Autobiography of Richard Tangye: Chapter 7

Oakley Road Board School, Birmingham

CHAPTER VII. THE CORNWALL WORKS.

WHEN we built our Clement Street Works, we thought they would be large enough for all time; but before three years had gone by, our necessities increased so much that we were compelled to take land outside the borough. We accordingly erected new works at Soho, three miles from Birmingham, close by the historic foundry of Boulton and Watt, and within sight of Murdock's house; at the same time continuing our town works. The new works covered about three acres of land, and we quickly had about four hundred men employed there. The buildings could be seen clearly both from the neighbouring station on the Great Western Railway, and from the London and North Western Railway Station, so we utilized some large blank walls by painting the words:

CORNWALL WORKS, TANGYE BROS.,
HYDRAULIC ENGINEERS,

in letters more than six feet high. This proved to be not only our cheapest advertisement, but also, beyond comparison, the most profitable, as will be seen.

One afternoon, in the summer of 1866, an American engineer, bearing a striking resemblance to General Grant, called at the works desiring an interview. He was introduced to my brother James, to whom he briefly stated his business, which was to show us the designs of a new direct-acting steam pump, with the view of inducing us to become the licensed manufacturers. The pump was the invention of Mr. A. S. Cameron, of New York, and was of a type which was then practically unknown in this country, but which has since become universally known as the "Special" Steam Pump. Its peculiarity consisted in its extreme simplicity, compactness, and strength, the steam cylinder and pump being connected, and the whole attached to one bed-plate; while its design obviated the necessity for a fly wheel and the usual extraneous gearing pertaining to all pumping machinery in use up to the time of the introduction of the "Special" Steam Pump. The design was entirely new to my brother, but he was quick to appreciate its importance; and the American engineer, who had already had as many rebuffs as the inventor of the differential pulley block, was delighted to see the promptness with which he seized upon the various points of advantage offered by the invention.

Like every practical man who has come into personal contact with my brother, the Yankee was delighted with the keenness and depth of his perception in all matters of mechanical detail; and taking from his pocket a bundle of letters which he said were introductions to all the leading engineers in the country, he deliberately tore them in pieces, saying as he did so, "I guess I'll go no furder; this pump is the very identical thing for you, and I guess you are the very people for the pump; and take my word for it, there's cords of money in it!" An agreement was speedily come to, the pump immediately becoming a great success, and during the continuance of the patent we paid the inventor about £35,000 in royalties for the sole right of making it.

Some years afterwards the Yankee told us the story of the difficulties and discouragements with which he met in his endeavours to find a manufacturer for his pump. He said that he left New York some months before, bringing with him introductions to all the leading pump-makers in the United Kingdom. "On landing at Liverpool, I went straight to Manchester to call upon Messrs. A- and B-, and to offer them the license. On entering their office I saw a youth sitting on a stool, who seemed to be in no hurry to take any notice of me; but at length turning around, he said, 'Well?' 'I guess I want to see Mr. A-,' said I. 'Mr. A-,' said he, with a sneer, 'I guess Mr. A- has been dead these ten years!' 'I guess that's enough for me,' said I; and leaving the office I made a mark (a Yankee mark) on the door, so that I might know it again when I passed that way!"

This experience of Manchester manners was not encouraging, and so he determined to come to Birmingham, having introductions to several people there; but we were not among the number. He showed his drawings to several engineers, but none of them could see sufficient merit in the invention to induce them to undertake the manufacture. He now determined to send to America for a pump in order to show its advantages by actual work instead of relying upon his drawings; and on the occasion of his calling at our works he was just returning from Liverpool where he had been to fetch it. The train stopped for the collection of tickets at the station opposite our works; and while he was waiting for the collector he looked across a field and saw our name in large letters, and the words "Hydraulic Engineers." He felt there was something of the Yankee style in the size of the letters; and remarking to himself that he guessed it was "hydraulic engineers" he wanted, he got out of the carriage, had his pump taken out, and then came across to us with the result which I have narrated.

Some time after we had erected our new works at Soho, and shortly before the Yankee came to us with his new invention, I was walking in the principal street of Birmingham, when the leading engineer of the town met me, and said "I see you are in full swing in your new works, Mr. Tangye. By the way (with just the suspicion of a sneer) what very tall letters you have put your name up in, I should say they are taller than you are yourself?" "Yes," I said, "they are about double my height." Some months after this I met the same gentleman again, when he said, "I say! I hear you have got that Yankee pump to manufacture and that you are making a good thing out of it. It was offered to us, but we could not see anything in it. How did you get it?" "Well," I said, "we got it by those same letters which you thought were so absurdly tall!"

