Ilkeston Brickworks

Poundall

 Photographed by MF at the Silk Mill Museum, Derby.

Ulysses Poundall is listed as brickmaker at Cotmanhay in Kelly's 1855 edition. I also have a reference to Ulysses owning a beerhouse called the Brick & Tile Inn in Cotmanhay in White's 1857 edition. I have found on several occasions that brickmaking & being a beerhouse owner/seller of beer went hand in hand. The location of his yard is unknown, but the 1879 map as shown in the Horridge entry shows two yards (yellow & blue) on the edge of Cotmanhay & he may have owned the yellow coloured yard as William Horridge owned the blue coloured yard in 1855. This yellow coloured yard was then owned by William Beardsley in 1876 & I write about him later.

Horridge, Cotmanhay & Ilkeston

Photographed by Frank Lawson at the Silk Mill Museum, Derby.

With the help of Matt Horridge we have established there were 8 brickmakers with the name Horridge in the Cotmanhay/Ilkeston area & I have created a Horridge Tree to show their family connection. As Jonathan senior died before the 1841 census I have not been able to ascertain his profession. By following the rest of Jonathan's descendants in the census I have found if they were not brickmaking they worked as lace makers, cloth weavers or coopers.

So I start with William Horridge & his three sons James, Samuel & Joseph & the W H C brick above may have been made by William Horridge of Cotmanhay, but I have to note since photographing a West Hallam Colliery brick (4.7.17) this initialled WHC brick could have been made at the colliery instead.  

William Horridge b.1879 married Hannah Barton & they had 4 sons & 5 daughters. William is listed in Glover's 1827 edition as brickmaker & farmer. The 1841 census records William, sons James b.1811, Samuel b.1819 & Joseph b.1824 all as brickmakers in Ilkeston. I am assuming William's three sons were all working alongside him at his Cotmanhay yard.

In the 1851 census William is listed only as a brickmaker aged 71 & living at Middle Common. In August 1855 the Horridge family are recorded as living at 6, Horridge Street & Kelly's 1855 edition records William was still brickmaking at Cotmanhay. The 1861 census reveals William was still a brickmaker so he must have been made of stern stuff to still be brickmaking at the age of 81. William died on the 21st of May 1863. We also find son James had died in 1859.

In the 1851 Census at the same address his son Samuel b.1819 aged 30 is also listed as a brickmaker. Samuel is still listed as a brickmaker in the 1861 census & living with his wife Elizabeth at his mother-in-laws house on Heanor Road. Kelly's 1864 edition records Samuel as a brickmaker in Cotmanhay, therefore we know from this entry that Samuel had taken over the running of his father's brick yard after his death in 1863 & more than likely Joseph was still working alongside him. In the 1871 census Samuel is again listed as a brickmaker, but now a widower. 

I have coloured Horridge's brickworks blue on the 1879 OS map below. I have deduced the yellow coloured works was operated by the Beardsley family because this yard is no longer shown on the 1899 map & the Beardsley's last trade directory entry is 1887. However the blue coloured yard is still shown on the 1899 map & this ties in with trade directory entries for Joseph Horridge still operating this blue coloured yard in 1900. 

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1879.

Now on to William's son, Joseph Horridge b.1824 & he is recorded as brickmaker aged 37, a widower & living with his father William in the 1861 census. As wrote Joseph's brother Samuel is listed in the 1864 directory as operating the Cotmanhay yard & in Kelly's 1876 to 1900 editions we find Joseph is now recorded as the owner of this yard. Further investigation has revealed William died on the 4th of August 1873 aged 54 & it will have been at this date Joseph took over the running of the Cotmanhay yard. I believe this Cotmanhay yard closed shortly after 1900 with Joseph now 76 retiring from brickmaking. Joseph died in January 1909. 

It appears the W for William has been removed from the plate which made this Horridge brick so I expect it was made by Samuel or Joseph after 1863.

