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brass polisher

B

becky

Guest
what would a brass polisher do, yes i know polish brass, but what sort ,where would you work ,where in brum?
 
My ma in law and sis in law worked for Pearson Page and Dewsbury, in Hockley, they made all sorts of brasswork but you'll probably know them best for Peerage brass wall plaques. E.
 
My other half has been a "polisher" for over 40 years, and has worked in numerous firms over the years.
FAULKNER & MORROW of Steward Street, Springhill, were well known for Door brass.
STAY BRIGHT, Warstone Lane (taps etc)
BARWELLS, Barr Street, Jewellery Quarter(taps etc).
Tony is still polishing, but of his era there arnt many Polishers left!!!
As with the firm he works for now, most of METAL ITEMS go abroad to be polished as its CHEAPER!!!!!
In the polishing profession there are no "sanders", who sanded and polished Trophy cups, up to 3ft in length, Gallery Trays, Rose Bowls, Candelabras.
In 1963, Tony worked for Edward Jones & Sons, Pemberton Street, a Gold Bowl with gold stags all around the base, the cup was nearly 3ft wide and 20 inches deep, for the then SHAH OF PERSIA.
Tony is very proud of his experience he has gained over the years and has polished every thing from a ring to Car bumpers!
Sorry to go on, but hope this is of interest to you, Jackie
 
From one of my many books.
And you can tell your other half that I have the greatest respect for him being a polisher, because I have tried it myself and it is a very hard dirty job. O0
 
I know this is quite an old post that i'm livening up..
But this topic interests me.. ;o)
Before and after the first world war my grandad was a brass POLISHER.. He was living in Bissell Street in the middle of town (1914 ish) He then moved to Trafalgar terrace off Latimer Street .. about 1919 ish and onwards until he died in 1926.. In and around 1919 he was listed as being a Chandelier Polisher..
Would anyone know which factory he might have worked in? I read the above posts and a few things were listed as being made in certain places.. Can anyone shed some light as to where it might be at all please..
Also my grandad was in the Royal Field Artillery during ww1.. The reason i list this is because on his death cert he died from Bronchitis and Pneumo-koniosis (which i think is similar to black lung disease)..
I always thought that the cause of his death was from the RFA and the gun powder etc.. (i'm not really sure).. But after reading about polishing in the above posts, could he of actually suffered because of the polishing itself ? and it's dust etc.. ?
Kind regards
Rachel.. ;o)
 
Birmingham was full of brass foundries and chandelier makers. It would be impossible to tie anyone down to a particular factory, because in early days 'factory' did not mean a large place necessarily, but they were often just very small with perhaps six/ten people working there. actories were often in between and behind courts of houses - not very pleasant, one would think.
 
,One of my brothers Eddy was a polisher just before the war, i remember he used to come home black as the Ace of Spades, almost as if he worked down the coal
mine, it was, or is a very skilled job but it must have damaged peoples lungs, not every firm had the dust extraction equipment required, not much H+S in those
days. Bernard
 
Thank you Bernard and Shortie..
I reckon it was probably a mixture of both then that seen his lungs off. Shame isn't it.
I didn't realise that factories would have only a few people working there. It makes sense though , a lot of work places are started in the home or converted rooms , garages etc.. I suppose things weren't that different back then as far as that goes.
Thanks again both
Regards
rachel.. ;o)
 
Unfortunately, industrial disease was an unwanted by-product of certain occupations, as stated in a previous post, health and safety was non-existent. Three of my relatives were brass and metal polishers, and they all died from lung-related illnesses and cancer. Employers were quick to play down any connections between occupations and disease. Workers in Victorian times especially, suffered from a whole host of afflictions, such as 'phossy jaw', this affected workers in the match industry through daily contact with phosphorus, used in matchheads, after a while their jaws went soft. Diseases such as asbestosis were not recognised or compensated until only fairly recently in our history.
 