In 1866 we opened a warehouse in London, and I removed there to take the management of the new business. This step was rendered necessary by the increasing disinclination of customers to deal with agents, and also by the establishment of London houses by our manufacturing competitors. Here we kept a large stock of goods, enabling us to execute orders with promptness; and when I returned to Birmingham in 1871, our London business had quadrupled in extent.

One striking characteristic of the Cornwall Works has always been its freedom from fluctuations in employment. We have always, or with very transient exceptions, been able to provide a continuous supply of work for our people; and this has arisen mainly from two causes — from the continuous production of novel and ingenious specialties in mechanical engineering, to which I have already referred, and also from the system of distribution of our manufactures adopted by us many years ago. Instead of relying upon agents, who often "sold" us instead of selling, our goods, we established our own houses at Newcastle-on-Tyne, Manchester, and Glasgow, keeping large stocks of our manufactures in each place, and selling direct to the users when they desired it, instead of solely through middlemen, whose interests were sometimes in conflict with ours. In addition to our branch houses at home, we have also long had our own establishments in Sydney and Melbourne, in connection with which I have visited Australia five times during the past fourteen years.

The policy of manufacturers acting as their own distributors is only possible when their business has reached a stage of development in which they are able to produce such a variety of goods as to warrant having their own centres of distribution. Until they can do this, and while they are still struggling to establish a business, the only practicable course is to deal with the existing means of distribution through merchants and retailers, and more especially is this true of foreign trade, respecting which a gentleman once repeated to me the advice given him by his father, a venerable Quaker banker, on the occasion of his commencing a manufacturing business: "My son," said he, "never thou put salt-water between thee and thy money." Excellent advice to a beginner, as a foreign business can only be successfully conducted by those possessing great experience and special knowledge of the countries with which they deal.

We were the first to publish exhaustive catalogues of our various manufactures, giving full details of sizes, weights, measurements and prices;— the information proving of great service to our customers and others. But latterly we have been compelled to modify this practice. Our success had induced a number of small firms to start in business, whose sole object was to copy our designs. To these people our lists of prices and details of our manufactures were invaluable, and served them instead of genius or originality of their own. For years past, until the passing of the Merchandise Marks Act, we were troubled by unscrupulous dealers, who were in the habit of selling cheap and ill-made German imitations of some of our manufactures which bore our name upon them, causing the purchasers to believe that they were of our make. By this means we not only lost trade, but our name became discredited; and there was no remedy in law against this nefarious practice, until, under the new Act, German and other pirates had to declare their nationality, it being rendered illegal to affix any other name on the article than that of the actual manufacturer. Still, however, the mischief is only partially cured, for the same unscrupulous German manufacturers continue to send imitations of our goods to Russia and other foreign countries, with our name upon them, with the obvious intention of deceiving the purchasers. Only once have we tried the experiment of manufacturing out of England. In 1863 some English ironmasters visited the Continent, and on their return circulated alarming reports respecting the great progress that was being made by our foreign rivals in the various iron industries, and a great fear arose that Belgians and other foreigners were about to supplant English manufacturers in Continental markets. We had a great and growing foreign trade, and yielding to the general fear were induced to open works in Belgium, sending out the needful machinery, and with it, a few leading hands, my brother Edward undertaking the management. We soon found that the Belgian workmen were no match for the English; for although their wages were only half as much, the work they produced was much less in proportion. Gradually we replaced the Belgians with Englishmen; but the cost of production becoming too great, we broke up the establishment and returned to England, and have not since been scared by foreign competition. But there is one respect in which foreign inventors and manufacturers have a vast advantage over their English competitors, which no skill or energy on the part of the latter can overcome. This advantage lies in the unfair facilities given to foreigners by the Patent Laws of their own countries and of England. In England a foreigner can obtain a patent with as little difficulty as that experienced by a native; he is neither compelled to put the invention in operation in this country himself, nor to license another to do so, but may make the articles in his own country, and send them into England, charging any price he may think fit.