Now on to the second branch of Jonathan Horridge senior's brickmaking family lead by Jonathan junior b.1799, who was followed into the trade by his sons William b.1823 & Thomas b.1828  & then by Thomas' son Arthur who joined his father in the late 1870's. It is unknown which brickyard Johnathan junior worked at as there are no trade directory entries for him actually running his own yard. Then after being employed at different yards in Ilkeston sons William & Thomas then operated three yards of their own, one was situated on Ilkeston Common/Awsworth Road, the second was just off Nottingham Road near the Gallows Inn & the third was in Heanor. Up to yet no Horridge bricks have been found stamped with these four brickmakers first names.

Jonathan junior married Martha Bamford b.1800 on the 24th of May 1818 & they produced 2 boys & 5 girls before Martha's untimely death in May 1833. Johnathan then married Elizabeth Buxton nee Henshaw in 1833 & the couple produce three more children. In the 1841 census Jonathan aged 42, William aged 18 & Thomas aged 15 are all listed as brickmakers. Where they were all brickmaking at this date is unknown. Jonathan died aged 46 in 1845. From Matt Horridge's research I have to note that Jonathan junior's brother John born 1781, a hand loom weaver was married to another Martha Bamford who was born in 1786 & they had one son & three daughters. I bring this to your attention because several family website trees have mixed these two Martha's up & added some of Jonathan's children to John's branch, which is wrong.

I now move on to William Horridge b.1823 who is recorded in the 1851 census as a Brickmaker & Beer Seller living on Chapel Street, Ilkeston. A notice in the Ilkeston Pioneer dated 18th February 1858 records that William Horridge who had been manager at Potters brickyard for many years had purchased James Tomlinson's yard at Ilkeston Common & he was advertising that he could manufacture & supply high quality bricks from this works. William is recorded in Slater's 1863 edition at Ilkeston Common. From information found I have established that Ilkeston Common lay along side the Erewash Canal between Ilkeston & Cotmanhay. This Ilkeston Common yard was to be later run by his brother Thomas Horridge & I have coloured this yard green on the 1879 map below which was situated off Awsworth Road & next to the canal. I have to note that I have pieced this information of the location of Ilkeston Common & this yard from several sources, so I hope that what I have written is correct as there are no more brick yards shown on old maps which match up to being situated on Ilkeston Common.

  © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1879.

William continues to be listed as a brickmaker in the 61, 71, 81 & 91 census. I now bring his brother Thomas into play & Thomas b.1828 is listed in the 1851 census as a brickmaker & lodging with his future mother-in-law Mrs. Mary Sisson (b.1797) in Ilkeston. Where Thomas was brickmaking in 1851 is unknown, but I am assuming that Thomas joined his brother William at the Ilkeston Common brick yard after William had purchased it in 1858. The 1861 census now records Thomas had married Phoebe Sisson & they were living on the Twitchell, Ilkeston. The couple went on to have three daughters & one son Arthur, who was born in 1863. Phoebe died in 1864 & Thomas then married Mary Sisson (b.1834) in 1865. Thomas & Mary are listed in the 1871 census with Thomas' children & one new son Thomas junior. I checked to see if Phoebe Sisson & Mary Sisson were sisters, but found no connection of them being sisters, so they may have been cousins.  

