Samuel Daubney Hibbert, Brickmaker, Sutton in Ashfield

S.D.H. - S.  Samuel Daubney Hibbert - Sutton.
My first trade directory entry that I have found for Samuel Daubney Hibbert as brickmaker is in White's 1872 edition with the address of Mount Street, Sutton in Ashfield. Samuel is then recorded in Kelly's 1876 & 1885 editions as brickmaker on High Pavement, Sutton in Ashfield, Notts. Although I do not have the exact location for his yard, an option is set just behind St. Joseph's Club on High Pavement which is named Quarry Yard on street maps. This site was used for many years by Taggs Coaches & today houses have now been built upon it. 

Updated 9.3.16; 12.3.16 & 28.3.17.
New research has revealed that Samuel was also a builder & he is listed in the Builders section of Kelly's 1885 edition at High Pavement, Sutton in Ashfield. I have since found out that Samuel's builders yard was actually on Mount Street which was situated just off High Pavement, as recorded in his 1872 trade directory entry. I have to note that a brickworks is not shown on maps on Mount Street, so the Quarry Yard option looks likely, but cannot be confirmed as a brickworks is not shown as such on maps at this location. My next finding in the 1904 edition of the Nottingham & District Trade Directory, Builders section, records S.D. Hibbert (exors. of), 14, High Pavement, Sutton in Ashfield. Now this address of 14 High Pavement was the builders yard belonging to another building firm called S.H. & F.W. Beeley. So one can only assume that the Beeley family were administrating Samuel's business in that year as the executors. 
During my visit to Nottingham Archives on Thursday I came across a document recording that S.H. & F.W. Beeley (builders & contractors) of 14, High Pavement, Sutton in Ashfield had taken over Samuel Hibbert's building company after his death. 

Added 29.3.20.

This mint Hibbert brick has come from the recently demolished stone terraced houses next to the car repair garage on Mansfield Road, Sutton. These houses to my knowledge had stood empty for at least 45 years. 



   

Henry Shaw, Brickmaker, Sutton in Ashfield

Henry Shaw was born in 1842 in Greasley, Notts., his father Joseph was a brickmaker & later a builder & Henry aged 19 was a miner in Greasley. We later find Henry moves to Sutton & I think I have the right man from the census, as the 1871 census records Henry Shaw a builder & married to Mary (nee May), living with Mary's parents on Forest Side, Sutton. Now Mary's father Thomas May was a shoe maker & this ties in with Henry being later recorded as a shoe maker as well. However we next find in the 1881 census that builder Henry is now married to Sarah who was eleven years younger than Henry & they had a daughter aged 2 called Elizabeth & they where living on Mansfield Road, Sutton. I am taking it Henry's first wife Mary had died. This info then all ties in with White's 1885 edition which records Henry Shaw as Builder, Contractor & Shoe Dealer on Forest Side, Sutton-in-Ashfield. So at this 1885 date I do not know if he had started making bricks as there is no reference to him as being a brickmaker. 

Local historian, Luther Lindley wrote in his 1907 book, that Henry Shaw was a builder, contractor & brickmaker, with the address of Eastfield Side who had established his business in 1868 & was employing 50 males with Mr. R.W. Doughty as Works Manager. I then found Robert Doughty was his son-in-law & was married to his daughter Elizabeth. With this 1907 account of Henry Shaw recording him as a brickmaker I found Henry is recorded as a brickmaker in Skegby in White's 1894 edition. This entry is then followed by the entries for Henry in Kelly's 1904, 08, 12 & 16 editions at Skegby as a brickmaker. I have established the location of his brickworks from other brick makers working in Skegby & some later info regarding another Mr. Shaw who I write about later. I have used the 1899 OS map below to show Henry's works which I have coloured purple & this works was accessed off Dalestorth Road. Please note the dotted line along this road denotes the parish boundary between Skegby & Sutton with Henry's brickworks being in Skegby. Henry died in February 1917 & I am taking it this is when the brickworks closed. It appears son-in-law Robert Doughty continued to run the building & contractors side of the business as he is named together with wife Elizabeth (Henry's daughter) as joint beneficiaries of his Will which equated to £6083. 15s. &  8d.