But the case of the English inventor desiring to protect his invention in a foreign country is altogether different. In the first place, and especially in Germany, it is most difficult for an Englishman to obtain a patent at all; for after disclosing the fullest details, showing the way in which his invention is to be carried into effect, he is usually informed in the curtest German that his idea is not novel, and his application is refused accordingly. If he should risk a postage stamp in asking for information as to the invention which is supposed to have anticipated his own, he need not be surprised if he is referred to one which in no way conflicts with it, and any further appeal is absolutely useless. But in the comparatively rare case in which an Englishman is successful in obtaining a patent in Germany, every difficulty is thrown in his way in utilizing it, for he must either start a factory of his own in that country, in which to carry out his invention, or he must license a native to work it, and take his chance of getting his royalties; and in no case is he permitted to send the article from England. It seems to me that this is a case in which our Government may well demand from foreign Powers the same privileges granted to their subjects by the laws of this country.

Not only are foreigners assisted by our Government in their competition with the English manufacturers, in respect of the Patent Laws, but the English railway companies have pursued the same policy, by affording them facilities for the transport of their manufactures to this country which they decline to give to Englishmen in respect of their export trade. The arbitrary conduct of the railway companies is becoming a very serious matter for manufacturers in the Midland Counties, many of whom have been compelled to remove their works to the neighbourhood of some port in order to save the excessive freights demanded, and the mischief has been aggravated by the culpable neglect of Parliament in permitting the absorption of the canals by the railway companies, and the consequent removal of competition. Any excuse is sufficiently good for railway officials to adopt in order to raise their freights.

On one occasion one of the principal lines grossly overcharged us for the carriage of some articles; and on being expostulated with, coolly remarked that the extra price was charged because the articles were patented! The system of classification of rates is also so extremely complicated, that only experts are able to assure themselves that they are not overcharged. And then having made it as difficult as possible for manufacturers to exist, some of the principal railway companies have withdrawn their custom from them, and erected factories for supplying themselves with the stores hitherto ordered from the private manufacturer. It is only a few years since one of the principal railway companies, not content with making their own stores, began to enter into competition with private manufacturers in the open market, and were only stopped by a decision of the Courts of Law.

For some years after we went to Soho, our work-people took their meals in the workshops, a practice which was almost universal at the time. The objections to this system were numerous, and most of them obvious, the principal ones being the impossibility of ventilating the shops during meal-times, and the inconvenience to the men themselves in taking their meals under such circumstances. In addition to this, great loss was sustained by large numbers of men preparing and cooking their meals during work time, before the arrival of the meal-hour. The foremen usually went to their homes to their meals, so that the shops were left without sufficient superintendence, advantage often being taken of this want of oversight to indulge in "larks" and games, and in wandering around the various departments, the result frequently being the loss of valuable tools and materials.

We had often been importuned by deputations from the workpeople to erect a dining-ball; but as it involved an outlay of at least £2,000, we hesitated for some time before complying, but yielding at last to their request we built a commodious room for the purpose. We agreed to provide the coals and gas, and the services of a cook and assistant without any charge. When all was ready a notice was issued that upon a certain day the dining-ball would be opened, after which everyone, except caretakers, would be required to leave the works during meal times.

All who have come much into contact with working men know that they are divided into classes just as much as other sections of the community, and the result proved that such was the case amongst our people. In an engineering works it necessarily happens that much of the work is of a character to soil the hands and clothes of the operatives while in some departments, on the contrary, the men can wear white shirts and keep themselves as clean as the clerks can. Working men of the present generation would smile at the suggestion that any of their number could be found who would decline upon any pretence to take their meals with the rest of their fellow-workmen, but at the time to which I refer, the practice was a novel one, and a number of the men strongly objected to adopting it. They went so far indeed as to hold a meeting in their workshop on the day before the opening of the dining-hall, and to pass resolutions declining to use it, expressing their determination to remain and dine as heretofore! After some considerable trouble, however, we were able to show them the unreasonableness of their action. The hall has been a great benefit ever since, although it was some time before experience told us the best conditions under which it could be used.

When first established, as has already been stated, no charge was made for admission, while the cook and assistant, coals and gas, were provided free of charge. But, notwithstanding all these advantages, there was considerable discontent manifested amongst the men. We were then advised to let them pay for their own attendance and cooking, and also for the coals and gas. This was done, and things went on very much better. But, by-and-by, there were again symptoms of discontent, when we decided to try a fresh experiment, charging them a rent for the use of the place; and since this was done the institution has given much greater satisfaction.

