The Industrial Town

Locks and Keys
Willenhall's manufacturers, like those in the neighbouring towns, originally worked in small workshops, often in a small yard behind a family home, where at times the whole family would be involved in the manufacturing process. As time progressed, the town's industry was dominated by the lock and key makers. By the 1850s when lock factories began to appear, there were more than 300 lock makers, 90 key makers, and a dozen or so key stampers, working in small workshops throughout the town.

As the number of manufacturing firms increased, and the local transport network improved, large factories were built, completely changing the Black Country landscape. The factories increased in size and number. By the Second World War there were around 200 factories in the town, both large and small, along with 40 or so workshops.

An important development happened in 1830 when James Carpenter and John Young designed a door rimlock with a perpendicular action, which led to the development of the modern mortice lock. Carpenter and Young had a joint patent which they agreed to divide into two halves, giving Young the right to make mortice locks, and Carpenter the right to produce a perpendicular action rim lock, which became known as "Carpenters lift up lock". His business grew and he built a large factory in New Road, known as Summerford Works. James' daughter, Harriet married James Tildesley.

When James Carpenter died in 1844, John Carpenter and James Tildesley inherited the business, Carpenter and Company, which in 1851 became Carpenter and Tildesley. James dissolved his partnership with John Carpenter and became the sole owner of the company.


An advert from 1938.
James Carpenter was an ardent church goer who became a Wesleyan Methodist due to the antics of the Rev. William Moreton, curate of St. Giles' Church. He was a keen supporter of Wolverhampton's Member of Parliament, C. P. Villiers, and is buried in a vault on the east side of Union Street Methodist Church.


An advert from 1938.

 All kinds of locks were produced in the town, including padlocks, lever locks, and Bramah locks; but another form of lock, the cylinder pin tumbler lock, would revolutionise the local industry, leading to several large factories, and greatly increased production.
 

Two adverts from 1938.


An advert showing a pin tumbler lock, from 1938.

 One of the town's largest lock factories, which stood in Wood Street, was originally built by H. and T. Vaughan, a business established in 1856 by Henry, William and Thomas Vaughan, the sons of lockmaker Able Vaughan.

On 6th December, 1869 Willenhall Local Board approved plans for the factory in Wood Street, and in 1872 approved plans for a second factory in Union Street.

Around 1910 the company extensively developed the cylinder pin tumbler lock which had been invented in America by Linus Yale, and improved by his son Linus junior. The lock became extremely popular, and few houses were without them.

H. and T. Vaughan became the largest manufacturer of door locks in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

Henry Vaughan, son of Abel Vaughan. He was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School, and became a Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire, and President of the Wolverhampton Chamber of Commerce. He was also a County Councillor, and a member of Willenhall School Board.


An advert from 1938.

 Thomas Vaughan also became a Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire.

In 1935 two bells were given to St. Giles' Church as a memorial to Mr. and Mrs Henry Vaughan.

In 1928, when Vaughan's managing director, Joseph Starkey died, the family decided to sell their business to the American firm, Yale and Towne Manufacturing Company, the original inventors of the lock.

This allowed the American company to begin producing the 'Yale' cylinder pin tumbler lock in the UK with a ready made factory and workforce.

Cylinder pin tumbler locks were also made in Willenhall by Josiah Parkes & Sons, Enoch Tonks & Sons, Arthur Shaw & Company Limited, Century Locks Limited, and J. Legge.

Two adverts for padlock manufacturers, from 1938.
   
Read Samuel Griffiths' description of Willenhall and its industries in the early 1870s
   
Originally all lock parts were hand made, often being filed from square or round iron bars. Other parts were forged on the anvil then filed to final size and shape. Holes were punched-in on a vice, or anvil, and drilled with a bow and stock.

A file was one of the most important tools used by the lockmaker. Children of only 9 or 10 years old were taught to file, which they did for many hours each day, continually bending over their work. As a result of starting at such an early age, many of them developed humped backs, twisted shoulders, and even bent legs, which led to the town's nickname "Humpshire".

Some public houses even had hollows in the wall behind the bench seats, so that customers could sit upright, with their hump in the hollow.


An advert from 1938.
 

Two adverts for cabinet lock manufacturers, from 1938.


An advert from 1938.

 It took a long time for the lock industry to be mechanised. Low wages meant that large numbers of people could be employed in the industry, turning out vast numbers of locks by hand.