I next found an advert in the Ilkeston Pioneer newspaper dated 23rd of February 1871 giving notice of "Sale of Plant" by W. & T. Horridge, so I am assuming William & Thomas were going their separate ways. However trade directories reveal Thomas continued to run the Ilkeston Common brickworks with him being listed in Kelly's 1876 & 1881 editions as owning a brickworks on Awsworth Road (Ilkeston Common). The 1881 census records brickmaker Thomas, wife Mary & their 6 children were living on Awsworth Road & son Arthur aged 18 was now a brickmaker, so I am assuming he was working alongside his father. Kelly's 1887 & 1891 editions now record that the Horridge's were running a second works on Nottingham Road (Gallows Inn, Ilkeston) as well as their Awsworth Road works. The 1891 census records the Horridge family still living on Awsworth Road with Thomas & Arthur (still single) listed as brickmakers. The exact year Thomas & Arthur finished brickmaking is unknown, but it may have been just before 1895 when Thomas Benniston is recorded as owning the Nottingham Road Works. It is unknown what year the Awsworth Road works closed, but may have also been in 1895. With the 1901 census recording Thomas' wife Mary as a Widow, Matt Horridge has informed me that Thomas died on the 6th of July 1897.  My next search was for the whereabouts of Arthur & what he was doing in 1901 & I have found a Arthur Horridge of the right age born in 1863 & listed as a Cemetery Superintendent living in Ilkeston with his wife Sarah, 2 boys & 2 girls ranging from 1 to 7. Matt Horridge has confirmed I have found the correct Arthur & he had married Sarah in 1891 after the 1891 census which records him still at home & single. 

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1880.

The 1880 OS map above shows three brickworks off Nottingham Road at Gallows Inn & I have established that the blue coloured yard was owned by the Erewash Ironworks Co. & was operational between 1880 & 1900. The green coloured works was owned by Isaac Wilson & John Wilson & then by the Cordon Brothers. So this leaves the yellow works as being owned by Thomas Horridge as recorded in Kelly's 1887 & 1891 editions. This yellow works had been owned by Mathew Hobson in 1882 & listed as Hallam Fields. I write about Mathew Hobson next. 

After Thomas Horridge had finished at this yellow coloured yard trade directories record Thomas Benniston had taken over this works by 1895 & he was the proprietor of the Gallows Inn Brick & Tile Company & write about him later in the post. 

Going back to Thomas' brother William Horridge & after they had gone their separate ways in the early 1870's William continues to be a listed as a brickmaker in the 1881 & 1891 census. I then found an advert in the Ilkeston Pioneer newspaper dated 28th August 1879 which exclaims with the heading of Bricks! Bricks! & the announcement that William Horridge now rents Tutin's brickyard, Ilkeston & is preparing to supply bricks by rail or land & these bricks were to be sold at market prices. So where was Tutin's brickyard situated in Ilkeston ? The 1881 census records William was living on Awsworth Road, but by the 1891 census he was living on Lacey Fields Road, Heanor with his daughter Georgina aged 28. A search for Lacey Fields Road has revealed this road was in Langley, Heanor, north of Ilkeston. Maps also show Lacey Fields Farm & near to this farm on the 1899 OS map there is a disused clay pit which was accessed from Lacey Fields Road, so with these findings they indicate Tutin's yard was in Langley, Heanor & not Ilkeston & William was running it up to & shortly after the 1891 census with him still being recorded as a brickmaker aged 67. I have not been able to find William in the 1901 census, but Matt Horridge has informed me that he died in July 1904. Many Thanks Matt for the info you have sent me which fills in many blanks. Matt is a descendant of another of Jonathan senior's sons, Thomas born 1793.  

M.Hobson

Photo by MF courtesy of Erewash Museum, Ilkeston.

Wright's 1882 edition records Mathew Hobson as farmer & brick maker at Hallam Fields & his yard is the one which I have coloured yellow on the 1880 map below. White's 1857 edition records Mathew as farmer & living at Field House, Ilkeston, (also shown on the map below in yellow). So it appears that Mathew took up brickmaking around 1882 & his yard was not to far from where he lived & farmed. This yard was then taken over by Thomas Horridge in 1887.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1880.

Photo by MF courtesy of the Andy Mcauley Collection at the Marlpool Brewing Co. 

Tomlinson, Ilkeston

  Tomlinson rev. Ilkeston brick photographed at the Silk Mill Museum, Derby by Frank Lawson.