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of Ordnance Survey 1898.

This example is a normal house brick, found in a garden not to far from Henry's works. The brick shown at the top of this post is plinth stretcher brick.

I now fast forward to 1928 & we find Kelly's 1928 edition records this purple coloured works as being owned by The Sutton-in-Ashfield Brick Company on Dalestorth Road. This is the only entry for this company & information gathered from Nottingham Archives & the London Gazette has revealed the answer why this is the only entry.

On the Company's letterhead deposited with the Archives & dated 15th September 1926, the name, address & owner of the works is given as The Sutton in Ashfield Brick Co. works, Skegby, Managing Director, Mr. Shaw with James Leece as secretary. So who this Mr Shaw is I am not 100% sure. I have found a Walter Shaw who is recorded in Kelly's 1904 edition as brickmaking at Forest Side, but I have not been able to trace him in the census or establish exactly which brickworks he was running as all works can be accounted for at this date, unless he was working for Louisa Barke who is recorded as a brickmaker on Mansfield Road in 1904 with her husband now working at a second works in Skegby in 1904. It seems to fit ?  Then is this Walter Shaw related to Henry Shaw the previous owner of this works ? Henry did not have any sons as far as I can trace, unless Walter was born to Henry & Mary, Henry's first marriage ? Then if this is correct why isn't there any trace of this Walter Shaw in the census ? This Walter Shaw could easily have been Henry's nephew. If I get the answer, I will update the post. 

So this 1926 S-in-A Brick Co. letter is to Bennett & Sayers, brick machinery manufacturers in Derby to supply new machinery & parts.
The next letter dated 17th July 1928 from Bennett & Sayers to the S-in-A Brick Co. states that B & S can no longer supply any more goods until "your account has been substantially been reduced, please send remittance as promised in June as we can no longer afford to give such prolonged credit."
There is an exchange of several letters during the next few months with B & S then threatening to take legal action under the Hire Purchase Agreement. In one reply in August, the brick company blamed a misunderstanding with the clerk & sent £20 0s 0d & promised to send more money. But this did not happen because in October, James Leece writes to B & S saying "because no bricks have been sold we cannot send anymore money & I will put this problem to the Directors next week." 
This resulted in a letter dated 28th October 1928 to B & S from Arthur Edward Cripwell, accountant for the Company stating that the Shareholders had agreed a motion to go into Voluntary Liquidation & Mr. Cripwell had been appointed Liquidator. In reply B & S said they would come & remove supplied machinery as under the Hire Purchase Agreement. Mr. Cripwell then made a request to delay this as he had already received one or two inquiries about the sale of the yard. B & S agreed.
As time went on & the sale did not happen, B & S then said they would now remove the machinery, but this did not happen either as Barclay's Bank who were part of  the Hire Purchase Agreement stopped this, saying that "The plant would be sold with the yard."
I am sorry to say that I do not know what happen next as there is no more correspondence between the several parties concerned deposited with the Archives. With no buyers for the yard or evidence in Trade Directories of New Owners, one can only assume that everything was sold at auction or taken back by Bennett & Sayer. The London Gazette dated 13th of December 1932 records the Sutton in Ashfield Brick Co. Ltd. had been struck off the Companies Register.  


Further research has revealed that Richard Carter worked at this yard before Henry Shaw with Richard being recorded as brickmaker in Skegby in White's 1872 & Kelly's 1876 editions. It was from a Mansfield Advertiser  "For Sale by Private Contract Notice" dated 1st of March 1878 for this works that revealed the location of Carter's yard. The notice is as follows - " A valuable & freehold estate comprising of around 12 & half acres, including all plant & machinery, buildings & kilns. The land is also very valuable for building purposes. It has an excellent bed of clay which is seven feet thick & the entire property is in the parish of Skegby with having a large frontage to Wragg's Lane from Sutton Forest Side to Dalestorth. The above Estate will be sold with or without mineral rights. The brickyard has being doing good business under the occupation of Mr. R. Carter. For more details please contact W.A. Vallance, Builder & Valuer of Mansfield, agent for Mrs. Shelton the owner of the land." 
So this account records Carter's brick yard as being on Wragg's Lane & this road was later renamed Dalestorth Road & is shown as such on a map dated 1887. Today this road is still known as Dalestorth Road & leads up to the 18th century Dalestorth House. Today modern houses now occupy this former brickworks site which I remember being built, but what year I cannot remember, possibly in the 1960's/70's. The houses which front this site on Dalestorth Road were built in the 1940's/50's. 

