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Catalogue description Sheffield Smelting Company Limited; Smelters and refiners of gold, silver and other precious metals
This record is held by Sheffield City Archives
| Reference: | SSC |
|---|---|
| Title: | Sheffield Smelting Company Limited; Smelters and refiners of gold, silver and other precious metals |
| Description: |
DEEDS and PAPERS OF READ & LUCAS and READ & CO., 1771-1846 PARTNERSHIP DEEDS PREMISES Sheffield London FINANCE & TRADING BRANCHES Birmingham London CORRESPONDENCE & LETTER BOOKS (listed under the name of the person to whom it is addressed) General Joseph Read John Read the younger William Wilson MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS and PROPERTY NOT CONNECTED WITH THE SMELTING WORKS Cleator Iron Works, Cumberland Dore House Colliery, Handsworth Smiths' Iron Works, Chesterfield, Derbyshire DEEDS and PAPERS of the SHEFFIELD SMELTING COMPANY, 1846-1960 PARTNERSHIP DEEDS & PAPERS RELATING TO THE DIRECTORS PREMISES Royds Mill, Brightside Bierlow, Sheffield Arundel Street, Sheffield Cross Street, London FINANCE & ACCOUNTS To be consulted in conjunction with STOCK & EQUIPMENT & TRADING as certain items overlap all three sections. STOCK AND EQUIPMENT TRADING Town & Country ledgers (selection only) OVERSEAS TRADE & VISITS ABROAD PROCESSES Andrew French (including material relating to the patent fume condensing plant) STAFF AND WORKPEOPLE BRANCHES Arundel Street, Sheffield Birmingham London Papers relating to all branches CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO THE BUSINESS General business correspondence & memoranda William Wilson Henry Joseph Wilson John Wycliffe Wilson BUSINESSES TAKEN OVER Charles Cooper & Son, Birmingham E. W. Oakes & Co., Sheffield and London PAPERS RELATING TO THEFT AND FRAUD MISCELLANEOUS PERSONAL PAPERS OF THE READ AND WILSON FAMILIES, 1772-1959 JOHN READ THE ELDER, 1744-1803 JOSEPH READ, 1774-1837 JOHN READ THE YOUNGER, 1777-1862 ELIZABETH READ, 1778-1865 HANNAH SMITH, 1778-1872 WILLIAM WILSON, 1800-1866 MARY-ANN RAWSON, 1801-1887 Elizabeth Wilson, 1803-1851 Catherine Read, d.1866 Edmund Read, 1815-1873, and his wife Henry Joseph Wilson, 1833-1914 John Wycliffe Wilson, 1837-1921 Cecil Wilson, 1862-1945 Talbot Wilson, 1865-1950 Ronald Eliot Wilson, 1894- ADDITIONAL RECORDS (SSC 829-947) Business records of Sheffield Smelting Co., Limited Business records of subsidiaries and associated companies Cecil Henry and Ronald Eliot Wilson's Notebooks Papers relating to the history of Sheffield Smelting Co., Limited Personal papers: William Wilson (1800-1866) and his executors Personal Papers: Mrs Mary Anne Rawson Maps and plans Miscellanea Photographs and items formerly framed Financial records Plant Salaries Memoranda Book Register of Directors Miscellaneous Partnership Deeds and papers relating to the Directors Premises at Royds Mill, Brightside Bierlow, Sheffield Premises at Royds Lane and Attercliffe Road, Sheffield, and in Birmingham Finance and accounts Papers relating to the history of Sheffield Smelting Co., Limited William Wilson and his executors |
| Date: | 1760-1974 |
| Held by: | Sheffield City Archives, not available at The National Archives |
| Language: | English |
| Creator: |
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| Physical description: | 4 Subfonds |
| Access conditions: |
Access to records less than 50 years old is restricted |
| Custodial history: |
