Smethwick Industry in 1859

SMETHWICK; The substratum in the northern part appears to contain a good supply of coal, J. W. Unett, Esq., a proprietor of land in the parish, having, after boring to the depth of 220 yards, at an expense of £1200, found coal measures corresponding with those of a pit which has been sunk by Joshua Horton, Esq., a mile from the spot, and also with one belonging to Lord Dartmouth, about a mile and a half distant, in the parish of West Bromwich, both which pits have a seam of excellent coal, ten yards in thickness. There are likewise pits of good gravel, which is used for the roads.

Of the manufactories established in the district, the principal are some very extensive works, in which more than 700 persons are employed in the manufacture of various kinds of glass, and of the several chemical products connected with glass-making, upon a larger scale than in any other establishment in Great Britain. The chief articles are, the British window glass called crown glass; the ordinary foreign window glass, called German sheet-glass, introduced into this country within the last ten years, by Mr. Robert Lucas Chance, the senior partner of the firm; and French shades, also of his introduction, and which are blown into oval, square, or circular forms of large dimensions, some exceeding three feet six inches in height, and one foot nine inches in diameter. A new description of plate-glass, made by grinding and polishing German sheet-glass, by a process recently invented by one of the partners, is exclusively made here; and the other branches carried on in the works include, stained and ornamental glass, glass for optical purposes, and sulphate and carbonate of soda in different states.

A manufactory for railway-carriages affords occupation to 650 persons; the Smethwick soap, soda, and red-lead works, which have been established for more than thirty years, employ about 100 persons; in the Smethwick foundry 230 men are constantly engaged, and some ironworks belonging to Messrs. Jones, Aspinal, and Co., are likewise extensive. The District Steel and Iron works employ 150 men in the manufacture of steel and iron, and also of spades and shovels, and of gun-barrels under contract with the East India Company and the Board of Ordnance; and the Crown Works for the manufacture of boilers, and plate and sheet iron, employ about sixty men. The hamlet is intersected by the Old Birmingham canal, with its greatly improved line of navigation, over which have been constructed six bridges, and an aqueduct of cast-iron; one of the bridges, called the Summit, or Gallon bridge, is a stately structure, of which the arch has a span of 150 feet, and an elevation of sixty feet above the water. 

 

[Description(s) from The Topographical Dictionary of England (1859) by Samuel Lewis - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]