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Coach Smith

Genmac

proper brummie kid
Can anybody enlighten me on what the occupation 'Coach Smith' entailed back in 1852 Birmingham?

Whilst researching my wife's great great grandfather, William Lowe, who resided at No 4 Court, Thorpe Street, I found the reference to Coach Smith in Slater's Directory for 1852-1853
 
A coachsmith was a smith who forged by hand or under a power hammer the iron work used in the building of railway or tramway coaches, carts etc.' repaired, cleaned and tempered coach springs etc.

A coach maker, aka body builder, body maker, built up by hand the wooden parts,e.g. framework, lining, floors, mouldings, of the bodies of coaches, carriages, railway carriages, tramcars etc.
 
Thank you RobT for your explanation of occupation of coach smith . I assume that he must have worked in a high temperature iron drop forge producing fairly sizable components for train coaches somewhere in Birmingham area. I think there were a few carriage works in the Birmingham area in the early 1850's? I had not considered tempering coach springs before thanks
 
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