Faulder Family Genealogy Faulder Family Genealogy

William Blizzard Williamson, the elder was born in Cork, Ireland in about 1812.  He appears in the English Census of 1841 in Kingston (upon Thames) described as an “I tinman” (possibly itinerant tinman – or tinker).  When he died in 1878 he had founded the Providence Tinplate works in Worcester (later a major part of Metal Box) and both his sons would go on to be Mayor of Worcester.

It is said that William Williamson, his wife Elizabeth and eldest son, William Blizzard (the younger, born in Cork in 1840), left Ireland due to “religious persecution”.  In England their descendants appear to have been Church of England (and the men were probably Masons), so one might suppose that they had previously been Church of Ireland or possibly Presbyterian. William Blizard Williamson was a Congregationalist when he died. Whilst we do not know the exact cause of this persecution, at the time in Ireland a number of issues were prominent including campaigns against the tithe, against the Union (with Great Britain) and for Catholic Emancipation.  However, it may have been prejudice against tinkers – if the interpretation of “I tinman” is correct.

I have recently seen (Reader 1976, citing Williamson, G.E.) a reference to “The business founded before 1854 by a Plymouth Brother of obscure Irish antecedents, described by his grandson as ‘a Card’, …”. This opens up another explanation for “religious persecution”.  The Brethren had their origins in the late 1820s in Dublin and Cork (in Ireland) and in Plymouth, England  (where like-minded people were found in 1831).  The separation of Church and State, together with a desire for a purer form of worship seem to be behind the founding of the Brethren.

“John Nelson Darby (1800-1881), an aristocratic Church of Ireland clergyman … left that Church when his bishop insisted that converts Darby had made from Roman Catholicism should swear allegiance to the British Crown. Darby rejected this as unscriptural.” (BBC, 2009)

From the earliest days (even before the open/exclusive schism in 1848) , the Brethren seemed to be separatist (keeping apart from an immoral world).  It is therefore possible that someone described as ‘a Card’ might have been “withdrawn from” (expelled/shunned) by the Brethren – and this may be the source of “the persecution”.  Given the family’s later involvement in the packaging of tobacco I cannot imagine that he was persecuted because of adherence to Brethren principles.

There are indications that he arrived in Worcester around 1855 (the family has not been found in the 1851 Census).  An Open University Assignment (Cannings-Bushell, 2000) reports:

William Blizzard Williamson who came from Wolverhampton and set up next to the canal at Lowesmoor around 1855 making milk churns, baths, domestic metalware and cash boxes, etc.

The Providence Works was established in 1858 in Providence Street filling the block to Charles Street where offices where built.  Whilst the works is no more, the offices still exist (as Williamson House) with stonework above the entrance proclaiming “Williamson & Sons Established 1858”.

The 1861 Census shows the family at Sedbury Street in Worcester; William the elder, wife Elizabeth, sons William the younger and George, a nephew Thomas and a boarder Joseph Morgan.  William is listed as a tinplate manufacturer employing 3 men and 4 boys.  All the other men are listed as tinplate workers.  It is probable (based on later census records) that William’s and George’s ages were transposed.   The nephew Thomas is listed as born in New Jersey, USA.

On the 1st January 1874, William senior took his two sons into partnership and from then on the firm was known as W B Williamson and Sons. (Worcestershire Chronicle January 17, 1874)

William Blizzard (the elder) died in 1878 (at Worcester) and the two sons William Blizzard (the younger) and George Henry took on the company until 1890 when William left the company, and the business became G.H. Williamson & Sons. In 1930 the company merged with Metal Box, George Henry having died in 1918 and his (only) son George Evans having continued as a director.

George Evans qualified as a barrister prior to the Great War (in which he served according to the Worcester Masonic Lodge’s Roll of Honour) and lived in Wimbledon; however in 1928 a patent was filed in the names of; Williamson & Sons. Ltd., G., H., Valor Co., Ltd., and Williamson, G. E. which would imply that he was taking an active part in the business.

In 1931, Metal Box opened its Perry Wood site (with its entrance now on Williamson Road, Worcester), to make food cans. The Providence works, continued (making items such as the decorated kitchen tinware known as Worcester Ware) closing in the 1960’s and there is now a telephone exchange on the site.

The Metal Box packaging business is now part of Crown (see diagram below). Production at the (Crown) Perrywood site ceased on 28th June 2013 (see comments below).

