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HJ Bray Ltd Wilnecote Tamworth

N

Nix

New Member
At the age of 21 my dad served his apprenticeship as a carpenter with HJ Bray Ltd based in Nine Foot Lane, Wilnecote Tamworth between the years 1950 and 1955. During this time he worked quite extensively in the workshops cutting asbestos materials to be used on site in the building of new council homes and garages in the Tamworth area. This was the only time he worked with asbestos during his career.

Last year my dad was diagnosed with asbestosis as a result of working with asbestos all those years ago. Unfortunately despite the great efforts of his solicitor and our own enquiries with people my dad worked with during this time, we have not been able to identify the name of the insurance company HJ Bray Ltd used which will allow us to pursue a claim against them.

My dad has worked all his life, never asked for a handout from anyone and has a work ethic to be proud of and I for one feel he deserves the compensation due to him.

If there is anyone out there that can help me and has any information about HJ Bray and their insurers, I would be very glad to hear from you.

Many Thanks
 
Hello Nix I am so sorry to hear about your Dad's illness. I live quite close to Ninefoot Lane but have not heard of HJ Bray they must have been before my time. The only other suggestion I can make is a plea in the local paper as I would think others may have been affected at thei time. The local paper is The Tamworth Herald and they are online so a google search may help.
 
Hi Wendy

We know that there are others that have been affected, in some cases the people concerned have now since died, however their family like us is trying to find details of the insurers. Even the Inland Revenue and Companies House do not hold records that far back! We are going to suggest to the solicitor to try the council who we are hoping may have something in their archives, but i think this too is a bit of a long shot.

We are also going to try the library to look through old newspapers to see if we can find anything. Unfortunately the people who owned the business or worked in the offices at the time have passed away as far as we know, I am beginning to wonder if they actually had insurance.

The solicitor has been able to find insurance details of the company that took over HJ Bray however they say they have no records of who the insurance company was that HJ Bray used, which I find a little odd!!

Anyway I think your advice to go through the Tamworth Herald is a great idea already suggested to my dad which I think we will definitiely have to pursue. As I said to him you only need one person to know the answer!

Thanks Again Wendy.
 
Hi Nix
I am sorry to hear about your fathers illness, all those years ago people just got on with their work and were unaware of the dangers of asbestos.

Have you thought of obtaining the Company records from Companies House, H.J.Bray Ltd company number 00436648 date of incorporation 9 June 1947 last filed accounts in 1999 and although it seems as if they are not trading the company is still listed as being active. If you obtain a copy of the accounts the address of the directors and possibly the name of the accountant may be listed and as a person involved in the company financial dealings and he may know who the insurers were. Does it have to be the insurers from the 1940's I wonder.

As you have the company number and name you could also try Birmingahm Library Buisness section Tel: 0121 303 4511 and ask if they could give you the address of the directors. Your solicitor could then perhaps write to them.

I also think that H.J.Bray are listed as founder members of the Etheifleda Lodge of Masons who meet Apr to Oct in the Tamworth Masonic Rooms, Lichfield street Tamworth, I amy be wrong but I think masons always seem to use the services of someone in the Mason network and members lists are on their website so you could cross check names and occupations against a directory to see if they were insurers or speak to someone there for information. https://www.ethelfleda.co.uk/about_us/founders/

You could also try the Financial Services Authority on 08456061234 about tracing insurance firms who have closed etc https://www.biba.org.uk/ComplaintsandTracing.aspx

You may also find some help in this code of prictice for tracing employers liability insurance PDF https://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/codedocument.pdf

Hope some of this helps you and your family
All the best
Louisa
 
Hi Louisa

Thank you so much for this information. I know that some of the avenues of investigation you have suggested have already been pursued with no positive outcome, however I will pass your suggestions to our solicitor to further assist her in her investigations.

Thanks again

Kind Regards

Nicola
 
Hi Nix, sorry to hear about your father's illness. I know someone who did his apprenticeship with Brays, as a bricklayer. We came to Tamworth in March 1972 and they were still operating then, or if they were not, there was still a sign indicating they were once there.

I hope you get the results you want, both for your family and your father's sake.

Shortie
 
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