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The Gaskins

helpfulwords57 said:
Right! I will do a streetview walk online, thanks for the suggestion. I would very much like to obtain an image or two of domestic buildings where the Gaskins lived and worked. Olton is Solihull area? (always correct me if I'm wrong). I was born in Boldmere, just south of Sutton Coldfield, so I'm best with Aston, Bordesley, Deritend etc and I know central B'ham. Together we can shed a lot of light.
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Try this. St Bernard's Road where there are still a number of large houses.
Those with gardens going down to Olton Mere are on the right.
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pjmburns said:
Arthur's father, Henry, is on census records as a "japanner".
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Yes indeed, and according to a memoir written by Georgie Gaskin in 1929, Henry Gaskin was a "decorative artist who painted mainly portraits and drifted into furniture decoration when the taste for japanned pieces became fashionable in the late nineteenth century". [See HERE}

Around 1865 Henry moved his family to Wolverhampton presumably because Wolverhampton had large works (and so jobs) for japanning furniture and metal goods. By 1871 he had become a japanning foreman. But by 1881 (then aged about 50yrs) he was recorded as being unemployed - coinciding with the decline in the British japanning industry due to changing Victorian fashions and the rise of cheaper and mass-produced electroplated metal items. (Birmingham had japanning works too but I think they tended to specialise in japanning papier-mâché goods).
 
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pjmburns said:
I might be wrong but......I think the house might still be there.

1912 directory
View attachment 231693

This is house #16 today
View attachment 231697
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This is VERY exciting and I really appreciate your time and interest. It seems unlikely that the houses in this particular road would have been re-numbered? There would be no need. Let me see if I can find some extra details to make this more concrete & solid...
 
Astoness said:
as you most likely know rosie the aston area has suffered a lot of demolision over the years but yes please give us some addresses and we can see if they still exist

lyn
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Lyn I now have "3 Whitmore [ I think 'Road'], Bordesley" for 1881... Which map might be best to consult, to see what kind of property this was? Rosie
 
Neil M said:
Yes indeed, and according to a memoir written by Georgie Gaskin in 1929, Henry Gaskin was a "decorative artist who painted mainly portraits and drifted into furniture decoration when the taste for japanned pieces became fashionable in the late nineteenth century". [See HERE}

Around 1865 Henry moved his family to Wolverhampton presumably because Wolverhampton had large works (and so jobs) for japanning furniture and metal goods. By 1871 he had become a japanning foreman. But by 1881 (then aged about 50yrs) he was recorded as being unemployed - coinciding with the decline in the British japanning industry due to changing Victorian fashions and the rise of cheaper and mass-produced electroplated metal items. (Birmingham had japanning works too but I think they tended to specialise in japanning papier-mâché goods).
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So Yes, bravo, Arthur J Gaskin's father was indeed a decorative artist, and I can see him (the father) in the records as being in London at one point, was he studying at a College or similar?... and I wonder if we can find any portraits he painted? It's a skilled occupation; I paint but portraits are hard!
 
Sadly I have to say that I now think there has been a renumbering.
1911 census summary book
1792133051067.png

1915 directory
1792133082906.png
On both these lists the only way to count from 16 to 20 numbering all the houses is to go consecutively.

However, I am not sure whether that was the case as there is a 17 on the other side of the road in 1915. So I am left baffled.
 
helpfulwords57 said:
Lyn I now have "3 Whitmore [ I think 'Road'], Bordesley" for 1881... Which map might be best to consult, to see what kind of property this was? Rosie
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no 3 is now a computer shop...of course back in 1881 most were just normal houses..click on link below for todays st view..

lyn

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Neil M said:
Just a summary (from internet searches) of where they lived and when:

View attachment 231735
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Hey Neil, this is ever so useful. Thank you for your searching and summarising, this is exactly what we need. I'm eager to see if we can pin down the location of their 'first married home and early workshop', to try and understand how they set themselves up as designers and marketers of what they created. Reports suggest that they taught themselves jewellery making etc. as adults, having been 'just artists/painters' previously. I'm thinking they wouldn't be short of metal to use, given what B'ham was making?
 
pjmburns said:
It doesn't help that the house names change as well.
Pity the postman
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haha... in the past I've spent days wandering round estates, trying to work out the numbering, knocking on doors if I dare (not so easy now that we are all much more suspicious). Time gone by, everyone would know everyone else in their own road and the next...
 
S
helpfulwords57 said:
haha... in the past I've spent days wandering round estates, trying to work out the numbering, knocking on doors if I dare (not so easy now that we are all much more suspicious). Time gone by, everyone would know everyone else in their own road and the next...
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Somebody we might be able to ask, I found this comment on Facebook, from the local Library...
"History comes to Olton!
The Lost Houses of St.Bernards Road, Olton Solihull.
Local historian Keith Staples has put together another fascinating exhibition and look back at bygone days in Olton and the surrounding area. Aerial views of the lost houses and gardens in St. Bernards Road.This exhibition starts on Saturday 12th October. [was 2024, there were photos]
 
I think that the house in St Bernard's Road had a large enough garden for a workshop.
Haven't investigated Calthorpe address or looked for other years on erolls.
 
Neil M said:
While they lived in Olton, Arthur Gaskin was the Headmaster of the Vittoria Street School for Jewellers and Silversmiths at 82-86 Vittoria Street (still there in B1 3PA). So St Bernards Rd in Olton might indeed have been their primary residence whilst Calthorpe Road was a secondary property or perhaps rented for convenience. Well it's a theory!!
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By the 1921 census the Gaskin family are no longer living in St Bernard's Road
 
Post #43 suggests they were on Olton until and1924 but in 1921 directory they are at 13 Calthorpe Road. I haven't looked on census yet
 
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