Finding info for this Tomlinson/Ilkeston brick had eluded me as I had found no trade directory entries in this name at Ilkeston, Tomlinson's in Derby yes, but none in Ilkeston. I then found the answer in a Ilkeston Pioneer newspaper at Ilkeston Library dated 18.2.1858. It was a notice by William Horridge announcing that he had taken over James Tomlinson's yard at Ilkeston Common & he was advertising that he could manufacture & supply high quality bricks from this works. It was then a case of establishing the location of Ilkeston Common. It was from a very old map that revealed that Ilkeston Common was situated between Cotmanhay & Ilkeston with Bennerley Bridge over the canal on the northern edge of the Common. So on the 1879 map below, I have coloured James yard green & Bennerley bridge is where it says Bridge Street near to the top of the map with Bennerley Colliery on the other side of the canal. A second reference to the location of this works comes from Thomas Horridge's 1876 listing as owning the same brick yard, but listed as Awsworth Road. So with all this information, I have established that James Tomlinson made his bricks at this yard on the Common before 1858, but not as early as 1855 because James is not listed in Kelly's 1855 trade directory.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1879.

Wilson - Cordon Brothers

Wilson/Ilkeston brick photographed at Silk Mill Museum, Derby by Frank Lawson.

I have a choice of two brickmakers by the name of Wilson who made this brick. Isaac Wilson is listed in Kelly's 1849 & 1855 editions at Nottingham Road, Ilkeston, then in White's 1857 edition Isaac is listed at Gallows Inn. Harrison's 1860 edition also lists Isaac at Gallows Inn. Kelly's 1864 edition then lists John Wilson on Nottingham Road. So John could be Isaac's son or brother. I have established from a 1875 newspaper advert that the Wilson's owned the green coloured yard on Nottingham Road & named as the Gallows Inn Works (brick) on the 1880 map below.

Found this tile at Fletcher's Reclamation yard in Spondon in May 2021. There was only this one example, hence me having to stick it together with super-glue. Below is a smooth faced paver made by Isaac or John Wilson which is in Dean Fletcher's collection at Spondon.

So this Ilkeston Pioneer newspaper article mentioned earlier dated 28.10.1875 states that the Cordon Brothers had taken over the Gallows Inn brickyard from John Wilson & this yard had been established some 50 years previous by the Wilsons. The advert then goes on to say that the Cordon Brothers would like to inform their customers & friends that after very extensive alterations as to enable them to make all classes of brick to meet the requirements of the trade & they hope to merit a fair share of public patronage. Kelly's 1876 edition records the Cordon Brothers as brickmaking on Nottingham Road & then Wright's 1879 edition lists the Cordon Brothers at Gallows Inn, but this brick works did not last for very long under the Cordon Brothers as we next find in another Ilkeston Pioneer article dated 13.3.1882 that states "Clearance Sale Thursday 28th, late Wilson, Gallows Inn Brickworks. The notice continues with the Works is to be Let, signed I. Attenborough & dated 13.3.1882. We then find on the 1899 map the buildings are still there but not marked as a brickworks. Then the 1913 map shows an empty field. Today this former brickworks is an industrial estate & houses have been built on Gallows Inn Close. 

In September 2022 I had the great pleasure in finding a Cordon Bros paver at Fletcher's reclamation yard in Langley Mill, it was the only one. Although this paver had been burn to produce a blue brick on the outside, it's well worn surfaces clearly shows the red clay it was made of.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1880.

Please note that there were two works called Gallows Inn on Nottingham Road at different dates. The first was the one which I have coloured green on the 1880 map above & then on the same map, the yellow coloured yard was to become the Gallows Inn Brick & Tile Works in 1895 & I write about that works next. 

Gallows Inn

 Photographed by MF at the Silk Mill Museum, Derby.

