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. Continue reading →

Edward Bagnall Dimmack was born in Bilston in 1808 the son of Jeremiah Dimmack and Jane Bagnall. Both his parents’ families had been caught up in the heart of the iron, coal and steel revolution that swept this area of the West Midlands from 1750-1800. Jane Bagnall was descended from a junior line of the wealthy Bagnalls of Broseley. The Dimmacks had worked in the Iron founding industry since its inception. Continue reading →

Robert Giles Marten was born in 1792, the eldest son of Robert Humphrey Marten. It would be fair to say that he lived his life in the shadow of his father, unfortunately dying three months before him at the age of 47 in 1839. Continue reading →

Walter Showell, the Oldbury brewer, was born on 26 September 1832. He was baptized in St Martin’s Birmingham on 25 Oct 1832. He undoubtedly had a difficult childhood. His father, also Walter Showell, died when he was only three in 1835. His mother, Eliza Ann Breakspear, remarried in 1840. Continue reading →

Charles Palmer was baptized in Stoke Damerel on 16 Aug 1818. He was the eldest child of Nathaniel Palmer, a blacksmith, and served in the Royal Navy all his life, receiving a pension right up until his death at the age of 88. He married Mary Ann Ash Tingcombe on 2 Aug 1837 and they had five surviving children. Continue reading →

Robert Humphrey Marten was born in 1763 to a non conformist family in Whitechapel. Robert’s father Nathaniel had established a place in The City of London in the Cooks’ company, which formed a base for Robert Humphrey’s particularly varied and interesting career. Continue reading →

Richard Evans was born on 26 Aug 1797 probably in The Red Lion Inn in Wolverhampton. He was baptized at St Peter’s Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton on 27 September 1800. We have a glass rummer monogrammed ‘RE’ that dates from his childhood or even christening. Continue reading →

Thomas Shaw was baptised on 1 Oct 1732, the son of Thomas Shaw of Sinder Hill, Sedgley. His father is incorrectly given in some nineteenth century publications of Staffordshire families as James Shaw (1710-1776) of Dudley, an attorney by training. This was in fact his father-in-law as in about 1756 Thomas Shaw married Mary Shaw, James Shaw’s eldest daughter.  Continue reading →

Henry Marten was born in Plaistow on 3 Feb 1827, the second eldest son of Robert Giles Marten. His father and grandfather both died in 1839 when he was only twelve. He was educated at a private school in Margate, Kent. He seems to have gained a rapid career start, being appointed chief Water Engineer for Wolverhampton at the tender age of 19. Continue reading →