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Blacks. Birmingham factory probably in the Saltley / Nechells area

v60pdb

v60pdb

proper brummie kid
I'm looking for any information on a factory in the Nechells, Saltley, Aston area. A number of my forbears are shown as working at "Blacks" in the 1901 census. It may have been a foundry as some are shown as "Hammer Drivers" and "strikers".
Does anybody know anything about that factory?
 
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pjmburns said:
It may be useful for us to see the entry in the 1901 census. Or perhaps you could supply a name. Many thanks.
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Thomas Barton aged 17 was my grandfather. He was blind in one eye. he had an accident whilst young. You can see there is annotation for both him and his brother William in the 1901 census, saying "Blacks". Other siblings were in the Brass trade. Perhaps Blacks was a Brass manufacturer?Hope you can help.
Best regards,
Peter Barton
Lincoln.
 
hi peter thanks for that extra info hopefully someone can help with this...have to say i have not heard of blacks but that does not mean to say it was not a foundry of some sorts...could you also let us have the address of where living on the 1901 please it may just help...

lyn
 
Peter, your grandfather was a ‘Steam’ hammer driver, so Blacks must have been a fair sized works. Viv.

I’m moving this thread to our Factories and Offices section.
 
Astoness said:
hi peter thanks for that extra info hopefully someone can help with this...have to say i have not heard of blacks but that does not mean to say it was not a foundry of some sorts...could you also let us have the address of where living on the 1901 please it may just help...

lyn
Click to expand...
99 Great Francis St, Duddeston, Aston.
 
Could the word be blocks rather than blacks, relating to the job rather than a company?

It's unusual for a place of work to be listed on the 1901 census.
 
Think that’s right. The ‘o’ (in Blocks/Blacks)is formed in the same way as in ‘soldering’. A lower case ‘a’ should be more like that in ‘Lathe’. Viv.
 
MWS said:
Could the word be blocks rather than blacks, relating to the job rather than a company?

It's unusual for a place of work to be listed on the 1901 census.
Click to expand...
i agree i think the word is blocks if so they could have worked anywhere ..i wonder what their occupations were on the 1911 census...i cant check as im not subscribed at the min

lyn
 
Astoness said:
i agree i think the word is blocks if so they could have worked anywhere ..i wonder what their occupations were on the 1911 census...i cant check as im not subscribed at the min

lyn
Click to expand...
1891 Samuel is a "lathe fitter"(same on Thomas marriage cert and also several of the children's baptisms - I ddin't look at all of them). I thought he was the same on 1911 but it looks more like "filer".
Thomas on 1911 is a "striker" and it also says "edge tool work"
1632047172821.png
 
If you look at the rest of the census pages, it looks as if the additions are a kind of shorthand to describe the job. For example laundry worker/wash, furniture maker /cab, chemist /drug, mechanic /tool and many others.

Blacks, or is it blocks, appears for a striker on at least 4 occasions, and for steam hammer driver twice. There is someone described as an umbrella blacker.
 
pjmburns said:
I saw that but wondered if it was an individual rather than someone empoying people.
Click to expand...
Yes Janice I thought the same but 'blacksmith' could describe a multitude of businesses, if I can determine No. 149 on the 1889 map it may prove one way or the other by the size of the building.
 
Joseph Black is down as an "employer" on the 1901 census but there is no indication of size of business.
On 1891 census he had a live in apprentice - so he may have only employed one person. Both given as 133 Gt Lister Street
 
Still think it's likely to refer to the type of job rather than the where or who for. It wasn't required in 1901 and I can't image the recorder making extra work for himself.

Blacks short for blacksmith as mentioned seems the most appropriate.
 
No 149 in the 1890 Kellys (which would concern 1889 is Joseph Black., blacksmith . Appropriate name !
 
If like me you know very little about these occupations here’s a little background, Looking at the two occupations; steam hammer driver and striker, they are both occupations that can be traced to work in a forge.

- a steam hammerman is sometimes in charge of forge in which a power hammer is operated by steam.

- a striker is a title frequently found in forges and sometimes specifically designated, e.g., anchor smith's striker, angle iron smith's striker, anglesmith's striker, anvil smith's striker, anvil striker, auger striker, back maker's striker (scythe), blacksmith's striker, blade striker, chain striker, coach smith's striker, edge tool forger's striker, edge tool striker, fork striker (agricultural implements), general smith's striker, hand forge smith's striker, hand forge striker. These are usually involved in forging iron or steel articles from bar, rod, plate, sheet, etc., by placing bar, etc., in furnace or forge fire, tending to damper which admits blast to forge fire under direction of smith; withdraws metal when smith judges it to be sufficiently hot for forging process, e.g., welding, bending, swaging, etc., and places it, by means of tongs, on anvil of steel table, using sledge hammer, strikes hot metal.

Viv.
 
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