Beeley Bros. Brickmakers, Sutton in Ashfield

Samuel Hibbert Beeley & Fredrick William Beeley are recorded as Builders, Contractors & Farmers on High Pavement, Sutton in Ashfield, a family business which had been established by these two brothers in 1743, according to local historian, Luther Lindley. This company is recorded from 1899 to 1941 in White's Trade Directories & was run over the years by several members of the Beeley family. 

I next find in the trade directories, William Beeley junior, who I believe is related to the Beeley's above. In Kelly's 1876 & 1881 editions William Beeley junior is recorded as brickmaker in Sutton-in-Ashfield, residing in Mansfield. The location of his brickworks is not recorded.

From the 1861 Census I have found that William aged 33 in 1876, had a brother John aged 26 in 1876, who may have be working with him, with this brick being stamped Brothers or William jnr. could have just been using the family business name as above ? 

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey 1887.

Originally I was unable to name the owner of the brickworks which was next to Blackmires Farm on this 1887 map. I have recently found out that it was owned & run by William Beeley (senior).

William is recorded in the 1864 edition of the Nottingham History Directory & Gazette as farmer & brickmaker at Blackmires. William Beeley is next recorded at Forest Street, S-in-A in White's 1885 edition & residing at Blackmires. As there is no works recorded for William junior in the trade directories, he may have worked with his father ? 

I have just found this map at the library & although it is dated 1899 it shows a brick kiln on Priestsic Road just off Forest Street (marked green), this is where I think William or William junior & John could have made their bricks after moving from Blackmires Farm as recorded in White's 1885 Directory.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey 1900

Photo by Edwin Starr.

My next finding is an advert in the Derbyshire Times dated 15th April 1891. This is the sale of Blackmires Farm, Brick Works, Hotel, Public House & Contractor's plant by J. Jeeley, Auctioneer & Valuer. The article mentions probate transfers, so I take it that William senior has passed away. 

On the 1900 Ordinance Survey Map of the area, Blackmires brickworks is no longer recorded only the farm, which in the 1901 Census is now owned by William Antill (farmer) & his family. Factories & industrial units are now built on the land which was formerly the farm & brickworks.

At first I thought that the two recorded William's may have been the same person, but with me finding the 1876 entry as William junior & living at Mansfield, I now know that the 1864 William at Blackmires was his father & this has been backed up by the 1861 Census.

I have one further little bit of information found by Marg at Sutton Library that in the 1861 Census, a William Tomlinson, Master Brickmaker was living/boarding with William Clay at Blackmires Cottage. This cottage could have been on Blackmires Lane, which ran from Newark Road to Blackmires Farm & is now named Hamilton Road. So this William Tomlinson may have worked at or owned the Blackmires brickworks before William Beeley ?

Thomas Slack, Brickmaker, Sutton in Ashfield

I first found in the 1871 census that Thomas Slack b.1831 in Sutton in Ashfield is listed as a Journeyman Brickmaker & was living with his wife & young children on Blackmires Lane, Sutton. Now there was brickworks at Blackmires Farm which was owned by farmer/brickmaker William Beeley, so I am assuming Thomas was working for William Beeley at this date. 

The 1881 census now records Thomas Slack as a Brick & Tile Manufacturer living at Grange Cottage, Dalestorth Road with his wife Alice & four sons, John (24), Herbert (22) & Joseph (18) who are all listed as brickmakers, then Thomas junior (15) is listed as a labourer. With this brick yard being shown on the 1887 map Thomas Slack may have established this works in the mid 1870's with him moving to Grange Cottage. 

The 1891 census records Thomas Slack aged 60 still living at Grange Cottage with his wife Alice (58) & children, Elizabeth (26) dressmaker, Thomas junior (25) & listed as Brick Carrier & Hannah (24). 