In the same hall, concerts and lectures are occasionally given, and twice a week half-hour addresses are delivered during the dinner hour on subjects chosen by the men themselves. Every Saturday evening a Temperance meeting is held, which has already been the means of doing considerable good; and on Sunday morning an adult school, numbering nearly 300 scholars, is held in the room, superintended by my brother George; while in connection with the school there is a lending library, savings bank, etc. The workmen can either bring their own dinners and have them warmed, or they can buy dinners on reasonable terms, paying the contractor a penny per week for the use of the room. No intoxicating drink is allowed, but smoking is permitted during the second half of the dinner-hour. We have always encouraged the workpeople to go home to their dinners when practicable, so that the family might dine together; but when this is inconvenient, we believe the possession of a comfortable dining-hall has been much appreciated by the great majority of the men. Rooms have also been provided for the use of those clerks who live too far from their lodgings to admit of their going home to dinner.

It is generally known that the members of our firm are abstainers from intoxicants; and while we have never attempted in any way to force our opinions upon those in our employment, I have no doubt that the fact of our being abstainers has been influential in promoting temperance amongst them. Indeed, I know there are a large number of abstainers amongst our workpeople; and have reason to believe that there is no firm in existence which is so little troubled by the indulgence of their workpeople in strong drink. The public opinion of the Works is strongly in favour of Temperance; and it is well known that if a man wishes to retain his situation with us, he must not unduly indulge in strong drink. There are some men in the works who, a few years ago, spent all they could in drink, but who are now owners of house property, while others have considerable sums in the Savings Bank.

Some of the managers dine at the works, and occasionally gentlemen who have called on business during the dinner-hour are asked to dine with them. The drink provided on these occasions consists of water, lemonade, and ginger-beer. Some time since a gentleman was inspecting some goods which had just been completed, being accompanied by his principal, for whom the goods were ordered. They were invited to partake of luncheon with the managers, when the waiter asked them if they would have lemonade or water to drink. The merchant indignantly protested be would have neither, and asked if that was the way Messrs. Tangye treated their guests! Evidently he had not had much experience of teetotallers.

In going through the works in the afternoon the merchant expressed his approval of the arrangement for the comfort and convenience of the workpeople, and was also struck with their intelligence and contented appearance. He remarked he had been told we were not much troubled with strikes and other difficulties with the workpeople, and asked how it was? In reply he was told that we attributed it, to a very great extent, to the absence of indulgence in drink on the part of all concerned. For that it was well-known that strikes and labour disputes generally were either initiated in public-houses or much aggravated by being discussed there. And then the work people who took their dinners in the adjoining dining-hall, at the same time as the managers, were not allowed to introduce intoxicating drinks; but if wine was being drunk in the managers' room, while beer was forbidden below, how long could we hope to be free from discontent and disturbance?

In 1871 a great agitation sprung up amongst the operative engineers at Newcastle-on-Tyne in favour of a nine hours' day, causing widespread dislocation of business. The great success which attended the establishment of the Saturday half-holiday made me predisposed in favour of this movement, especially as we had long noted the fact that the energies of the men were expended before the close of the day, and that comparatively little work was done in the last hour, when of course more gas was used than during any other part of the day, and the cost in coals and wear and tear of machinery was no less.

With these facts before me, I was quite prepared to act upon them, but unfortunately a severe attack of illness prevented my attending to business for several months. When, however, I became sufficiently well to communicate with my brothers, I found them in complete accord with me upon the question; and as the agitation had already spread to Birmingham, we agreed to communicate with the other employers in the engineering trade in the district, with the object of coming to an agreement for united action. Accordingly I met some of the leading manufacturers and explained our views; and pointing out the necessity for prompt action, I informed them that we intended conceding the nine hours on the following day. They indignantly protested against our proposed action, declaring that it would ruin the trade; but I replied that when whirlwinds were about, it was better to ride and direct them, than to be overwhelmed by them, and that we should certainly take the course I had indicated.

Up to this time no action had been taken by the men in Birmingham, although the question had been discussed with great interest, and they had expressed their willingness to meet the masters in council upon it. It was clear to me, therefore, that an attitude of blank resistance would be a most impolitic and unfortunate one to take under the circumstances, and I said so to the masters, but my arguments made no impression upon them. Accordingly, on the following day we caused the signal for leaving off work to be given a quarter of an hour before the dinner-time, and ordering the gates to be locked brought the men together in the principal workshop and announced that we had decided to give them the "nine hours" unasked, and said we were sure they would see to it that the business should not suffer by our so doing. The majority of the men were piece-workers, and they immediately and spontaneously offered to continue at the same prices as before; this generous response to our proposals insuring us against loss. In the meantime the other employers refused the concession to their work-people, but capitulated unconditionally after a twenty-four hours' cessation from work.