I think this brick was made by Thomas Beniston & he is listed as owning the Gallows Inn Brick & Tile Works, Nottingham Road, Ilkeston in Kelly's 1895 edition. This brick & tile works is shown on the 1899 map below & the 1879 map had only shown this works as a brick yard. My earliest reference to Thomas Benniston as being at this works comes from a planning application for the building of a tramway to cross Corporation Road, dated 25.1.1894. This application was approved by the local council. The Beniston listing in Kelly's 1895 edition records his brick & tile works on Nottingham Road, but on the 1899 map below the access road to the works which had only been a track from Nottingham Road on the 1879 map has now been named Corporation Road & had been called this from at least 1894. There are no more trade directory entries for this company & the 1913 map no longer shows the works, only the outline of the claypit & this 1913 map can be seen in the next entry for the Ilkeston Brick Co.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1899.

Photo by MF courtesy of Nottingham City Museums & Galleries.

The timeline for a brickworks on this site (from dates found) is - 

Mathew Hobson 1882 - 1887.

Thomas Horridge 1887 - 1891.

Thomas Benniston owner of the Gallows Inn Brick & Tile Works, 1894 - early 1900's - works not on 1913 map.

Ilkeston Brick Co.

The Ilkeston Brick Co. is listed at Shaw Street, Ilkeston in Kelly's 1908 & 1912 editions & is shown on the 1913 map below. The National Archives records this company was incorporated in 1907. The Ilkeston Brick Co. was placed into Voluntary Liquidation in July 1922, then a Notice in the Ilkeston Pioneer dated 24th of January1923 records all claims against the said brick company were to be sent to the Liquidator, Mr. A.C.W. Rogers by the 10th of March 1923. Also to note on this 1913 map is that the Gallows Inn B. & T. Works had disappeared & only the outline of the claypit is shown.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1913.

This is a 2" smooth paver in Dave Hodgkinson's Collection. Photo by MF.

William Beardsley & Sons

William Beardsley was born in 1835 & is listed as brickmaker in Cotmanhay, Ilkeston in Kelly’s 1876 edition. Wright's 1879 edition then records the partnership of the Beardsley Brothers, Frederick, Geoffrey & William. This partnership did not last long as we next find in Kelly's 1881 edition the listing is Beardsley & Son, Cotmanhay & is repeated in Kelly's 1887 edition. The 1881 census records William Beardsley aged 46 as a Lace & Brick Manufacturer, but all other census listings before & after only record him as a Lace Maker. In 1881 William was living on Ash Street, Cotmanhay together with his wife Eliza & two sons Frederick & Arthur. William’s brickworks was two fields to the south this street & is shown coloured yellow on the 1879 OS map below. The 1881 census records son Frederick as a coal merchant (previously a Lace Maker in 1871) & Arthur as a Lace Maker. So it appears neither of William's two sons were brickmaking with him, but they were included in the company name on the brick shown above. I can only assume William was trading as William Beardsley & Sons as Lace Manufacturers & Brick Manufacturers. 

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1879.

The 1879 map above shows two brick yards in Cotmanhay & I have established that William Beardsley owned the yellow coloured works. So from Beardsley's last trade directory entry in 1887 & with this yard no longer shown on the 1899 map I have matched Beardsley to this yard. The blue coloured yard is still shown on the 1899 map & the last trade directory entry for the Horridge family was 1900, so those dates match up for that yard.

Potter

Photographed by MF at the Silk Mill Museum, Derby.

Samuel & Philip Potter are listed as brickmakers & coal masters at Rutland Wharf with George Blount as agent in White's 1857 edition. This is the only trade directory entry for the brothers as brickmakers, but I suspect that they were making bricks for many years. Also in this directory Samuel is listed as living at Ilkeston Park & Philip at Larklands, these two large houses where situated just off the bottom of the map below near to Ilkestonmill Lock. Today Monks Close is built on the site of Ilkeston Park & the houses on the corner of Park Road & Heathfield Avenue are built on the Larkfields house site.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1879.

