Hill and Smith
Hill and Smith of Brierley Hill Ironworks, Near Dudley, South Staffordshire.
London Office - 118 Queen Victoria Street.
Constructional Engineers
1824 Business established
formerly Edward Hill and Co
1853 Partnership and name change. '...the Partnership lately subsisting between the late Edward Hill and the undersigned, Henry Smith (Managing Partner), in the business of Iron Manufacturers, carried on at the Brierley Hill Iron Works, in the parish of Dudley, in the county of Worcester, under the style or firm of Edward Hill and Company, was dissolved and determined by the death of the said Edward Hill, on the 13th day of September instant; and that the business will, as from that day, be continued by Mrs. Emma Hill, his Widow, and the said Henry Smith, under the style or firm of Hill and Smith...'[1]
1856 Mention. Hill and Smith of the Brierley Hill Ironworks.[2]
1860 Exhibited patented harrows, cultivators, chaff-cutting Machines, and field gates
1865 Advertising Hill & Smith's Black Varnish as an excellent substitute for oil paint on outdoor work. The advert included an illustration of their wrought iron heating barrow which contained a fire grate, 3 gallon cauldron for heating the varnis, and a compartment for fuel. Alongside was a wooden cask for the varnish[3]
1909 Incorporated as a Limited Company
1922 Constructional steel and iron work, bridges, girders, iron buildings, architectural wrought metal work, iron fencing, gates, railings forgings and castings.
"Hill and Smith is famous for supplying many miles of fencing for Queen Victoria, Ornamental Gates and parapet railing for the Royal House of Siam; work on the Sydney Harbour Bridge; the Royal Dockyard at Simonstown; South Africa, and gates at Hong Kong market and the European Club, Shanghai.
The company has also been responsible for structural steel work, often for whole factories, warehouses, iron-houses, market roofs, railway station roofs, footbridges and walkways, including the dome steelwork at Birmingham University."[4]
1982 Hill and Smith plc was renamed Hill and Smith Holdings plc.
History [5]
The Firm of Hill and Smith, Brierley Hill, was established in 1824 and was known as Hill's Ironworks.
Edward Hill married an older sister of Henry Smith who got a job with Edward Hill and eventual partnership. Little is known of the Hill family, however, Henry Smith married Marianne Webb of Holly Hall - later Springfield House, Wordsley. Henry Smith died September 1906 aged 82.
Henry was succeeded by his eldest son Joseph H Smith who was the last working proprietor with founder connections. He was killed in a carting accident in 1909 aged 54.
After this the firm was made into a private Ltd company, but an unmarried sister (later Mrs E. M. Lewis) held considerable interest in the firm until her death.
Early products were: puddling machines, hurdles and fencing , wrought iron shafts, crank shafts, piston rods and connecting rods. Famous for supplying many miles of fencing for Queen Victoria in 1860, Ornamental Gates and parapet railing for the Royal House of Siam in the 19th/20th Century, work on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Royal Dockyard at Simonstown, South Africa, and gates at Hong Kong market and the European Club, Shanghai. Also responsible for structural steel work often whole factories, warehouses, iron-houses, market roofs, railway station roofs, footbridges and walkways, including the dome steel-work at Birmingham University.
1990 Varley and Gulliver became a wholly owned subsidiary of Hill and Smith Holdings PLC.[6]
2006 The company acquired Metnor Galvanizing Ltd.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The London Gazette Publication date:27 September 1853 Issue:21480 Page:2639
- ↑ Worcestershire Chronicle - Wednesday 11 June 1856
- ↑ [1] The Farmer's Almanac and Calendar, 1865
- ↑ Hill and Smith Holdings PLC History
- ↑ Black Country History
- ↑ Hill and Smith Holdings PLC History