And now, after nearly twenty years' experience, nothing would induce us to return to the old system of longer hours. Seeing that we employed more than half of the operative engineers in Birmingham and the district round, it is certain that our prompt action was the means of preventing a long and bitter struggle between the parties concerned, and also of still further improving the excellent relations which had always existed between our own work people and ourselves.

I believe that most of our men are members of Trades Unions; but during our thirty years' experience I only remember one or two instances of interference on their part, which I deemed mischievous; while, on the other hand, they have many a time rendered considerable assistance by their wise counsels, and it would be disastrous for employers and employed if Trades Unions ceased to exist.

Our record having been one of almost unbroken progress, it must not be understood that we have been free from times of great anxiety inseparable from the conduct of vast undertakings, especially during periods of prolonged depression in trade; but amidst all such vicissitudes it has been a source of great satisfaction to us that we have been able to maintain wages at the same high level which prevailed in our most prosperous years.

Knowing how much we owed to our education and training being somewhat in advance of our class, we long ago provided means at the works for instruction in reading and writing, and also in mathematics and machine-drawing and construction. Thanks, however, to the Education Act, we were soon able to dispense with and substitute for the former, classes for the teaching of French, Spanish, German, and shorthand, offering substantial advantages for proficiency in the various subjects. We no longer find it necessary to employ foreign clerks, the advantage of which is obvious when it is borne in mind that they are usually but "birds of passage," having left their own countries mainly for the purpose of acquiring information in English business houses.

The great Exhibition of 1851 opened a new era in the history of industrial progress. For good or for evil, England then taught the nations of the world the secret of her unquestioned manufacturing pre-eminence, and, for the future, instead of supplying the universe with her varied productions, she would henceforth supply it with the means by which she would be emulated and supplanted. Under these altered circumstances I have never been in doubt as to the duty of England in regard to the education of the youth of this country. That "knowledge is power" was becoming increasingly manifest, and people were not slow to recognise its full significance; and when the reformed Parliament of 1867 met, it soon became evident that Mr. Bright's prediction that one of its first great tasks would be the provision of a system of National Education, would be quickly fulfilled.

My own views on the scope of the education which should be given in our Public Elementary Schools were fully set forth in a speech delivered by me at the opening of the new Board Schools near our Works on the 6th of March, 1883. After congratulating the scholars and teachers upon the noble buildings provided for their accommodation, I said-

"Vast as has been the improvement in the school-houses of to-day over those of forty years ago, the advance in the character and quality of the instruction given, and in the mode of imparting it, has been greater still. Some people said—and I am sure they honestly believed it—that we were going too fast and too far in our desire to give the best possible education to the masses of our fellow-countrymen, and they feared the people might become dissatisfied and discontented with the position in life in which 'it had pleased Providence to place them.' I should like to know whether these people are quite sure that Providence has placed the poor in the position they occupy. I believe that hundreds of thousands of the poverty-stricken children up and down the country, on whose behalf we plead for a better education, owe their sad position very much more to the improvidence of their parents, and to neglect on the part of Society, than to the ruling of Providence. Happily, the State has now become fully awake to its responsibility in this respect, and by the provision of ample means for the instruction of the people it proclaims this fact:— that in the future it relies more upon an intelligent appreciation of the laws of the country than upon a blind obedience to them.

"But is this desire to improve their position in life confined to the working classes? Have they never heard, for example, of a barrister who wished to become a judge? Have deans never dreamed of bishoprics? or is it an uncommon thing for a curate to desire the office of rector? We do not blame them for this; but let us be fair all round. The battle of life, we may be sure, will always be sufficiently against the working classes. Is it a fact that the improved education of the past few years has had the effect of making any considerable number of people discontented in life? I hold that one of the principal effects of this improved education has been to make people go about their legitimate work in a more intelligent and more energetic fashion. The present system of education has now been in operation a sufficient number of years to enable us to judge in a considerable degree of its results. Now the fact that I was a member of the School Board for a number of years, coupled with the circumstance of my being a considerable employer of labour in the neighbourhood, perhaps justifies me in expressing an opinion on the subject; and I honestly believe that no harmful effect whatever has followed this system of extended education of the people, but that from every point of view it has operated for good.