It is possible that George Evans Williamson was a long serving director of Metal Box. A history of Novar, one of Metal Boxes successor companies (Reference For Business, 2010), in discussing Metal Box in the 1930s reports:

Barlow was now the head of Britain’s canning monopoly and determined to make it even larger. But his aggressive managerial style alienated most of the old family leaders of the group’s companies, and many resigned from the board of directors. Barlow wanted to bring all member companies under one authority and ignored those on the board who opposed him. He set up an executive committee with two others, Hepworth and Crabtree, to make policy decisions and, essentially, to circumvent the board.

In 1931 Barlow’s committee instituted a single accounting system for all member companies in an attempt to force some kind of uniformity on them under a newly created head office. The managing director of Barclay & Fry tried to have Barlow fired, but Barlow called a meeting of the entire board and convinced them that his plan would make the company stronger still. As Barlow consolidated his position he banished some of his detractors to plants in South Africa and demanded the resignations of others. By 1935 he was in complete control …

We know George Evans Williamson was in South Africa in the mid and late 1940’s, so it is possible that he was one of the exiles. The History of Metal Box (Reader 1976) confirms that he was.  (Update to follow)

The Williamsons or their businesses were granted a number of patents including:

• GB Patent 13261 Improvements in Boxes or Cases for Storing Articles of Food … (to William, the younger) – tins relying on a screw or bayonet fitting to pull a conically sectioned lid onto a similarly section tin lip. (in author’s possession)
• The “Lever-lid” tin (to William, the younger) – paint tins that you lever open with a screw-driver (Worcester People & Places, 2010a)
• The “Cutter-lid” tin (to George Henry) – used for tobacco and cigarettes (Worcester People & Places, 2010a)
• GB Patent 170219 Improvements in kettles for domestic use (to G.H. Williamson & Sons and Richard Saville Thomas – George Henry’s son-in-law) – kettles with detachable handles which can be stored inside the kettle (WikiPatents, 1921)
• GB Patent 320173 Improvements relating to the nozzles of oil, petrol and like drums or containers (G.H. Williamson & Sons. Ltd., Valor Co., Ltd., and George Evans Williamson) – to provide an improved construction of nozzle made from sheet metal and adapted to receive the usual screw closure cap and seal and also for the attachment of a pump. (WikiPatents, 1929)

Apart from their tin-making, both the second generation brothers were elected Mayor of Worcester (William, the younger in 1883 and George Henry, in 1893).   The Worcester People & Places website also reports that George Henry Williamson was chairman of the Streets Committee and was responsible for the widening and remodelling of many of the city’s streets. (Worcester People & Places, 2010b) He was also the Conservative Candidate in the notorious 1906 General Election, when he was disqualified following allegations concerning bribing the electorate (see separate story).

References:

BBC, 2009, ‘Exclusive Brethren’, BBC Religions, on-line at http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/exclusivebrethren_1.shtml accessed 13 September 2010

Cannings-Bushell, D.J., 2000, ‘Worcester’s fight for a railway and its consequences for the urban, commercial and industrial development of the city in the early Victorian period.’, Assignment for Open University Course AT308 Cities and Technology: from Babylon to Singapore, on-line at http://www.canbush.com/at308-tma061.htm accessed 28 August 2010

Reader, W.J., 1976, Metal Box: A history, London, Heinemann (© Metal Box)

Reference for Business, 2010, Novar plc – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Novar plc on-line at http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/23/Novar-plc.html accessed 30 August 2010

WikiPatents, 1921, GB Patent 170219, Improvements in kettles for domestic use, on-line at http://www.wikipatents.com/GB-Patent-170219/improvements-in-kettles-for-domestic-use accessed 30 August 2010

WikiPatents, 1929, GB Patent 320173, Improvements relating to the nozzles of oil, petrol and like drums or containers, on-line at http://www.wikipatents.com/GB-Patent-320173/improvements-relating-to-the-nozzles-of-oil-petrol-and-like-drums-or accessed 30 August 2010

Williamson, G.E., undated, Some Williamsons, typescript cited in Reader 1976

Worcester People & Places, 2010a, Williamson’s Providence Works, on-line at http://www.worcesterpeopleandplaces.com/articles/20050630212030.asp accessed 30 August 2010

Worcester People & Places, 2010b, George Williamson, on-line at http://www.worcesterpeopleandplaces.com/articles/20050630154827.asp accessed 30 August 2010