John Bradley and Co

1938.

1940.

1960

of Stourbridge Iron Works.

1802 Company established by John Bradley (1769 -1816) who became managing partner; finance was provided by Thomas Jukes Collier (1761-1845) and the trustees of his stepfather, Henry Foster (1743-1793), each with a third share in the company.

The company set up a forge, steam engine and mills. Initially it converted pig iron into wrought iron plates and rods for local industry. Expansion was rapid and leases were secured on further forges and land.

1802 Steam engine installed in the iron foundry by Fenton, Murray and Wood

1813 the Stourbridge Iron Works obtained a contract to purchase the entire production of pig iron from New Hadley Furnaces for seven years at a guaranteed price

1816 John Bradley died.

1818 James Foster (1786-1853), son of Henry Foster and half-brother of John Bradley, oversaw the construction of two new blast furnaces, thereby controlling all stages of iron production.

1819 Foster went into partnership with John Urpeth Rastrick to expand Bradley's involvement in machinery production. John Urpeth Rastrick became the managing partner in the firm of Bradley, Foster, Rastrick and Co, iron-founders and manufacturers of machinery, at Stourbridge, Worcestershire, taking the principal engineering part in the design and construction of rolling-mills, steam-engines, and other large works

1821 A new foundry was built to cope with the expansion of the business. The company produced bedsteads, cooking plates, wheels and tools, rails and railway sleepers.

1827 James Foster and Henry Bradley became co-partners in the trade of ironmasters, under the name of John Bradley and Co.

1828 Coal Masters, and Iron Master, of Stourbridge Iron Works.

1831 Foster, Rastrick and Co. was formally dissolved on 20 June. The assets were transferred back into the Stourbridge Iron Works with the foundry business continuing under the management of John Bradley and Co where James Foster was the major partner with Collier and Henry Bradley.

Supplied many of the early railways with the first rails, chairs and accessories. Charcoal rods supplied for the first American cable.

1832 Deed of co-partnership dated 3rd May between: James Foster of Stourbridge, Worcestershire, Ironmaster, and Henry Bradley of Wollescott, Oldswinford, Worcestershire, Ironmaster. From 1st January 1827, James Foster and Henry Bradley had been Co-Partners in the Trade of Ironmasters, under the name of John Bradley and Co. They had equal moieties in: Freehold tenements, buildings, lands, steam engines, mills, forges, furnaces, mines, ironworks and premises at Amblecote, Oldswinford; Shutt End, Scotts Green and Brettell Lane, Kingswinford; Dudley, Worcestershire; Eardington and Hampton Loade, Shropshire; all belonging to the several works of the Company. The Works were known as: The Stourbridge Old Works; The Stourbridge New Works; The Stourbridge Foundry; The Shutt End Colliery; The Scotts Green Colliery; The Brierley Ironworks; The Baptist End Colliery; The Eardington Works; and The Hampton Loade Works.

1835 Iron founders and manufacturers of iron hoops and bars, of Stourbridge Iron Works, and coalmasters and ironmasters of Stourbridge Iron Works and Shutt End Furnaces.

1837 James Foster became the sole owner of John Bradley and Co. The Stourbridge Iron Works continued to produce rods, bars and wires while the foundry worked on specialist rolling machines.

1839 General depression led to reduction in business

1843 4 puddling furnaces were relit at the Stourbridge Iron Works.

1853 After Foster's death his nephew, William Orme Foster (-1899), inherited the £700,000 estate and under his stewardship, John Bradley and Co continued to grow.

1856 With the arrival of cheap steel, Foster failed to invest in new machinery

1872 Operated the Stourbridge, Brierley, and Shutt End Iron Works at Stourbridge.

1873 Cast iron footbridge over entrance to New Foundry Wharf, Stourbridge

1870s When the iron industry entered a slump, the productivity of the company declined.

1881 Netherton furnace, Dudley

1899 After the death of William Orme Foster, his son, William Henry Foster (1846-1924), took on the company.

1913 Preferring other pursuits, William sold the company's collieries to Guy Pitt and Co.

1914 Ironmasters. Speciality: high-class finished iron.

1919 Sale of the business by William Henry Foster to Edward J. Taylor of Wollescote Hall near Stourbridge for £15,000.

John Bradley and Co (Stourbridge)

1919 The new owners continued the business, keeping the John Bradley name, as John Bradley and Co (Stourbridge) Ltd which was registered on 11th October 1919; founder members were: Edward John Taylor of Stourbridge, Chain Manufacturer; Richard Lowndes of Beauty Bank House, Stourbridge, Iron Manufacturer; and William Frank Taylor of Lynwood, Kidderminster, Chain Manufacturer.

1920 Acquired by N. Hingley and Sons together with E. Baylie and Co Ltd. The acquisition of the Bradley business by Hingleys was effected in connection with that of E. Baylie & Company, Ltd. whose principals had contracted to purchase the Bradley business from the Foster family.

1926 Jan: Acquired the old-established business of Roberts and Cooper. It is understood that the iron and steel trade hitherto carried on at Roberts and Cooper works at Brettell-lane, Bromley, and elsewhere, was concentrated at Brettell-lane works, which were now in active operation after the holidays. A scheme of reorganisation was contemplated at Brettell-lane. John Bradley and Co. were among the oldest makers of the famous Staffordshire iron. They were one of the few firms which, in spite of the ups and downs in the trade, maintained continuous operations ever since their establishment.