The manufacturing process was speeded-up in the late 1830s when cheap malleable iron castings became available. The cast parts were accurately produced and only needed a little filing to clean them up, and finish them off. This process also simplified key making with the introduction of key castings.

Another manufacturing aid came in the form of the fly-press developed by Isaac Mason. The press allowed large numbers of parts to be quickly and accurately pressed out from a die, saving much time and labour.
 

Two adverts for rim and dead lock manufacturers, from 1938.
The most important lockmakers in the town in the late 1800s included:
 
Beddows & Sturmey
Carpenter & Tildesley
John Harper and Company Limited
William Harper
Joseph Legge and Company
John Miners & Sons
Enoch Tonks & Sons
J. Waine & Sons
H & T. Vaughan


An advert from 1938.
 

Two very different adverts from Josiah Parkes, the one on the left from 1938, the other from 1919.


The former offices of Josiah Parkes & Sons Limited.


An advert from 1938.

 Eventually the industry did become more mechanised, often with special-purpose machines that were tended by female workers. The various components were made by machine, with the final assembly and finishing carried out by skilled locksmiths. As a result, the manufacturers produced a vast array of different locks, for almost every use, and supplied many industries such as shipbuilding, aircraft building, military vehicle makers, and the railways, both at home and abroad.

Willenhall greatly prospered thanks to the lock industry, which survived until recent times. Sadly it began to decline in the late 1980s, due in the main to cheap foreign imports. Many businesses were taken over, or amalgamated, and many others soon disappeared.

In its heyday there were over 4,000 people employed in the town's lockmaking industry, but this number rapidly reduced in the 1990s, until today only a handful of skilled lock makers remain.

If you want to read more about the local lock making firms, please look at the Gazetteer of lock and Key Makers, which is also on this website. Because of this, I have deliberately kept the description of the industry short, rather than duplicate what is already there.

View the Gazetteer of lock and Key Makers


An advert from 1938.


An advert from 1938.

One of the last workshops in the town where locks are still made. It belongs to A. Lewis & Sons.

The company still manufactures high quality brass cabinet locks.


Part of A. Lewis & Sons workshop.

Other Industries


An advert from 1938.

 Like its neighbours, Willenhall had a wide variety of manufacturers, producing all kinds of metal goods. There were brass foundries, die sinkers, drop forgers, grey iron and malleable iron foundries, bolt manufacturers, and companies producing all kinds of presswork.

Willenhall became famous throughout the Black Country for its grey iron castings produced by such firms as John Harper, William Harper, Charles Perks, William Horton, and Thomas Pedley. Large numbers of malleable iron castings were also made in the town.

Malleable iron was cheaper than steel, and just as good for many applications. Castings were produced by Charles Perks, Star Foundry, John Harper, William Horton, and at many other local foundries.

In 1917 Josiah Parkes & Sons Limited acquired Wolverhampton based Crane Foundry, where large numbers of castings of all kinds were produced. Crane Foundry remained in their hands until 1945 when it was sold to Qualcast.

There were also foundries producing non-ferrous castings, including C. & L. Hills, J. Parkes junior, Pioneer Castings, Wye Foundry, and Knowles Foundry.


An advert from the early 1880s.


A company letterhead from 1936.

John Harper was second son of John Harper senior, a hardware merchant in Willenhall.

John Harper junior became a Justice of the Peace for Staffordshire, County Councillor for North Bilston, and served on the Willenhall School Board. He was a staunch Liberal, and close friend of C. P. Villiers, M.P.

He was a prominent Wesleyan and a lifelong teetotaller. As well as being the principal shareholder, chairman of the directors, and general manager of John Harper & Company, he was proprietor of the Bilston Windmill Cement and Plaster Company, and a Fellow of the Imperial Institute.

He extensively travelled throughout the world.


John Harper junior.
   
Albion Works, one of the oldest factories in Willenhall, run by John Harper & Company Limited, was founded in 1790.

The firm not only produced locks, but also a wide range of products. Read a history of the company.
   
 

An advert for John Harper's Beatrice Belle paraffin heaters.
   
Read about C. & L. Hill Limited brass, non-ferrous, and iron founders
   


An advert from 1938.

 Another important local industry, which still survives today is drop forging. It began in Willenhall in 1812 when John Grimley moved here from Birmingham and began to produce keys, using a drop hammer.

The industry rapidly grew to become an important part of local manufacturing. A vast range of products were produced, including bolts, hinges, letter boxes, staples, and every kind of ironmongery. Parts were also produced for the shipbuilding industry, cycle manufacturing, and vehicle manufacturing.

