make the journey, to Blackwell each week. There was a lot of convalescing wounded soldiers there, including Austrialians if my memory serves me correctly. But my dad wanted to come home, but in those days it was like trying to get out prison if the doc said you couldnt then you couldn't.

However my mum had a bad turn one of the days when we visited, and my Pa used this as an excuse to get his release. He just turned up at about 11pm that night, and it seems that he had signed himself out, but had also had to find his own way to public transport. Very scary as he couldn't see very well, plus being country lanes there was no lamps, and hardly any moonlight to guide him. But it's amazing what we can do when push comes to shove isn't it?
 
Hello
I have an appprenticeship indenture paper of my grandfather (CHARLES M (A) BOWEN) for 'VERITY'S LIMITED, of Plume Works - Electrical Manufacturers' in Aston, Warwickshire. Address is/was 55 Grosvenor Road. I was wondering if I would be able to find a list of other workers from there. - hopefully a picture of the place. If there is anyone who can help I would appreciate it
Thanks Debbie
 
thats where it was,corner of plume st/long acre,they knocked it down about 10 years,the factory next door is called candel
 
I collect and restore old electric fans and clocks as a pastime and Veritys fans are highly regarded so to restore them and remanufacture parts, I collect the catalogues - I have the 1908, 1913 and 1923 catalogues and wonder if there are more to collect? They are very difficult to find. Once collected, I scan them make them publically available as with all Veritys paperwork but there seems to be so little left of a once great company - any onformation on VERITY would be appreciated. Richard Boothroyd - Suffolk
 
Hi Debbie,
Verity's (Maxlume) factory in Long Acre, Nechells. My first job upon leaving Eliot St Sec Mod. in 1960 was there. I worked on drilling & tapping, spot welding & fly pressing.
I got paid 1/3d (about 7 & 1/2 New P) an hour, which went up to 1/9d (after 1 month, + 2/6d (12 & 1/2 New P) a week National Award which was to make your money up, like Minimum wage now. I could also make a bit extra on the bonus scheme. The Manager was a Mr Green. My Chargehand was a chap called Ernie.
The chap who ran the Radial arm driller was Albert I think.
Go to Birmingham Forum & find Phil47. He may help with a picture. Teff
 
Interesting bit for you Debbie

Birmingham: Raids commenced at 2008 hours on the 18th. And the Aston and Bordesley areas appear to have been the principal targets. Considerable damage was done to property including Verity's Ltd, Wood Carving Co,
 
I have a brass desk fan from the 1920's made by Veritys - There is a brass plaque with the words "BIRMINGHAM VERITYS Ltd England, Single phase AC Fan, Then stamped into the brass are the indevidual details:-
Volts 200/220 Watts 45, RPM 1400 Cycles 50 B.S.S. 380-1926" on the side of it
 
My Great Grand dad worked there as a brass dresser in 1900's. It says so on his sign up military papers for 1906. I can't read the name of his boss though.
 
Hi Edward (post No 9)

I have found mention that Robert William Bill (who formed Bill Switchgear in 1906) worked at Verity's Limited, and also at the factory of my great-grandfather, JH Tucker, who had set up his own electrical manufacturing business in Birmingham in 1892.

In the 1891 census, JH Tucker is shown as "Manager, works (electrical fittings)", and lived in Gordon Place, High St, Aston, so I did wonder whether he could also have worked at Verity's before setting up on his own account.

Do you have any lists of Verity's employees from the 1880s/early 1890s?

Angela
 
Me again, Edward,
I did come across the following information that might be of interest to you:

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22965
Except for the small contracting side of the industry, electrical engineering has also always been on a relatively large scale. One large concern, the General Electric Company, stands out in the trade in Birmingham, and indeed in Great Britain. It established a branch there in 1896 and acquired land at Witton in 1899. The company employed 2,000 in Birmingham in 1914, (fn. 35) and 10,000 in 1932. (fn. 36) In the 1930s another great concern, the Telsen Electric Company of Aston, employed 5,000 in making wireless components in what was said to be the largest factory of that kind in the country. (fn. 37) Joseph Lucas, making electrical apparatus for motor vehicles and lamps for cars and cycles, was another big concern, which employed 7,000 in 1927 (fn. 38) and 17,400 in 1948. (fn. 39) Below these giants were firms like Veritys (liquidated 1960), with 800 employees in 1900 (fn. 40) and 1,800 in 1913, (fn. 41) and J. H. Tucker, now (1960) a subsidiary of Midland Electrical Manufacturing, with between 600 and 800 workers in 1928, (fn. 42) and others smaller again. In 1949 the statistics for Birmingham and the Black Country show that in the wireless trade the five largest plants (with over 100 workers each) employed 78 per cent. of the labour force. Ninety-nine per cent. of workers in the magneto trade were employed in three of the six plants, each of these three having between 400 and 750 workpeople. Out of 30 plants in the switchgear trade four, with between 200 and 1,500 workers each, accounted for 72 per cent. of the labour involved.


Angela
 
I used to work for William McGeoch (Bordesley) from 1967 to 1969. If my memory serves me correctly at that time they owned Verities. I vaguely remember visiting the Verities factory. Apparently they made huge crystal chandeliers for liners and palaces. Surprisingly McGeochs are still a going concern.
 
Here's a cracking painting of Veritys in Long Acre by Arthur Lockwood.
 

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I was told that Verity's made electric motors for submarines that could not be detected by the electrical interference that the motors made when running. Does anyone else know about this?
 
At a auction, recently, I have found a picture, in a box lot, of two men posed in front of Niagara Falls, the American side.On the back of the photo a inscription reads "Geo Verity & his father of Verity's Electric Co Ltd London Birmingham, at Niagara Falls possibly about 1890 or shortly after". Any interest for your archive?
 
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