As said the Potter's brickworks is listed in White's trade directory as being at Rutland Wharf, the location of which was at the end of Rutland Street/Slack Road, but not shown as such on the 1879 map above. Next to the canal we find marked the Wash Meadow Brickworks & this was the works owned by Samuel & Philip Potter. The information on the location of Rutland Wharf came from a web article which describes the location of Rutland Wharf as being next to a brickworks (Wash Meadow B/W's) owned by Samuel & Philip Potter. Then on the opposite bank of the canal from Rutland Wharf there was a tramway which brought coal from Mr. North's Babbington Colliery in Nottingham which was then transported via barge along the canal. I then found that the wharf on the tramway side of the canal was known as Babbington Wharf. I have marked all these features on the 1879 map above. I have coloured Rutland Street/Slack Road red. Rutland Road only went from the town to the railway line & then I found in a newspaper article that the road which carried on from the railway line to the canal was called Slack Road. Today Slack Road is only a footpath to the canal & Millership Way now follows the course of the railway line over the canal towards Awsworth.

Ilkeston Library have also confirmed from their records that Rutland Wharf was next to the Wash Meadows Brickworks. They also had a 1882 map showing the wharf in detail which I duly photographed & is shown below. Again the wharf is not named on this map, but is shown just above the brickworks. The green line represents the path of Thomas North's tramway to Babbington Wharf which was on this side of the canal.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1882.

As said the Potter family were also coal masters & there are many trade directory entries from 1827 through to 1878 recording them owning the Rutland Colliery which from the 1879 map consisted of four pits. So from 1827 I have found that Samuel & Thomas were brothers. Then Samuel's son was Philip. Philip's son was called Thomas & he is the last Potter to be listed as Coal Master in 1878. There is also a listing for Samuel Street Potter in 1876, so he could be another one of Philip's sons. 

One last bit of info about Potter's brickworks is that I found an article in the Ilkeston Pioneer dated 14.3.1861 which told you about a boiler explosion in Potter's brickyard & the boiler ended up in Whitehead's brickyard & I write about the Whitehead's later in the post.

Photographed at the Silk Mill Museum, Derby by Frank Lawson.

I have added this T.P. & Co. brick to this entry as it is thought to have been made by Thomas Potter of Ilkeston. As previously written there were two Potters with the name Thomas. The first is recorded in Pigot 1927 edition together with his brother Samuel as coal owners, but this date is too early for names in bricks. There is the entry in Harrison's 1860 edition for Potters & Co. at Rutland Colliery, so this date corresponds to the making of stamped bricks & I think this was when it was made. The style of the lettering fits this period also. The second Thomas was grandson of Samuel, Samuel being the first Thomas' brother & this second Thomas is recorded as Coal Master in 1878, but I think this date is to late for this style of brick. As said I an fairly confident that this T.P. & Co brick is from 1860.

Beardsley & Pounder took over the Rutland Wharf brickyard around 1876 & I write about this partnership next.

Solomon Beardsley & William Pounder 

Solomon Beardsley & Son

With finding this Beardsley & Pounder brick I naturally thought that Solomon Beardsley was the son of William Beardsley of Cotmanhay, but I have found that Solomon's father was named John & was a grocer/baker & draper on Bath Street. It appears that Solomon took over the family business as baker & grocer from his father in the 1850's, but also went on to become the owner of a brickworks, a corn dealer & a keeper of pigs. 

My first reference to Beardsley & Pounder comes from a planning application dated 12.5.1876 by B. & P. for the building of a Engine House at the Wash Meadows brickworks. This application was approved by the local council. The first trade directory entry for Beardsley & Pounder appears in Wright's 1882 edition at Rutland Wharf, Ilkeston. Solomon Beardsley is then listed on his own in Kelly's 1887 edition at St. Mary's Street, Ilkeston & this was his home address, no works address is given in this entry. The Beardsley's had just moved to St. Mary Street in 1887, previously living at 5, Bath Street. Kelly's 1891 edition now lists the partnership of Beardsley & Pounder again with the works address given just as Ilkeston. 

Photo by MF courtesy of Erewash Museum, Ilkeston.