Some of the main companies were:
 
Armstrong Stevens
Criterion Stampings
Vaughan Brothers
A. Vaughan,
E. Nicklin & Sons
Platts Forgings
Victoria Drop Forgings
G. A. Tildesley & Co. Ltd.

The thud of the drop hammers would have been a familiar sound in the town.

It can still be heard today around the premises of George Dyke Limited in Doctors Piece, and W. H. Tildesley Limited in Bow Street.


George Dyke Limited in Doctors Piece.


W. H. Tildesley's Clifford Works in Bow Street.

G. A. Tildesley and Company Limited were one of the larger drop forging companies in the town.

There were also a number of patternmakers, such as the Central Patternmaking Company, catering for the numerous foundries in the area.

Both adverts are from 1938.


A company letterhead from the mid 1960s.


  One of the local firms that made parts for vehicle manufacturers.
  An advert from 1938.		 Vehicle manufacturers were supplied with all kinds of pressings from several locally based firms including Thomas Herbert and Company, George Carter and Sons, and the Willenhall Motor Radiator Company, founded in 1919. During World War 2 the company manufactured parts for the De Havilland Mosquito, and in 1951 began to produce steel cabs for ERF trucks.

In the late 1950s DKR scooters were built at the factory, and in the 1960s sheet metal motor components including wings, bonnets, petrol tanks, and shields were supplied to vehicle manufacturers. Body pressings and assemblies were also supplied to Ford. The company still exists today as part of  Caparo Modular Systems Limited, a steel engineering and automotive group, based in the UK, India and the USA.
 

Two of the many local firms producing presswork in the late 1930s. Sadly George Carter Pressings Limited closed in May, 2009.
Willenhall firms produced component parts for almost every industry.

Castings and pressings were made for lockmakers (in grey iron, malleable iron, brass, bronze, and gunmetal), and for gas stove and cooker manufacturers, bedstead makers, the electrical industry, tool manufacturers, fittings for travel goods, vehicle manufacturers, etc., etc.


One of the few screw manufacturers in the town.
 

Two of the many foundries in the area.


Another non-ferrous foundry.

 Although the town was dominated by factories working on metal goods, and known for its lockmaking, there were many other manufacturers and producers of a wide variety of products, such as those that follow:

Presswork specialists W. R. R. Pedley & Company produced high class toys, the Willenhall Box Company made cardboard boxes of every kind, Harris & Sheldon Limited made distinctive display fittings for shops etc., B. E. Wedge Limited galvanised all kinds of products, H. A. Birch & Company Limited manufactured electrical resistances, rheostats, and elements, and Grant's Bakery produced bread and confectionery.
 

Two more adverts from the late 1930s.
The Union Mill which stood on the corner of Union Street and Stafford Street, was run by John Austin. He was a miller, baker, and grocer, who became famous for something quite different.

In 1844 he introduced copper farthing tokens, which were known as Austin Farthings. In 1853 Austin left Willenhall and moved to Allscott near Wellington, where he founded an artificial manure works.

He sold his business in Willenhall to Joshua Rushbrooke who had previously worked at Birchills Mill in Walsall.
 

Both sides of an Austin token.
Rushbrooke continued to produce the farthings which still carried the 1844 date. Although the front remained unchanged, the reverse side of the token now carried Rushbrooke's name. The farthing tokens were sold to local traders at the rate of 5 shillings worth of tokens for 4 shillings and ninepence in cash.

The tokens continued in circulation until 1860 when new and smaller bronze pennies, halfpennies, and farthings were introduced. At the same time severe penalties were imposed on people using tokens, and so Rushbrooke immediately called-in his tokens, which cost him a considerable amount of money, and melted them down. He managed to sell the copper, and completely recuperate his loss. He married the eldest daughter of Richard Tildesley in 1849 and they had 11 children. In 1863 he retired, and went to live in Sutton Coldfield. He was succeeded in the business by his  son Joshua. The family-run concern survived until after the Second World War, when the building was demolished, as part of the town centre development scheme. The Rushbrooke farthing name is still remembered today, because the name of 'The Spring Vale Tavern' in St. Anne's Road has been changed to 'The Rushbrooke Farthing' in commemoration of the once well known tokens.
 

Both sides of a Rushbrooke token.
 

Two of the many and varied industries in the town.
 

Two more very different manufacturing companies.
 

More adverts from the late 1930s.
 

Three final adverts from the late 1930s.
   
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