"What has been my own experience? Since the passing of the Education Act more than one thousand Board School boys have found employment in the Cornwall Works, and the universal testimony concerning them is, that as compared with those of the era previous to the existence of Board Schools, there is a most marked improvement in every way. The lads are more orderly, more amenable to discipline, and much more intelligent; they show a greater eagerness to learn the business of their lives, and as a natural consequence they master it much more thoroughly and in considerably less time. This I can vouch for; but besides all this, their improved education has given them greatly improved tastes, and in addition to that it has enabled them to take the fullest possible advantage of such noble institutions as the Mason Science College, the School of Art, and the Midland Institute; and none but the older students in these institutions, who have not had the good fortune to obtain so good an elementary education, can form any conception of what that meant. These students knew full well that the absence of this preliminary training gave them as men greatly increased labour and greatly diminished success. What is required, as I understand it, is that as regards elementary education there shall be absolute equality for every child born in the land; and this not in the interest of one class only, but in the interest of every class, for it must be apparent to all that it is utterly impossible that the advantages of a good education can be confined to the recipient.

"I am of opinion that it would be impossible to over-estimate the importance and advantage of teaching Science in the elementary schools of a manufacturing town like Birmingham. I believe that a very few years will suffice to show that there is not a single industry in this great town or neighbourhood which has not vastly benefited—to the advantage of everybody by the introduction of science-teaching in the Birmingham Board Schools, taught as it is on a most excellent system, and by the most competent teachers. But something more than science-teaching in our Elementary Schools is needed if our artisans are to keep their boasted, but well-merited pre-eminence in the industrial world, The training of the hand and eye by the `_aching of drawing and by technical instruction, is absolutely essential if this country is to hold its own. The motto of the Royal Agricultural Society of England is an admirable one, and should be adopted by the Technical Schools of the future—' Practice with Science.' And in this connection I once saw an excellent piece of advice which was given by Horace Greeley in the New York Tribune, and which I have since caused to be printed and widely circulated amongst our younger workpeople. Above all, to be a successful mechanic, you must be a mathematician. Unless you can conquer the mathematics of this trade, you will always have to drudge at the hardest work done. With a thorough practical knowledge of the work, and of the principles underlying it, you will soon rise above the lathe and the file. Study and work together.'"

Since this speech was delivered, a great advance, and one that has already been attended with excellent results, has been made in the provision of Technical Schools by the Birmingham School Board, at the cost of its chairman, Mr. George Dixon, M.P.

Before concluding my references to the Cornwall Works, it may be interesting to note some of the institutions in operation there. In addition to the provision of a dining-room and other arrangements for the personal comfort of our workpeople, to which I have already referred, care has been taken to provide for sickness and accidents, and also, to a limited extent, for a participation in the profits of the business. To provide for the latter, a bond or certificate of indebtedness for £50 is issued, which is good up to the end of the year of issue. The holder is entitled to receive 5 per cent. interest upon the amount of the bond, and if he should die while it is still valid his family is entitled to the £50. The bond states on its face that it is of value only to the person whose name it bears, or, in case of death, to his family. It also states that it is inalienable, and ceases to be of value when the holder leaves the service of the company.

The advantages of the bond are a free gift from the company, involving no responsibility whatever on the part of the workman; and although it has to be renewed every year the renewal is not likely to be refused if the holder's conduct has been satisfactory, or unless the state of the business ceases to warrant it. It will thus be Been that, with the single exception of not being able to sell their bonds, the workmen holding them are in even a better position than the ordinary shareholder, for they receive both bond and dividend without payment and without responsibility.

In addition to the issue of the bonds above described, and which are now held by one adult in twenty throughout the Works, the following institutions are in active operation there, all of them being provided at the cost of the company:

(a) A fund for giving £100 at death, or making up of income in case of illness to twenty of the foremen and superior workmen.

(h) A fund for giving the families of workmen killed while at work a sum of £100 down to £25, according to earnings; or a portion of their wages in case of accident, whether they have contributed to the accident by their own carelessness or not.

(c) Assisting widows and orphans of work-people.

(d) A sick visitor, once a workman himself, whose whole time is occupied in visiting the sick.

In addition to these free institutions, there is a dispensary in the Works, with two able resident surgeons, and a dispenser, who attend solely to the work-people and their families, at a cost (including drugs) of four shillings per annum for each person, or of eighteen shillings a year for each family (the dispensary is nearly self-supporting), a provident sick society, science classes, Sunday-school, and library.

• Autobiography of Richard Tangye
• Autobiography of Richard Tangye: Chapter 6
• Autobiography of Richard Tangye: Chapter 8

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