This mis-spelt version of a B & P brick is in Erewash Museum's collection in Ilkeston & may be a rare example, as I expect the spelling mistake was soon rectified.

Beardsley & Pounder had taken over the Wash Meadows brickworks from the Potter family some time around 1876 & this brickworks was located next to Rutland Wharf, but the wharf is not marked as such on the 1879 map below. (See Potter entry for 1882 map actually showing Rutland Wharf). I have coloured Rutland Street/Slack Road red. Rutland Road only went from the town to the railway line & then I found in a newspaper article that the road which carried on from the railway line to the canal was called Slack Road. Today Slack Road is only a footpath to the canal & Millership Way now follows the course of the railway line over the canal towards Awsworth. The green line on this map represents the path of Thomas North's tramway to Babbington Wharf which was on this side of the canal, (as wrote about in the Potter entry).

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1879.

We next find in an article in the London Gazette dated 1892, that it states that Solomon Beardsley and William Pounder, brickmakers of Ilkeston, were dissolving their Company by mutual consent from the 29th day of January, 1892. All debts due to and owing by the said late firm will be received and paid by the said Solomon Beardsley. Dated this 29th day of January 1892. 

Solomon continues brickmaking as he is then listed as S. Beardsley & Son at 2, St. Mary's Street in Kelly's 1895 edition & this entry is repeated in the 1899 & 1900 editions. So I am taking it that this was still at the Wash Meadows Brickworks (confirmation of which can be read in the last paragraph in this entry). I then find that Solomon had died in 1895 & it was his son John who was running the yard & operating as S. Beardsley & Son. I have also found that another of Solomon's sons William, joined his brother John at the yard. This was until William's death at the age of 40 in 1899 & was due to bronchitis. John also continued to run the family's bakery on St. Mary Street as well as brickmaking after his fathers death. I then found that John retired from brickmaking around 1900 taking up residence at Hildene on Longfield Lane. 

An article which appeared in the 4th October 1901 edition of the Ilkeston Pioneer newspaper, states that James Northwood had purchased the Wash Meadow Brickyard formerly belonging to the late Solomon Beardsley. So this confirms that Solomon Beardsley had continued at the Wash Meadows brickworks after his partnership with William Pounder had been dissolved in 1892. Checking the 1913 map (next available) has revealed that only the clay pit is shown & houses have been built on the rest of the brickworks site.

 

Added. 29.8.20. Recently found in a reclamation yard this Beardsley brick appears to have had the "& Pounder" removed from the metal stamp plate leaving a faint outline, therefore we know this brick was made after B & P's partnership had been dissolved in 1892. It has now been established that the Beardsley & Son brick below was made by Samuel Beardsley or his son John Beardsley after 1892 when they were operating as S. Beardsley & Son.

Whitehead

 Photographed at the Silk Mill Museum, Derby by Frank Lawson.

My first reference to John Whitehead as brickmaker in Ilkeston comes from an article in the Ilkeston Pioneer newspaper dated 23.5.1854. A Mr. A. Higgler had sent a letter to the newspaper voicing his concerns about the state of repair & asking who was responsible for repairing Slack Road which according to Mr. Higgler was the principal road to Babbington & Rutland Wharfs, Burgin's Lime Kilns & Potter's & Whitehead's brickyards. Potters as we know owned the Wash Meadows brickworks next to Rutland Wharf & with studying the 1879 map I have found that the brick yard which I have coloured green on the map below was more than likely the one owned by John Whitehead, as it can be accessed off Slack Road, coloured red on this map. Rutland Street & Potter's brickworks are coloured yellow. Information from another newspaper article which I write about later & trade directory entries for John Whitehead also point to this yard as being owned by him.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1879.

