Jump to content

Lawton family boat builders ca. 1860-1940, West Bromwich, Staffordshire?


NathanH

Featured Posts

Hi,

 

My family come from a line of canal boat builders in West Bromwich, Staffordshire.

However, we know very little about their business, boats, and whether any might still survive.

 

My great great grandfather, Edmund Lawton (1848-1922) was listed as a canal boat builder in both the 1871 and 1881 census.

His son, Edmund John Lawton (1872-1938) was listed the same in the 1901 census.

 

I’d welcome any information on the Lawton boat builders, or suggestions on how I might research this history further.

 

Much appreciated,

 

Nathan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There were a number of Boat building yards in the Tipton/West Bromwich area, are you sure that they did not work for one of them, or do you have information that suggests they were building boats in their own right?  Someone like Pete Harrison is probably your best bet for definitive information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, archie57 said:

Any connection to Sammy Lawton, latterly boating in the SE division, who came from northern parts, married an Atkins IIRC?

Thank you for the reply. Not that I’m aware. My Lawton lines are all in Wolverhampton in the early 1800s, then West Bromwich. 

47 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

There were a number of Boat building yards in the Tipton/West Bromwich area, are you sure that they did not work for one of them, or do you have information that suggests they were building boats in their own right?  Someone like Pete Harrison is probably your best bet for definitive information.

Thank you for your suggestions/thoughts. At present I don’t know if they had their own business. It may well be that they worked for others. I’ll see if my living relatives know anything more.

 

Best!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A Staffordshire directory of 1928 records:

 
Edmund John Lawton, boat builder, Piercy Boat Dock, West Bromwich.
 
Joseph Hamblet had a Piercy Blue Brick Tile and Pipe Works at West Bromwich between Pudding Green Junction and Bromford Bridge with his own boat dock, so that might give a clue to its possible location.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, Chris M Jones said:

A Staffordshire directory of 1928 records:

 
Edmund John Lawton, boat builder, Piercy Boat Dock, West Bromwich.
 
Joseph Hamblet had a Piercy Blue Brick Tile and Pipe Works at West Bromwich between Pudding Green Junction and Bromford Bridge with his own boat dock, so that might give a clue to its possible location.

Thank you Chris. Wonderful information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Derek R. said:

Wasn't there a Sam Lawton lock keeper at Cowley? May not be a relative at all, and for all I know may have been spelt differently, but the name rings a bell.

Thank you Derek. I don’t think there is a connection.

Edited by NathanH
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nathan

 

This photo is from the C&RT Archive, whether it is your kith and kin I know not.

image BW192-3-2-2-13-8-35
 

Description

Black and white photograph showing Alice Lawton's children Catherine and Barbara, with Pauline Brooks (behind the pram) on the towpath. There are narrowboats on the canal including the British Waterways butty 'Bayswater' (number 230) and a motor. There is a lock with an iron footbridge over it in the background.

Date

[mid 20th century]

Reference code

BW192/3/2/2/13/8/35

Extent & medium

1 photograph
 
 
  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, Derek R. said:

Wasn't there a Sam Lawton lock keeper at Cowley? May not be a relative at all, and for all I know may have been spelt differently, but the name rings a bell.

This was the ex-boating Sammy Lawton, moved there from Denham lock

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Derek R. said:

Wasn't there a Sam Lawton lock keeper at Cowley? May not be a relative at all, and for all I know may have been spelt differently, but the name rings a bell.

Yes Sammy Lawton &his wife Alice where at Cowley Lock for a while  they also had a boat it only seemed to get used as a sleeping area for family when they visited .

I think boat was called Kelso OR kelsly  something like that I may have been a cut n join  job as one of his phrases was the stern is on the tip @ Cowley 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Ray T said:

Nathan

 

This photo is from the C&RT Archive, whether it is your kith and kin I know not.

image BW192-3-2-2-13-8-35
 

Description

Black and white photograph showing Alice Lawton's children Catherine and Barbara, with Pauline Brooks (behind the pram) on the towpath. There are narrowboats on the canal including the British Waterways butty 'Bayswater' (number 230) and a motor. There is a lock with an iron footbridge over it in the background.

Date

[mid 20th century]

Reference code

BW192/3/2/2/13/8/35

Extent & medium

1 photograph
 
 

I also have this picture Pauline & my dad where cousins my boating family tree started when my GGG Grandad married into the Brooks & joined his  in law as a Canal Boatman 

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you to everyone who responded to my post. I have certainly uncovered some more of my history. It appears, as some suggested, that my Lawton Great great grandfather worked, building boats, at the boat dock of the Hamblett - Piercy brick works dock. Small bridges still remain on the tow path between Albion Road/Bromford Lane, that mark the entrance to the boat basin, now infilled. These bridges are lined by blue coping bricks with the mark of Hamblett.

 

http://www.birmingham-canalwalks.co.uk/Slides Sites/Bromford Jct - Netherton Slides .html

 

Another story I uncovered was that Edmund John Lawton was “asked to join fellow boat builders Fellowes, Morton and Clayton” but declined.

 

I will continue to follow the leads everyone sent to this forum. Thank you all of you for taking the time to respond. It is much appreciated.

 

Best!

 

Nathan

 

  • Greenie 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Update:

 

With the great help of the West Bromwich local history society and especially Phil Wild, the archivist of the BCNS, and books such as the very interesting Birmingham and the Black Country’s canalside industries (Ray Shill), I have made much progress on researching the boat building of my great grandfather Edmund John (EJ) Lawton and understanding the context of this aspect of my industrial heritage.

