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T Foster & Sons Fazeley Street

R

Richard Greaves

Brummie babby
I am researching the history of T Foster & Sons of Fazeley Street, Birmingham. There were coal merchants and fuel suppliers. One of their customers was the Shell Chemical Company. In 1950's they became distributors of the first washing up liquid called TEEPOL. Eventually they set up a separate company called Cleenol to distribute cleaning products, for whom I now work. Any information about them would be much appreciated.
 
Previous to 1897 Kellys directory (remembering that date was publication date and may refer to year before)

1884 No foster coal merchant listed in directory
1888-1892 John, William & Thomas Foster, coal merchants, Bordesley St wharf
1895 John, William & Thomas Foster, coal & coke merchants, Bordesley St wharf
1896 Thomas Foster & Son, coal merchants, Bordesley St wharf
 
Well looking at the Cleenol site it looks like they trace their metamorphosis back to the 1700s !

“Cleenol, a private family-owned company tracing its roots to the 1700s, originated as a timber business in the West Midlands. Evolving with the times, it ventured into canal-related industries, from supplying timber to becoming boat builders and coal merchants during the canal's heyday.”

“Teepol led to the birth of Cleenol, as Mr. Neville Foster pioneered its production and expansion.”

www.cleenol.com

About Cleenol | Cleenol | Cleaning Manufacturer

Learn about Cleenol's 75-year legacy of innovation and dedication to quality. From our humble beginnings to global recognition, discover the story behind our commitment to excellence.
www.cleenol.com www.cleenol.com
 
Pedrocut said:
The mention of teepol is interesting as the production of Teapol liquid detergent by Shell began at Stanlow in 1941.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for your response.
The story I was told was that prior to WW2 washing up was done using soap flakes or a small piece of soap in a wire cage suspended under the taps. During the war the government needed the raw materials used to make soap for the war effort and asked Shell to come up with an alternative. They developed TEEPOL the first liquid detergent. Nobody knows why they chose that name. They knew they had a retail market but asked the brothers who ran the coal business to see if they could interest industrial customers in it. They did, and sales took off. Initially they bought in packed product but then took in in tankers and bottled it themselves, into glass bottles and metal tins. They then employed their own chemist to formulate a range of complimentary products and Cleenol was formed. Twin brothers Samuel and Neville Foster ran the business at that time, and eventually they split it, the first taking the coal and the other the chemicals.
 
mikejee said:
Previous to 1897 Kellys directory (remembering that date was publication date and may refer to year before)

1884 No foster coal merchant listed in directory
1888-1892 John, William & Thomas Foster, coal merchants, Bordesley St wharf
1895 John, William & Thomas Foster, coal & coke merchants, Bordesley St wharf
1896 Thomas Foster & Son, coal merchants, Bordesley St wharf
Click to expand...
Very useful. Many thanks
 
82 Fazeley Street

and Teepol in the 1950s



Source: British Newspaper Archive
 

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The divisional sales offices in the 1950s.

Source: British Newspaper Archive
 

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There is also a present Company called Teepol, and they say “Teepol was the name given to the first modern cleaning product developed in the UK in 1938. Since then, Teepol has become an international brand, operating across the globe.

It could be that Teepol was developed just before or at the start of the war at Stanlow where production started in 1941. They also produced something Teepodol and Teepex, which may give a clue to the naming.
 
Well the Cleenol site traces back their family history back to the 1700s and mentions timber, but failed to mention this from the Birmingham Journal of July 1860…

IMG_1884.jpeg
 
Who founded T Foster and Sons ?
From the obituary in the Birmingham Post (1966) for John Sproston Foster it states that he was joint MD with his twin brother Neville T Foster of T. Foster and Sons. Also it states that the Company was founded by their grandfather Thomas Foster in 1860.

On the 1911 census we see Samuel Foster (42), Coal Merchant, as the father of John and Neville who was born in Tipton.
On the 1871 census Samuel is 2 and his father is Thomas Foster (26) and down as a labourer in Iron Works, and also born in Tipton.

If we go back to 1861 Thomas is 16 and his father is Jabez (42) and a labourer. So something doesn’t add up.

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In May 1944 the Evening Despatch reports on cases of over supply of coal and anthracite above the Fuel Rationing Order.

The suppliers Horace Samuel Foster, Jack Sproson Foster, and Neville Foster, trading as Messrs AH Blackwell, Midland Wharf, Hampton-in-Arden.

IMG_1888.jpeg
 
The story so far. (MWS and Janice…help needed)

From the Cleenol website we are told that the Cleenol Company was founded in 1948. During WWII the Foster family were opperating coal distribution to amongst others the Shell Chemical Co. It was from this that Neville Foster pioneered the production and expansion. They maintain that Foster family can trace its roots back to the 1700s.

From post 24 and the funeral of John Sproston Foster we can see that he was the twin brother of Neville.

From the 1911 census we can see that Neville and John are 6 years old and their father was Samuel Foster (42) born in Tipton, and at that time a coal merchant, living in King’s Heath.

In 1901 Samuel is coal merchant in Balsall Heath and his father is Thomas Foster, born in Tipton.

In 1881 we see that Samuel is 12 and at home in Tipton with his father Thomas who is a Breeze dealer, coke.

In 1871 Thomas is 26 and Samuel is 2. Thomas is employed as a labourer in an iron works.

In 1861 we see that Thomas’s father is Jabez Foster and a labourer living in Factory Houses at canal side.

So it looks like somewhere between 1871 and 1881 Samuel’s fortunes changed from labourer to Breeze Dealer and maybe at that time T Foster and Sons passed to that side of the family ? It does not seem that the claim that Neville’s grandfather Thomas founded the firm in 1860 is correct. So who did begin the firm, and how did it pass to Neville’s side of the family ?

Interestingly there is a death in 1860 of a William Foster, Canal Carrier at Tipton.
 
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