1926 December: The works of John Bradley and Co which had been standing idle since the end of April, in consequence of fuel shortage, resumed operations in the second week of December this year. Some subsidiary works of the company ran intermittently during the coal stoppage.

Post-WWII: the Company became part of John Bagnall and Sons.

1963 Ceased to trade

1966 Company wound up. Latterly its principal asset was a shareholding in John Bagnall & Sons, Ltd. (a fellow Hingley subsidiary) which continued to operate the Bradley rolling mills.

1966 Later became part of the F. H. Lloyd Group of Companies when Lloyds acquired Hingleys.

The Lloyd Group then sold the Bradley premises to Sidney Smith and Sons (Stourbridge) Ltd., manufacturers of manhole covers.

1922 Modernisation

OUR LOCAL INDUSTRIES. MESSRS. JOHN BRADLEY CO. (STOURBRIDGE) LTD. INSTALLATION OF NEW PLANT. One of the oldest firms in Stourbridge is Messrs. John Bradley and Co. (Stourbridge), Ltd. When it first originated is not known, but its existence can be traced back to the year 1789, and the firm has for years enjoyed a great reputation in regard to the manufacture of wrought iron, their productions in rolled wrought iron having been utilised wherever railroad and steamships penetrate or mining operations exist the world over. The average reader may not know that wrought iron is generally defined as commercially pure iron, which, having been produced in a pasty condition, is always associated with more or less intermingled slag. The slag, remaining around the separate particles or granules of metal, causes them to assume an elongated or hairlike form when the metal is rolled into strips or bars, and leads to the production of a characteristic fibrous appearance in the fracture obtained by nicking a bar of wrought iron on one side and then bending it double. There have been various processes for the manufacture of wrought iron, and we might state that in all of them employed by the ancients the metal was obtained from the ore in a single operation. such processes being known as direct in distinction from other methods. The direct process is still employed by savage races who make iron, and is also in use where the character of the ore, the fuel, or other conditions render the adoption of the blast furnace impracticable, and it is interesting to note that it was in the middle ages that the blast furnaces became general. It was the late Mr. J. Hall. the founder of Messrs. Barrows and Hall, of Tipton, who introduced the dry pig-iron puddling process in 1830, but this process is not now employed. other methods superseding it, grey iron being employed, with rich fettling, instead. Most of the earlier methods employed in the production of wrought iron have been in vogue at Messrs. Bradley's, and on the occasion of a recent visit by our special representative, we were pleased to observe that the firm has resumed production full swing after their late partial closing down, which was rendered imperative in order to effect certain extensive renovations and improvements to the plant. A steel chimney 100 feet high, and a vertical Rastrick boiler, stand out prominently and impress one on reaching the works, and it is worth chronicling that Rastrick, in his day, became one of the leading engineers in the country, and was for many years identified with Messrs. J. Bradley and Co. Then there are puddling furnaces with the workmen busily engaged at the various furnaces, and suddenly we turn to the left and see a massive steam hammer, the latest acquisition to the plant. This modern equipment, we were informed, is known as a four-ton hammer, and has a striking capacity of 40 tons, and has been supplied by Messrs. The Lilleshall Co. Ltd.. of Oakengates, Shropshire. The old metal helve, which has done duty for years and years, has disappeared, and so have the historic rotary squeezers. together with the old type of beam-condensing engine, which had existed for a century and more. The new engine is a 450-h.p. horizontal engine, manufactured by Messrs. Miller and Co., of the Vulcan Foundry. Coatbridge, and this consumes the steam to drive the forge rolls. The advent of the steam hammer breaks a link with the past, for one writer on the production of wrought iron recently stated : In European countries the squeezer is rarely used, and the ball is 'shingled' reduced under the hammer to weld its particles together and force out the slag. It is significant, however, that from the earliest days this firm has been in the front rank of the industry, and the wrought iron bars, which are always tried and tested before leaving the works, have never been found wanting. There have been extensions to the rolls, and instead of a forge train of two stands of rolls, there are now three stands. It is here where the iron, in a semi-finished state, is taken to the mills for completion. These rolls have a capacity of from 18 to 19 tons per eight hours. The works are situate in the parish of Amblecote, close to the Stourbridge boundary, and are connected to Stourbridge Goods Station by a mineral line and canal, so it will be seen that through the geographical position and the siding pounds per annum are saved in haulage. In the early Spring of this year violent explosions disturbed the amenities of Stourbridge, and we all know how particular some Stourbridge citizens are. Inquiries, however. soon disclosed the fact that Messrs. Bradley had resorted to the drastic method of dismantling their ancient plant by gelignite. In a lesser degree dismantling goes on and reconstruction and extensions progress simultaneously. Perhaps, in conclusion, it is noteworthy to point out that in the years following the advent of mild steel, it was freely stated that the days of wrought iron were numbered, and that ironworks' plant was rapidly becoming obsolete. Messrs. Bradley are certainly disproving the latter allegation in the confident expectation that a large volume of demand exists for their world-famous specialities when international conditions enable the wheels-of industry to resume their normal speed.

See Also

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Sources of Information

• Administrative/Biographical history of John Bradley and Co, Senate House Library, University of London [11]
• Stourbridge & Its Historic Locomotives, by Paul Collins (Dudley Leisure Services. 1989))
• [12] Dudley Archives