 

Briefly: From gauge data, maps, it appears that EJ was working at the Piercy boat dock (As suggested by user “Heartlands” above) until 1915 when the Hambletts brickworks closed. The boat dock occupied the former Ireland Green colliery basin, east of the brickworks, as shown on a late 19th century maps (e.g., Smethwick archives).

 

Gauge data shows that several boats were built by Hambletts with fleet numbers, but in 1904 two boats were named Ruby and Neptune. Following closure of the brickworks, new boats were built at the Piercy boat dock by EJ, and named Bill, Jack, Polly and Ted (Names I can related to family relatives). It appears as though EJ had gone into business in his own name, into the 1920s, possibly having taken over the boat dock.

 

I continue to research. Questions unanswered include:

 

Do any of the boats survive?

Are there any old photographs of the boat dock and brickworks?

Who were the later boats built for and for what purpose?

 

Thank you again to everyone who has helped with this journey. It’s fascinating to me :)

 

Wishing I had a narrow boat in which I could self isolate for the next two months!

 

Best!

 

Nathan

 

F36DE41D-D004-4A1F-8A39-287DA2A5B8B8.jpeg

2CA9FB3C-878B-4D5D-A6B6-FD302AC91CB1.jpeg

6940FE95-F9E7-48EB-B7C0-8ACC55EBA0D7.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, NathanH said:

Update:

 

With the great help of the West Bromwich local history society and especially Phil Wild, the archivist of the BCNS, and books such as the very interesting Birmingham and the Black Country’s canalside industries (Ray Shill), I have made much progress on researching the boat building of my great grandfather Edmund John (EJ) Lawton and understanding the context of this aspect of my industrial heritage.

 

Briefly: From gauge data, maps, it appears that EJ was working at the Piercy boat dock (As suggested by user “Heartlands” above) until 1915 when the Hambletts brickworks closed. The boat dock occupied the former Ireland Green colliery basin, east of the brickworks, as shown on a late 19th century maps (e.g., Smethwick archives).

 

Gauge data shows that several boats were built by Hambletts with fleet numbers, but in 1904 two boats were named Ruby and Neptune. Following closure of the brickworks, new boats were built at the Piercy boat dock by EJ, and named Bill, Jack, Polly and Ted (Names I can related to family relatives). It appears as though EJ had gone into business in his own name, into the 1920s, possibly having taken over the boat dock.

 

Best!

 

Nathan

I am not sure some of your statement above is correct, and it was me who originally collated the data that is now published on the B.C.N.S. website. My own database is much more comprehensive and is based upon 4 sets of B.C.N. Gauge Registers along with additional fields of data.

 

There is nothing in the B.C.N. Gauge Registers to state where a boat was built, so are you making assumptions that these were all new boats or do you have additional records to draw upon. On the top of a B.C.N. Gauge Table is a 'Late Number' which when completed denotes a previous B.C.N. gauging - and about 25% of those boats you have listed were not new as they have a recorded 'Late Number', including both RUBY and NEPTUNE.

 

Did you look at the relevant B.C.N. Gauge Registers or have you taken the gauge database at face value :captain:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, pete harrison said:

I am not sure some of your statement above is correct, and it was me who originally collated the data that is now published on the B.C.N.S. website. My own database is much more comprehensive and is based upon 4 sets of B.C.N. Gauge Registers along with additional fields of data.

 

There is nothing in the B.C.N. Gauge Registers to state where a boat was built, so are you making assumptions that these were all new boats or do you have additional records to draw upon. On the top of a B.C.N. Gauge Table is a 'Late Number' which when completed denotes a previous B.C.N. gauging - and about 25% of those boats you have listed were not new as they have a recorded 'Late Number', including both RUBY and NEPTUNE.

 

Did you look at the relevant B.C.N. Gauge Registers or have you taken the gauge database at face value :captain:

Hi Pete,

 

Thank you for the question/clarification :)

 

I am going on the information provided to me by the BCNS on the gauging, as I understood it. I didn’t do this aspect of the research myself, and have limited understanding of these records. I would agree that there are some assumptions, but with certainty EJ was a boatbuilder at that boat dock. It would not be too much of a leap to assume boats named after his family members were built by him. But I agree, I don’t have concrete evidence for this. As for the earlier hambletts boats, as EJ was a boat builder at the boat dock at that time, some of the boats may have been built by him. Again, the concrete evidence is elusive.

 

Best!

 

Nathan

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, NathanH said:

Hi Pete,

 

Thank you for the question/clarification :)

 

I am going on the information provided to me by the BCNS on the gauging, as I understood it. I didn’t do this aspect of the research myself, and have limited understanding of these records. I would agree that there are some assumptions, but with certainty EJ was a boatbuilder at that boat dock. It would not be too much of a leap to assume boats named after his family members were built by him. But I agree, I don’t have concrete evidence for this. As for the earlier hambletts boats, as EJ was a boat builder at the boat dock at that time, some of the boats may have been built by him. Again, the concrete evidence is elusive.

 

Best!

 

Nathan

 

It was not at all uncommon for boatyards to buy and sell boats, with re-namings taking place as they changed hands. There is little information relating to the detailed operations of most boatyards, and due to their concentration those across the B.C.N. can be particularly problematic - but good luck with your researches :captain:

  • Happy 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am glad, Nathan, you found my book of use, it was written a few years ago now.

 

The map reproduced of the estate is a useful guide to the extent of the Hambletts site.

 

The LNWR Goods depot was Albion Interchange Basin

 

Ray Shill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.