William Downing was born on 19 Apr 1821, the eldest surviving son of George and Elizabeth Downing. He took up the family trade of maltster in the West Midlands and was to oversee the expansion of the business from his birth place in Smethwick to take in concerns down the Severn in Gloucester under his sons.
He was baptised on 8 Jul 1821 in All Saints, West Bromwich marrying Emma Clifton in St John’s, Halesowen on 15 Aug 1843. Emma bore him two sons, George and William Edmund and one daughter, Louisa Jane. Emma Downing died in 1851 from consumption. With his second marriage to Susan Lee in 1856 he had a further daughter Frances Susan and one further son Thomas Lee Downing.
We have correspondence dated 1853 from Ann Maria Downing, his sister-in-law, to Sarah Downing, his sister discussing their life in Smethwick and William’s interest in remarrying.
After his mother’s death in 1858 William received a considerable inheritance and an auction of properties was held in 1859. William Downing used all the proceeds to build Holly Lodge, a large mansion on Holly Lane in Smethwick and also seems to have invested considerably in the Malting business. However, he seems to have started handing control of the running of the business to his sons George and William Edmund by 1870. A series of articles by W Ellery Jephcott published in the Smethwick Telephone in 1949 recount the story well.
After the passing of the business to his sons, William devoted much of his time to public service. He was for many years on the Smethwick Board of Health and became a large benefactor of local Smethwick charities, including the churches of Holy Trinity where he was buried in the family vault. He was also a prime mover in the foundation of local credit unions and the Smethwick Mutual Building Society. He became a JP for Staffordshire. The family, including his spinster daughter Louisa Jane continued to live in Holly Lodge and it was she who continued some of his patronage after his death, notably at St Paul’s Smethwick, where there was a dedicated Lady chapel in her memory.
He died at Holly Lodge on 9 Jan 1901. Final probate on his will was granted in January 1902 declaring his estate in excess of £186,000.
Family of William DOWNING and Emma CLIFTON
Husband: | William DOWNING (1821-1901) | |
Wife: | Emma CLIFTON (1824-1851) | |
Children: | George DOWNING (1844-1894) | |
Louisa Jane DOWNING (1847-1917) | ||
William Edmund DOWNING (1849-1939) | ||
Marriage | 15 Aug 1843 | Halesowen |
Husband: William DOWNING
Name: | William DOWNING1 | |
Father: | George DOWNING (1789-1848) | |
Mother: | Elizabeth SHAW (1795-1858) | |
Birth | 19 Apr 1821 | Smethwick, Staffordshire |
Baptism | 8 Jul 1821 (age 0) | All Saints, West Bromwich |
Occupation | 1871 (age 49-50) | Maltster and Landowner (Employing 22 Men) |
Residence | 1881 (age 59-60) | 150 Holly Lane, Smethwick |
Residence | 1891 (age 69-70) | Hay, Herefordshire |
Occupation | 1891 (age 69-70) | Retired Maltster – JP for Staffordshire |
Death | 9 Jan 1901 (age 79) | Holly Lodge, Smethwick |
Burial | 16 Jan 1901 | Holy Trinity, Smethwick |
Wife: Emma CLIFTON
Name: | Emma CLIFTON | |
Father: | Edmund CLIFTON (1776-1861) | |
Mother: | Susannah HORTON (bap.1783, d.1841) | |
Birth | 1824 | Oldbury, Worcestershire |
Baptism | 28 Nov 1824 (age 0) | |
Artefact | c. 1849 (age 24-25) | Letter to my sisters – Sarah and Eliza |
Death | 10 Jun 1851 (age 26-27) | Smethwick, Staffordshire |
Child 1: George DOWNING
Name: | George DOWNING | |
Birth | Oct 1844 | Smethwick, Staffordshire |
Baptism | 22 Dec 1844 (age 0) | North Harborne, Staffordshire |
Occupation | 1871 (age 26-27) | Maltster |
Possessions | 1876 (age 31-32) | Maltings at High Orchard, Gloucester Docks |
Death | 8 May 1894 (age 49) | Tan-yr-Alt, Llandudno |
Book Inscribed to Noel from Uncle George | ||
Will | 6 Jul 1894 (age 49) | Tan Yr Allt Value £61000 |
Child 2: Louisa Jane DOWNING
Name: | Louisa Jane DOWNING | |
Birth | Apr 1847 | Smethwick, Staffordshire |
Baptism | 18 Apr 1847 (age 0) | North Harborne, Staffordshire |
Education | 1861 (age 13-14) | Dallington Hall, Northants aged 14 |
Residence | 1901 (age 53-54) | Brighton |
Death | 22 Mar 1917 (age 69) | Holly Lodge, Smethwick |
Burial | 1917 | Lady Chapel, St Pauls Smethwick – built in commemoration |
Child 3: William Edmund DOWNING
Name: | William Edmund DOWNING | |
Spouse: | Hannah Pitt SHOWELL (1855-1941) | |
Birth | 30 Apr 1849 | Smethwick, Staffordshire |
Baptism | 3 Jun 1849 (age 0) | North Harborne, Staffordshire |
Education | 1861 (age 11-12) | At school at Hardingstone, Northants aged 12 |
Occupation | 1871 (age 21-22) | Maltster |
Occupation | 1881 (age 31-32) | Maltster |
Occupation | 1901 (age 51-52) | G and W E Downing, Maltsters Gloucester |
Death | 3 Oct 1939 (age 90) | Elm Lodge, Hagley |
Sources
- . BHO British History Online: Smethwick, Staffordshire.
- In 1816 Crockett’s property was sold under a Chancery decree. The northern part of the farm, 30 a. surrounding the farmhouse at the corner of Oldbury Road and Holly Lane, was bought by Thomas Downing and his brother George; the remainder, 34 a. near the Halesowen boundary, was bought by William Spurrier, a Birmingham lawyer. (fn. 17) In 1848 Thomas Downing sold his share to his brother George, who died later the same year. George’s widow and their son William continued to live at the farmhouse. The widow died in 1858, about the time that William was building Holly Lodge to the south-west of the farmhouse. In 1859 William sold the farmhouse, then known as Holly House, and moved into Holly Lodge. He continued to live there until his death in 1901. The house then seems to have been occupied by his widow and his son W. E. Downing and is said to have stood empty for a few years after the son’s move to Hagley (Worcs.).From: ‘Smethwick: Other estates’, A History of the County of Staffordshire: Volume 17: Offlow hundred (part) (1976), pp. 99-107.
- Molly Evans Diary: “Mills rang up at 8 to say Mr Downing died at 7.45am”