The records were deposited as six accessions: In June and December 1960 (SSC 2 - 42, 44 - 62, 64 - 828) On 26 April 1974 (SSC 1, 43 and 63) In August 1981 (1981/98 SSC 829 - 905) On 2 May 1984 (1984/41 SSC 925 - 931) On 24 May 1984 (1984/46 SSC 906 - 924) And on 27 February 1985 (1985/12 SSC 932 - 947) The business continues to exist and thus further accessions may occur. The collection illustrates the history of the business between 1760-1974. The material is available to view at Sheffield Archives, although the earliest ledgers (ref. SCC 1, 43 & 63) are normally only available on microfilm (ref. Microfilm A71). After 1846 the administration of the business can be followed in the greatest detail because William Wilson did not live in Sheffield and ran the business by correspondence and memoranda. These items are labelled 'minutes' but are referred to in the catalogue as memoranda to avoid confusion. The same method was used again later when either or both John Wycliffe Wilson and Henry Joseph Wilson were absent from Sheffield. There are some incidental references to political interests in letters etc. and these have been noted as far as possible. The political papers of Henry Joseph Wilson, received from his daughter Mrs Lenwood, are also available at Sheffield Archives (ref. MD 2459-2627 and MD 5889 - 6027). There is also material relating to the branches of the company in Birmingham and London and at Arundel Street, Sheffield |
| Subjects: |
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| Administrative / biographical background: |
The Sheffield Smelting Company Limited can trace its origin back to 1760 with the foundation of the Read & Lucas partnership. John Read (1744-1803) and his uncle, Samuel Lucas (d1772), rented premises at Green Lane, Sheffield, to recover precious metals from the wastes of goldsmiths and silversmiths by refining and smelting. The company moved, in 1788, to new premises at Royds Mills, Brightside Bierlow, Sheffield. By 1803 both co-founders had died and the business passed to Samuel Lucas's son, Samuel (1763-1834), and John Read's two sons, Joseph (1774-1837) and John (1777-1862). The trio worked together until 1824 when the Read & Lucas partnership was dissolved and the Read brothers continued to trade under the name Read & Co. Joseph Read assumed control of the business and John acted as a sleeping partner. In the 1830s Joseph found himself in great financial difficulties largely because of his involvement with the failed Smiths Ironworks, Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Joseph had married Elizabeth Smith, the daughter of Ebenezer Smith of the Smiths Ironworks. By 1834 Joseph's health was failing and the Read family turned for help to William Wilson (1800-1866), a cotton spinner from Nottingham who had married Joseph's daughter Elizabeth (1803-1851). William was reluctant to take on the business so when Joseph died in 1837 John Read undertook the responsibility of saving the company from bankruptcy. John Read managed Read & Co. for nine years, but in 1846 the threat of bankruptcy loomed again and this time William Wilson agreed to buy the business. The company traded under the name of the Sheffield Smelting Company. The business gradually prospered and in 1860 William's youngest son, John Wycliffe Wilson (1837-1921), joined the company; the same year John Read's son, Edmund (1815-1873), retired. William Wilson retired in 1862 leaving his two sons, John Wycliffe Wilson and Henry Joseph Wilson (1833-1914), to manage the business. The firm prospered and John and Henry started to involve themselves in local and national political and philanthropic work: Henry became MP for Holmfirth in 1885 and John the Lord Mayor of Sheffield in 1902. The company continued as a family run business employing John's sons, Cecil Henry Wilson (1862-1945) and Oliver Charles Wilson (1867-1946), and Henry's son Talbot Edward Baines Wilson. In 1890 the company became a joint stock company and changed its name to the Sheffield Smelting Company Limited. The business continues to trade at Royds Mills as Thessco Limited as part of the Solpro Group. For further information see Two hundred precious metal years: a history of the Sheffield Smelting Company Limited, 1760-1960 (London, 1960) by Ronald Eliot Wilson (son of Talbot Edward Baines Wilson) |
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