James Hutton (1853- )
C.1853 Born son of Robert Hutton
1899 On the death of his father, James, with his brother Robert junior, took over the Batts Foundry business, which was renamed Robert Hutton and Sons. The firm's administration was located at James's modest house at 5 George Street, Whitby.[1]
The prospects and financial performance of the business had declined by the time that the sons inherited the business. James's and Robert's housing reflected much about the challenging finances of the foundry. The housing James lived in was metres away from their father's former house, but it was a very modest terrace house at 5 George Street, housing James and Esther and their soon-to-be three children — Agnes, Bob and Winifred. It would have been a small house for the family size even at that time.
1907 was a pivotal year in the foundry's business, with James and Robert agreeing to dissolve the partnership, with Robert taking over full control of the business.
As indicated in a Whitby Gazette article (31 May 1907), James Hutton, then aged 55, left the business to seek to establish himself in Canada. The article notes that it was understood that a son of Mr M. H. Weighill was to accompany James on his visit to Canada. That gentleman was a grandson of Thomas Turnbull, the shipbuilder; that association reflects the ongoing shared interests of the shipbuilder family and the foundry family, seeking alternative employment.
The postcards that James sent back to Whitby during June 1907 provide some insight into his travels. His quest to “try his fortune” (as phrased by the Whitby Gazette) ranged from visiting Ontario (Cookstown and Toronto), Manitoba and Quebec. As his sister, Jenny, later noted, James sought to migrate so as to improve the prospects for his son, Bob. It would seem, however, that James did not find sufficiently-positive prospects to trigger the family's migration to Canada.
1911 James Hutton 58, manager, engineer and repairing business, lived in Whitby with Esther E Hutton 49, Agnes Hutton 19 Robert Hutton 16, apprentice, iron founding, Winifred Hutton 8[2]
1911 the foundry closed. By this time Bob had completed three years of a six-year apprenticeship in iron moulding.
1912 The family migrated to Australia, settling in Adelaide, where Bob recommenced his apprenticeship, following in the footsteps of his father, uncle and grandfather. Bob completed the second three-year apprenticeship at the foundry works of the Adelaide firm of A. Simpson & Son prior to enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in 1916; he was killed in the Battle of the Somme at Flers on 5th November 1916.
See Also
Sources of Information
- Based on information compiled by Peter Kain with some assistance and resources of the Whitby Library & Archive. Peter Kain - With his kind permission his written work is now published on Grace's Guide (January 2018)</ref>