Trade directories record Thomas Slack as brickmaker at Grange Cottage, Sutton in Ashfield, first in Wright's 1883 edition & then in Kelly's directories for the years 1891, 1893, 1895 & 1899. As no works address is given for Thomas Slack in trade directories I have identified that Thomas owned the yard just a short distance from his home. The 1898 O.S. map below shows Thomas' brickworks & his home, Grange Cottage, both coloured yellow. Today Grange Cottage has been replaced with a modern house & is now numbered 50 Dalestorth Road, with the garden still occupying all of the yellow area. A row of bungalows have also been built on the land between this plot & Dalestorth Road. Please note the houses on the opposite side of Dalestorth Road are in Skegby & the dotted line represents the parish boundary between Sutton & Skegby.  

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of Ordnance Survey 1898.

The next owner of this brickworks was George Boot around 1907. 

George Boot, Brickmaker, Sutton in Ashfield

George Boot is first recorded as builder & contractor on Mansfield Road, Sutton in Ashfield, Notts. in Kelly's 1886 edition, then again in Kelly's 1899 edition. The first record of George Boot owning a brickworks is this 8th of March 1901 advert which appeared in the Hucknall Morning Star & Advertiser. This advert also records the location of George's brickworks as being on Dalestorth Road (coloured blue on the 1917 OS map below). 

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Kelly's 1904 edition is the first trade directory recording George Boot as a builder & brickmaker with the address of Mansfield Road which was his builders yard. 

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey 1917.

I originally though George Boot owned the yellow coloured brickworks on this map with it's clay pit bordering onto Mansfield Road, but I have now discounted this option because it was his builders yard which was on Mansfield Road. I just note this yellow coloured brickworks was accessed via a lane off Skegby Road which is now Hill Crescent. Kelly's 1908 edition correctly lists George Boot's brickworks as being on Dalestorth Road, Sutton in Ashfield.

George Boot built himself a grand house at the entrance to yard, which still stands to day. It has ornate brickwork around the doors & windows & it shows his craft to it's fullest. The couple who now own this house were very interested to hear about my interest in the house, as they wanted to rebuild the 3rd floor, which had been taken down many years ago, but they had not got any plans or photos of the building at that time. So I asked an elderly lady I knew who lives on that road, if she had any photos but the answer was no, but she did remember the 3rd storey. Then the gentleman said, come around the back. There was a large pile of bricks which had come from the 3rd floor. Not one brick had George's name stamped in them, they were all plain bricks ! Kelly's 1916 edition is the last entry for George Boot at the Dalestorth Road works.

In Kelly's 1922 & 25 editions we now find new owners at this brickworks & they are listed as S.E. Carding & Son, Dalestorth Road, Sutton in Ashfield, but then we find in the next directory in 1928 that the works are now back in the hands of the Boot family & recorded as Boot Bros. Dalestorth Road, S in A. This is followed by the same entry in Kelly's 1932 edition & then Cope's 1933-34 edition. Kelly's 1936 edition no longer records the Boot Brothers & on the 1938 O.S. map, houses have now been built along the front of their yard on Dalestorth Road, with open fields to the rear.

This brickyard is recorded on the 1877 O.S. map & I have found Thomas Slack owned this works from the 1881 census to Kelly's 1899 edition, so Slack may have established this yard ?

      One of George's moulded bricks & reverse with name.

Variation found 13.9.14 in Derbyshire.

Photo by Darren Haywood.

A wall coping brick which I added to my collection in March 2025. Nice.

Walter Straw, Brickmaker, Sutton in Ashfield

With new information coming to light, I have now re-written this entry. The Straw family started as earthenware potters branching out at a later date to make bricks.

Census records reveal that there were two potters by the name of Walter Straw in Sutton in Ashfield. Walter senior (1830 -1888) was followed in the family business by his son Walter junior (1860 -1915) & it was Walter junior who was the brickmaker/potter.