John Whitehead is listed in these trade directories - White's 1857 edition as brickmaker with the address of Bath Street, Ilkeston, but this was his home address. Harrison's 1860 edition as brickmaker & carrier at Spring Gardens. Slater's 1863 edition as brickmaker at Springfield & finally White's 1865 edition records him as brickmaker, Bath Street. With Slater's 1863 edition recording John's yard as Springfield I have noticed on the map above that Springfield Terrace is shown nearby & all of this area which included the yard may have been known as Springfield, hence John's yard being recorded as such.

As said earlier another Pioneer newspaper article records  Whitehead's yard & the 14.3.1861 edition reports that there had been a boiler explosion at Potter's brickyard & the boiler had ended up in Whitehead's brickyard. As you can see on the map above these two yards weren't that close together, so it must have been some explosion ! Unless the reporter had got the location wrong & the boiler explosion had taken place next door at the colliery (see map) rather than at Potters brickyard ? This would make more sense as this location is nearer & there is a marked boiler house at the colliery on the map. The newspaper article was headed with Explosion at Potter's Brickworks, so I may be barking up the wrong tree with the colliery theory.

I have also found a newspaper article which tells you of a dissolved partnership which appeared in the Ilkeston Pioneer dated 3.5.1860. It states that the partnership of John, Richard & James Whitehead in the business of brickmaking in Ilkeston had been dissolved by mutual consent, so far as relates to the said James Whitehead & the said business henceforth will be carried on by John & Richard Whitehead, who will settle any accounts of money due or owing. A x appears against James name, so it appears that he could not write.

Samuel Shaw

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of NLS/Ordnance Survey 1879.

I have established that Samuel Shaw then Samuel junior owned the brickworks which I have coloured purple on the 1879 map above. Recorded as being situated on Station Road (red) in trade directories this yard was also accessed by a track which continued from the end of Chapel Street (yellow). As of yet no stamped bricks have been found made by either Samuel or Samuel junior.

Samuel Shaw is listed in Kelly's 1876 edition as brickmaker on Station Road through to Wright's 1892/3 edition. Slater's 1884 edition records Samuel's works as the Norman Brickworks. Also in 1884 Samuel applied to build two circular kilns & a 70ft. high chimney at his Station Road brickworks & this application was approved on the 21st of March by the local council. I then found this January 1890 article in the Pioneer newspaper which recorded that while Samuel Shaw was attempting to get coal from his land, he dug down & may have damaged a sewer which ran through his Chapel Street brickyard. 

Samuel then passed his works over to his son, Samuel junior & Junior is listed in Kelly's 1895 edition through to Kelly's 1912 edition at the Station Road brickworks. We then find that Samuel jnr. is listed in Wright's 1892/3 edition as living at Ferns Hollow on Station Road & he is also listed as grocer in several directories between 1881 & 1890. Samuel jnr. is then recorded as opening a laundry on Rupert Street in 1906. 

Samuel senior (born 1830) died in 1904 & a newspaper notice records that he had been a contractor at an Ironstone pit, later Bennerley Ironworks, then worked his land for coal & had been a brickmaker for 30 years at his Station Road brickworks.

Back to Samuel jnr. & as well as being an Alderman he became Mayor of Ilkeston in 1910/11.  His brickworks closed some time after 1912 & by 1920 the clay pit had become a refuse tip. Today a car park on Gordon Street is built on the former buildings of the brickworks & two football pitches now occupy the land which had been the clay/refuse pit. I have also found that Rupert Street is off Station Road & was the location for Samuel Junior's laundry. Rupert Street is shown on an 1900 map between the brickworks access lane & the Erewash Canal. Today the access lane to the works is gone & Rupert Street now joins Gordon Road at the entrance to the football pitches car park.

Many Thanks to :-

Matt Horridge
Old Ilkeston Website - info
Ilkeston & District Local History Society - info
Ilkeston Library - much, much info, Extra Thanks ! Many loose ends were tied up with the library's info.
Erewash Museum, Ilkeston
Matlock Archives
NLS/ Ordnance Survey - maps
Silk Mill Museum, Derby
Frank Lawson - photos