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JONES AND WILLIS PORCHESTER STREET

edmc

proper brummie kid
Hello, I am new to this very interesting site, and wonder if anyone can help. I am researching (for my own curiosity) the company Jones and Willis (formerly Newton Jones & Willis)- Church Furniture Manufacturers who started in Temple Row Birmingham abt 1835 . They had a large workshop in Porchester St from abt 1900. I have seen somewhere on the internet a photo taken in 1968 of a demolition site in what looks like the corner of Porchester St and Furnace Lane and this tallies with data I have on where the site actually was. A bit of a long shot but does anyone have any recollections of that site? Also what happened to the Temple Row site - the 1851 census shows a lot of people living/working from there, when was it demolished perhaps after 1884? Any help would be gratefully received! Attached is a drawing of Porchester St. Works.
 

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hi and welcome to the forum....bit confused as the drawing you have posted is of a works in london not birmingham...we do have a thread on the forum for porchester street which you may have seen but hopefully some of our members maybe able to help with your research

lyn
 
It appears that Newton Jones and Willis started as Drapers at Temple Row House. Became Jones and Willis around 1861. In 1863/4 they changed to Church furnishings with showrooms in Temple Row and Works at Porchester St.
 
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Sometime before 1883 they seem to have moved from Temple Row to 79 Edmund St.
 
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hi and welcome to the forum....bit confused as the drawing you have posted is of a works in london not birmingham...we do have a thread on the forum for porchester street which you may have seen but hopefully some of our members maybe able to help with your research

lyn
Oh dear I posted the wrong drawing! As you say that was the Hornsey London Workshop. Here is the Porchester Street Church Works.
 

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Hello - one further question that someone may be able to help me with...The newly developed Porchester Street has a building with an old looking frontage which looks remarkably like the original building. Would anyone know if this is the case? I attach a photo of the 'new' frontage and the original building of Jones and Willis.
Thanks for previous help..
 

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Hello - one further question that someone may be able to help me with...The newly developed Porchester Street has a building with an old looking frontage which looks remarkably like the original building. Would anyone know if this is the case? I attach a photo of the 'new' frontage and the original building of Jones and Willis.
Thanks for previous help..
Quite a coincidence, this was a building I was looking at recently, certainly in the 50s and 60s (and possibly 40s and 70s too) it was J. R. Pearson (shopfitters) my dad and brother worked there.

Picture attached of my dad at the front of the building. I had the black and white picture and wanted to know where it had been taken, I am amazed that the building survived.
 

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maybe mikejee could sort out a map showing us the position the works of jones and willis stood

lyn
 
Quite a coincidence, this was a building I was looking at recently, certainly in the 50s and 60s (and possibly 40s and 70s too) it was J. R. Pearson (shopfitters) my dad and brother worked there.

Picture attached of my dad at the front of the building. I had the black and white picture and wanted to know where it had been taken, I am amazed that the building survived.
Thanks for adding that-really very interesting! One of my questions was what happened to the original building in Porchester Street after Jones and Willis left in about 1940. Do you know when the 'new' buildings were built?
 
Thanks - I have not seen this 2008 pic before. I am grateful to one of your members who posted a 1950 map of Porchester Street which I will attach, and it shows Crocodile works and along side it the Jones and Willis Works which reached right down to the end of Porchester St. Do you think it possible that the building shown on the 2008 pic was J&W? or do you think it part of the Crocodile works?
 

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well i am no map expert but looking at that map i would not say the the church works went down as far as the end of porchester st...porchester st went down as far as the alma st/summer lane junction at which another works is marked out but the map is a bit hazy so i cant make out the name of it...
 
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Porchester St...I think you have these Lyn, not sure if you have both.
Dave A
 

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cheers dave i have the first one but not the second it is great to know that pearsons were johns dad worked is still there....is that the croc works to the right?

lyn
 
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the photo on post 8 and post 9 are as brummy lad said J R PEARSONS at no 34...jones and willis were on the right of that sadly the building has been demolished along with the church furniture works that lay well back searching my files i have however found and old photo of the anodising works that was on the corner of porchester st and alma st...you can just make out that on the wall there is an advert for jones and willisGeach%20Street%20Newt&.jpg

lyn
 
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There seems to be 2 Porchester Street threads. I shall rename this one about Newton, Jones etc. Viv.
 
viv can you hang on doing that please as this thread is specifically about jones and willis porchester st...i will go and alter the title of this thread..thanks
 
Yes I realised Lyn and edited my post. I shall leave it to you. Maybe you could move it to Factories & Offices section too. Viv.
 
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