A recent visit to the National Trust's Mr Straw's House in Worksop has also revealed that Benjamin & William Straw who moved from Sutton to run a grocers shop in Worksop were the sons of Walter senior & brother to Walter junior & with kind permission of the House Steward of Mr Straw's House I have added my photo of Walter senior to the post. Walter's photo hangs in one of the bedroom on the top floor.

So I start with some information about Walter senior who is only listed in trade directories & the census as a potter & these listings are as follows. Also to note in these listings is that Walter first owned a pottery on Eastfield Side (name of the road & coloured yellow on the map below) & then set up a second works called the Red House Pottery on Mansfield Road.
1861 Census Walter Straw, earthenware pottery maker, 30; wife Charlotte, 30 & Walter junior, 1, living on Eastfield Side.
Morris 1869 edition, Walter Straw, pottery manufacturer, Eastfield Side, S-in-A.
1871 Census Walter Straw, pot manufacturer & farmer, wife Charlotte, sons Walter junior, Benjamin, William, living at Red House Pottery, Mansfield Road.
Kelly's 1876 edition, Walter Straw, garden pot & earthenware manufacturer, Eastfield Pottery Works, Eastfield Side. 
1881 Census Walter Straw, potter & farmer of 33 acres, employing 6 men & 16 boys, 2nd wife Elizabeth (Charlotte had died), Walter junior, 21 & listed as a potter, Benjamin,19, William, 16, both listed as grocer apprentices, with all the family living on Mansfield Road (next to the pottery works).
White's 1885 edition, Walter Straw, manufacturer of garden pottery & glazed earthenware, Forest Side Potteries.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of Ordnance Survey 1877.

Now on to Walter Straw junior the maker of these W. Straw bricks & local historian Luther Lindley wrote in 1907, that Walter Straw (junior) owned two potteries, but are now closed. His residence was built on a site which formerly stood a windmill & his stack yard was on land next to the Baptist Church off Eastfield Side (name of road, coloured yellow). The 1877 map above shows Straw's two potteries, Red House Pottery coloured brown was opposite the school on Mansfield Road & the second was on Eastfield Side also coloured brown. The corn windmill (brown) is where Walter junior around 1900 built his grand house called Herne House. Today it stands on the corner of Skegby Road & Hill Crescent. I have added a 2018 photograph at the end of the post of this much extended house which was made into flats many years ago, but the front of the house although updated with modern windows & a new roof basically remains the same. Local legend says that he built his house not fronting Skegby Road, but at an angle so it faced his pottery works opposite, so he could watch to see if his workers arrived on time for their shift. All the streets & buildings on this 1877 map situated around Walter's stock yard next to the marked Baptist Church no longer exist. After they were demolished Tudsbury hosiery factory was built on part of the land, but today that has also been demolished & the cleared site is waiting to be redeveloped. First this land was going to used for industrial units, then it was changed to houses & now in 2018 an application has been put forward to build a Lidl supermarket there.

Walter senior died in 1888 & from 1895 Walter Straw (junior) is listed in directories in the Brick & Tile Makers section as well as in the Earthenware Manufacturers section. So the trade directory & Census entries are as follows.
1891 Census, Walter Straw, single 31, pot manufacturer & farmer, step-mother Elizabeth, 50 & brother Frank Straw, 16, all living at Red House, Mansfield Road. S-in-A.
Kelly's 1895 edition, Walter Straw is listed at Eastfield Side in the Brick Makers section & at Forest Side in the Earthenware Makers section. 
1901 Census, Walter Straw, single 41, Brick Manufacturer, step-mother Elizabeth, 60, both living with a servant at 28, Skegby Road, Herne House, S-in-A. Walter's new house is not shown on the 1898 revised OS map, so the building of Herne House must taken place around 1899 - 1900 with him being in residence for the 1901 Census. 
McDonald's 1903 edition - Brick & Tile Makers section, Walter Straw, Mansfield Road, S-in-A. 
Kelly's 1904 edition contains the last trade directory entries for Walter listing him just at Sutton in Ashfield in both the Brick Makers section & the Earthenware Makers section.
1911 Census records Walter as a retired potter, single & still living at Herne House with his step-mother Elizabeth now aged 70. 
Walter died in 1915 aged 55. 

