TonyP61
By Hammer & Hand
Hello Everyone
This is my first post so please forgive its length. It would be also helpful to know if this should be posted to any other forum.
I hope someone may be able to help (or offer suggestions) in respect of on-going research I am conducting into The Birmingham Guild of Handicraft (later The Birmingham Guild Ltd.).
I intend to write and publish an extensive history of The Guild and to date I have tracked down and visited most of the descendants of those involved with running the Guild over its long history. I have also accessed the records held at the National Art Library, the National Archives, Birmingham Archives, National Newspaper Archives etc. However, there are still a few gaps that I hope to fill. One relates to photographs of the Guild and its various workshops.
It’s probably easiest if I list the various locations and record what images I have (or haven’t) got and hope that someone may have come across photographs of these buildings/locations.
1890 - First Workshops at the old Kyrle Society Hall, Lawrence Street – nothing!
1892 – Second Workshop, 4 ½ Lower Priory – nothing!
1894 – Third workshop, the new Kyrle Hall, Sheep Street (now under Aston University) – I have wood engraved illustrations of the building’s exterior and a few illustrations of the interior workshops plus exterior photographs of the building but sadly no photos of the interior. The building was designed by W H Bidlake.
1898 – Purpose built workshops 45 Great Charles Street – I have exterior photographs and a design drawing of this building and a handful of interior images (all circa 1916) but am keen to find more, especially earlier ones.
1923 to the late 1970s – Grosvenor Street West (the factory of Hart, Son, Peard & Co.) – happily the interior of this factory was extensively photographed over the years but to date I have no image of the exterior which I believe was recently demolished.
The Guild was run for much of the twentieth century by two brothers, Hugh and Llewelyn Roberts and was split into four divisions:
The Roberts family sold out in 1974 to the Smith Brothers (formerly trading as Hill’s Glass) who then took over the company. It would be useful to trace any descendants of the Smith Brothers or people working for the company during its final years to try and find out what happened to the company records and the design drawings. I have been told by someone who worked at the Guild that one of the brothers was called Brian, one was an accountant and one had a child. The family home was apparently Dorridge Manor. In this last incarnation the Guild was making aluminium framed double glazing units and patio doors.
Perhaps someone reading this worked at The Guild or had family members who did and may be prepared to share their memories?
Finally, on a slightly different topic, a photograph of the Birmingham Guild Trade stand at the Midland Counties Building Trades’ Exhibition 1908 is/was in the John Whybrow Collection (it is illustrated in the BMAG ‘By Hammer and Hand’ exhibition catalogue of 1984) - does anyone know what happened to this extensive collection of Birmingham photographs as I would love to locate the original?
Thank you for your time!
This is my first post so please forgive its length. It would be also helpful to know if this should be posted to any other forum.
I hope someone may be able to help (or offer suggestions) in respect of on-going research I am conducting into The Birmingham Guild of Handicraft (later The Birmingham Guild Ltd.).
I intend to write and publish an extensive history of The Guild and to date I have tracked down and visited most of the descendants of those involved with running the Guild over its long history. I have also accessed the records held at the National Art Library, the National Archives, Birmingham Archives, National Newspaper Archives etc. However, there are still a few gaps that I hope to fill. One relates to photographs of the Guild and its various workshops.
It’s probably easiest if I list the various locations and record what images I have (or haven’t) got and hope that someone may have come across photographs of these buildings/locations.
1890 - First Workshops at the old Kyrle Society Hall, Lawrence Street – nothing!
1892 – Second Workshop, 4 ½ Lower Priory – nothing!
1894 – Third workshop, the new Kyrle Hall, Sheep Street (now under Aston University) – I have wood engraved illustrations of the building’s exterior and a few illustrations of the interior workshops plus exterior photographs of the building but sadly no photos of the interior. The building was designed by W H Bidlake.
1898 – Purpose built workshops 45 Great Charles Street – I have exterior photographs and a design drawing of this building and a handful of interior images (all circa 1916) but am keen to find more, especially earlier ones.
1923 to the late 1970s – Grosvenor Street West (the factory of Hart, Son, Peard & Co.) – happily the interior of this factory was extensively photographed over the years but to date I have no image of the exterior which I believe was recently demolished.
The Guild was run for much of the twentieth century by two brothers, Hugh and Llewelyn Roberts and was split into four divisions:
Architectural Metalwork
Aircraft Components
Hart Agricultural (muck spreaders, potato elevators and latterly general fabrication)
Foundry (trading as Hart, Son, Peard & Co.)
The Roberts family sold out in 1974 to the Smith Brothers (formerly trading as Hill’s Glass) who then took over the company. It would be useful to trace any descendants of the Smith Brothers or people working for the company during its final years to try and find out what happened to the company records and the design drawings. I have been told by someone who worked at the Guild that one of the brothers was called Brian, one was an accountant and one had a child. The family home was apparently Dorridge Manor. In this last incarnation the Guild was making aluminium framed double glazing units and patio doors.
Perhaps someone reading this worked at The Guild or had family members who did and may be prepared to share their memories?
Finally, on a slightly different topic, a photograph of the Birmingham Guild Trade stand at the Midland Counties Building Trades’ Exhibition 1908 is/was in the John Whybrow Collection (it is illustrated in the BMAG ‘By Hammer and Hand’ exhibition catalogue of 1984) - does anyone know what happened to this extensive collection of Birmingham photographs as I would love to locate the original?
Thank you for your time!
