A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE 



acter. A similar conclusion may be deduced 

 from an examination of the lists of trades in 

 the other chief towns in the county, and it 

 was left to modern times to institute and 

 develop this industry in Berkshire. 



In 1830 Christopher Harris carried on the 

 business of iron founder in Gloucester Street, 

 Faringdon. At Abingdon, Nathaniel Dean in 

 Stert Street, Robert Fairbrother in Bridge 

 Street, and George Smith in Ock Street, were 

 the chief Brass and Iron Founders. At 

 Hungerford there was at that period a foundry 

 owned by Mr. Richard Gibbons. 



In the neighbouring "village of Kintbury, 

 Mary Harper in 1830 owned a foundry which 

 has now ceased to exist. Newbury had no 

 less than five iron founders at this period : 

 William Ayres in Bartholomew Street, Joseph 

 and Henry Burton near the gas works, John 

 Deane at Speenhamland, who also worked in 

 brass, William Golding at St. Mary's Hill, and 

 William Plenty & Sons in the market place. 

 At Reading there were three firms : James 

 Hall at Bear Court, Bridge Street, who also 

 paid special attention to the making of 

 ploughs, Perry & Barret in Horn Street, and 

 James Wilder at Hill Hall. 



At Wallingford Leonard Wilder, the founder 

 of the firm Messrs. R. J. & H.Wilder, who carry 

 on the Wallingford Ironworks, had a foundry 

 at Mill Bridge, and was noted as a plough 

 manufacturer. Thomas Castle in the High 

 Street and William Guttridge in Green Tree 

 Square were engaged in this industry. At 

 Wantage John Austin had a brass foundry in 

 Newbury Street, and Joseph Golding in 

 Grove Street. 



Thus the county was fairly well provided 

 with iron foundries at the beginning of the 

 century, but many of these were doubtless 

 small factories, and judging from the observa- 

 tions of Dr. Mavor in his View of the Agri- 

 culture of Berkshire we may conclude that 

 the principal landowners and farmers were 

 accustomed to procure their agricultural im- 

 plements from Leicestershire, Cirencester, 

 Northumberland and other distant places 

 rather than from local manufacturers. How- 

 ever, the Berkshire plough, cast-iron plough- 

 shares, especially those improved by the 

 invention of Mr. W. Morland of West Ilsley, 

 the Hinton plough and scuffler, and other 

 implements constructed of iron, we* e doubt- 

 less made at the local foundries. These 

 foundries were mostly of a primitive type, 

 and the inventions which have been made 

 since the beginning of the last century have 

 revolutionized the methods adopted for the 

 manufacture of implements and machinery. 

 The large and important foundries of the 



present time form a striking contrast to the 

 insignificant furnaces existing in the country 

 during the period which we have been con- 

 sidering. In every department of the iron 

 industry numerous improvements have been 

 made which need not be recorded in this 

 place, inasmuch as they relate to the general 

 history of industry and not to its progress in 

 the Berkshire county. 



It will be sufficient for our present purpose 

 to enumerate the chief foundries and engineer- 

 ing works which exist at the present time 

 within the limits of the county, and to record 

 any special features of interest which may 

 characterize each works. Inasmuch as Berk- 

 shire is chiefly an agricultural county it is 

 natural to find that the operations of most of 

 the iron founders are concerned with the 

 manufacture of agricultural implements and 

 machinery. But the special advantages of 

 Reading as regards nearness to the Metropolis 

 and abundant railway facilities have attracted 

 the greatest amount of enterprise in this 

 industry. 



One of the oldest foundries in Reading is 

 that of Messrs. T. C. Williams & Sons, Ltd. 

 It was established in 1790 by Mr. Benjamin 

 Williams, who was locally renowned as the 

 introducer of public lighting into his borough. 

 The business was carried on by his son and 

 grandson until 1901, when it was converted 

 into a limited liability company. The works 

 consist of an iron and brass foundry, and the 

 firm is specially engaged in the heating of 

 buildings by hot water, steam, etc., the 

 manufacture of cooking apparatus and general 

 engineering. The number of workmen em- 

 ployed is from 60 to 100. 



The works of the Pulsometer Engineering 

 Company, Limited, stand on a plot of nearly 

 12 acres on the south side of the Oxford 

 Road just beyond the Tramway Terminus. 

 The company, which was established in the 

 year 1875, moved to Reading in 1901 owing 

 to their premises at Nine Elms, London, 

 being too small. The title of the firm is 

 taken from their principal manufacture 

 the Pulsometer Steam Pump. The original 

 founder of the works and the present manag- 

 ing director is Mr. John Eliot Hodgkin, 

 F.S.A. 



Among the noted foundries in Reading 

 may be mentioned the Kennet Ironworks, 

 situated in the Vastern Road and owned by 

 Mr. Francis A. Smith. A large number of 

 steam engines and steam boilers are con- 

 structed here, and also steam lorries, and 

 machines for making bricks and tiles. Mr. 

 Samuel Griffith has a foundry in the same 

 locality, Vastern Road, and Mr. John Wilder 



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