I originally thought that Walter junior made his bricks at one of his two pottery sites, the Red House Pottery site being on Mansfield Road same as recorded in McDonald's Directory, but with Kelly's 1895 directory recording him as brickmaking at Eastfield Side, I now think he owned the red brickworks as shown on the map above, with this area of Sutton being marked on an older map as East Field. This works was only a short distance from his potteries & his grand house which I have coloured brown on the map above. Another fact which has drawn me to the conclusion that Walter owned the red coloured brickyard is that his father owned the next field to this brickworks & is numbered field 506 on the map above. This fact has come from an article wrote by local historian Luther Lindley in 1907, in which Lindley states Walter Straw (senior) owned the land (field 506) on Outram Street where St. Michael's Church was built. The sum of £2,000 was paid to Walter (senior) for the land & the church was opened in 1887. 

I have now added the 1898 map below which shows the red brickworks in relationship to St Michael's Church (blue). This area of Sutton by 1900 was now called New Cross.  I have to note & this is a little bit confusing is that all this part of Sutton from New Cross along Mansfield Road (green) & including Eastfield Side (road of that name & coloured yellow) to Sutton reservoir is now called Forest Side. It appears this brickworks closed after Walter retired from brickmaking & this may have been shortly after 1904, his last trade directory entry.

 © Crown Copyright. Reproduced with permission of Ordnance Survey 1898.

This W. Straw example has come from a house in the New Cross area which is only a short distance from Walter's brickworks. 

Walter Straw's Herne House in 2018 photographed from Hill Crescent. I don't think he would be able to stand at his bedroom window to look over to his pottery today as the view is totally obscured by two large trees. The Red House pottery site is now occupied by a plumbing salesroom & before that when I was a lad the buildings were a Wolseley & Riley car showroom.

With recently visiting Mr. Straw's House in Worksop the National Trust are displaying a wine cooler which is thought to have been made at Walter Straw's Sutton pottery, but the guides told me that the pot is not marked & they cannot say for certain that it was made at Walter's pottery. What they have told me is that Benjamin & William Straw, Walter senior's sons, sold there fathers pots & earthenware in their grocers shop in Worksop & the Trust have sent me a newspaper advert dated 2nd of April 1886 for the Straw's grocers shop advertising Mr. Walter Straw's Sutton-in-Ashfield made earthenware, a copy of which is displayed below. 

My photo of the wine cooler reproduced with the permission of the House Steward of Mr. Straw's House, Worksop.

Advertisement reproduced with the permission of the House Steward of Mr. Straw's House, Worksop.

If you would like to visit Mr. Straw's House in Worksop which has chiefly remained unchanged since the 1920's please see the link below as you have to book your visit due to the size of the house.
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/mr-straws-house 



While I was searching trade directories for Walter Straw as brickmaker in Sutton in Ashfield, I was finding in the Brick & Tile Makers section listings for William then Walter Straw as brickmaker in Farnsfield, Notts. These entries had got me stumped until I came across an extended family tree of the Straw Family on Ancestry. This family tree showed that William Straw 1824-1904, a potter was born in Sutton in Ashfield & was the older brother of our Sutton Walter (senior) 1830-1888. So it appears William moved to Farnsfield to make pots & then bricks. William was then followed at his Farnsfield works by his son Walter 1863-1954. These are the trade directory entries for Farnsfield Straw's as brickmakers - William, Kelly's 1876 & 1885. Walter, White's 1894, then Kelly's 1895, 1900, 1904 & 1908. 

I am now wondering if William & Walter also stamped there bricks "W. Straw". It's one I will have to investigate. 
Update - After talking to locals & scouring Farnsfield for Straw made bricks & visiting the sites of the brickworks & pottery of which there are no remains of all & are now in private gardens, I have come to the conclusion that the Straw's did not make the standard house bricks for the time, but made the smaller hand made bricks which can be seen in buildings throughout Farnsfield & these Straw made bricks were made so they matched the existing bricks when alterations or extensions were made to buildings in the village. If by chance a Straw stamped brick does turn up, I will add it to the post.

Below is the 1883 OS map of Farnsfield showing the Straw's brickyard & pottery. 

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey 1883.