Hello there, just before I went into the army in 1947 I worked at a small plating firm in Bradford Street, there were only four of us, the guy who ran it, his mother who was about 80, a polisher and me.
We used to do crome and nickel plating, mainly fancy goods, companion sets fof the hearth etc.
My first job in a morning was to go next door, a company who made coffins and collect a hugh bag of sawdust, which was put a kind of trough with a gas burner under it, to warm it up. This was to dry items that came
out of the plating vats. It was hard work for little pay. Those were the days my friend, Bernard
 
Astonite, thankyou for replying. And Bernard too. ;o)
How things have changed through the years. Regarding health and safety issues etc..
My Great Grandma Ellen Healey (nee Moore) was born in bristol 1871.. She married in 1890 on Christmas day in Birmingham and was listed in the 1891 census as being a match worker.. This led me to some research for her work and working conditions, and to be honest what i found really shocked me..
The "Phossy Jaw' which Astonite mentioned was terrible. It used to rot peoples jaws and disfigure them. Children also were used in the factory too. Soon after there was a programme on tv about it too. Interesting stuff but it makes you wonder how any of us are here today after what our ancestors went through just to live and make ends meet..
I tried to search for the factory she may have worked in but didn't really come up with anything . Was Bryant and May in Birmingham?

Bernard i wonder how many of your hearth sets are still going today? x

Kind regards both
Rachel.. ;o)
 
Rachel
The only match maker (in the sense that you mean) listed in birmingham in 1890 was David Bermingham. Phillips St , Aston brook the site was at the far east end of Phillips St , on th south side, together with an iron foundry. Therefore it must be one of the buildings marked in red on the 1890 map. Sorry i can't be more specific. He seems to have been there 1879 till some time between 1890 and 1892, when he disappeared
ADDITION
On reposting the lost map I checked thelarge scale OS c1889 map, which was not available to me when this post was originally made, and found on this the match factory was marked. It was in fact a building I had not realised was a building !.
Mike


map_c_1889_showing_the_David_Bermingham_math_factory_off_Phillips_st.jpg


david_bermingham_2C_match_manuf_.jpg


 
Hi Rachel, nice to talk to some younger people on the forum, I dont think there much call for companion sets nowadays, although when I used to go car/booting
with my late wife Enid we use to see them for sale sometimes, it amazing what folk take to car boots to try and sell. Take care now, GOM Bernard
 
Thats brilliant detective work Mikejee.. thankyou very much.. On her marriage certificate it said that she was living in Queens road and her husband in Bracebridge street.?? (I think thats what the cert says anyway. The print is quite sketchy.. ) I think these were Aston way too so she wouldn't have worked too far away ..
I bet my nan had one of your sets Bernard. She had all sorts of things that we found fascinating when we used to go and visit her. I remember playing with them. She still kept them even when she had a gas fire fitted.. It was one of them gas fires that when you turned the knob on the top to ignite it, it would shudder and feel like the wall was coming down .. ;o)

Thanks both x
Take care
Rachel..
 
Hi,
I don't know if anyone can help me here as I have hit a bit of a dead end!
I'm looking for a factory in Hockley where my Nan used to work. It was on George Road, basically Brass workers/polishers. I think it was called Kays or Kayes well something like that anyway....Does anyone know anything about this place or have any pictures?

Thanks
 
In post 16 of this thread I answered a question concerning match makers in Birmingham, but was unable to pinpoint the exact position of on eoff Phillips st. On reposting the map I checked with the larger scale c 1889 OS 1/500 map and found it was actually marked, and was a building on the other smaller scale map i had not realised was a building !. Have now added this map to post 16
Mike
 
#2 When I first met my husband he was a coppersmith and worked at Peerson, Page and Dewsbury, I think it was in Witton - This was late 60s early 70s. They would make copper canopies for over the fire places of all shapes and sizes. These were individually commissioned and were planished ( hammered ) by hand and the customer could choose the size of the spot. He made beautiful coal scuttles, cauldrons, bedpans, plaques, book money boxes. Plaques were drop stamped. The base of bedpan was spun on a lathe. French horns and coach horns were all hand made. He says that he would put a spring inside or fill it with sand to shape them and then bend them by hand. The scuttles and cauldrons were hammered by hand. He worked on piece work and sat on a metal " horse" all day. He had an amazing collection of hammers and tools that were worn to his hand. I always laughed and said he made the antiques of the future. Sadly it all came to an end with short time working and the rise of vat in the late 70s.
 
#22 Thank you Jennyann. My husband found your link interesting. Love the picture of the money box. I had a green box when I was little, think it was a Birmingham Municipal Bank. Nan had the key and I opened it when we went on holiday.
 
I had a money box from the Birmingham Municipal too, it was bronze in colour, the bank were the only ones who could open it. Me 'n our kid fished a florin out with a dinner knife though !
 
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