John Joseph Bramah
John Joseph Braham (c1798-1846), nephew of Joseph Bramah, latterly of Ashdown House, Kingswinford.
Bramah gathered together a huge business in railway plant at Pimlico based on his uncle's business, with the help of George and Robert Stephenson.
Subsequently he transferred it to Smethwick as the London Works, joining himself with Charles Fox and John Henderson as partners [1].
1833-6 Insured (Sun Fire): John Joseph Braham, iron founder, Belgrave St, Pimlico; also 4 Eccleston Place, Pimlico [2].
1838 Started a small iron foundry at Bilston in conjunction with Alexander Brodie Cochrane
1840 Mr. Bramah started the Woodside Ironworks near Dudley with Alexander Brodie Cochrane and Cochrane's father.
1844 Mr J. Joseph Bramah, Ironmaster of Dudley, was a member of the committee of management of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway [3].
1844 Bramah purchased share in the Broomfield (Bloomfield?) ironworks, at which point the name of the partnership became Bramah, Barrows, and Hall.
1845 Bramah of Ashwood House purchased Horseley Ironworks and will put them into full operation, according to the Wolverhampton Chronicle [4].
1846 September 13th. Death of Mr John Joseph Braham, an extensive ironmaster and celebrated engineer, at Ashwood House, Kingswinford in his 48th year [5].
Messrs Barrows and Hall purchased his share in the partnership Bramah, Barrows, and Hall from his estate.
Notes by FB 2014/04/09
I have been researching the Bramah family because I believe that there is a link between my own Robey ancestors and the Bramahs and Diplocks. With the help of David O'Flaherty and Robert Linford, I have recently uncovered the genealogy of John Joseph Bramah, as the son of Edward Bramah (born 1751) and Wilhelmina Sayers (born c.1768). He was baptized at St George's Hanover Square on 18 May 1798. His sister Esther Frances Bramah was baptized two years earlier on 13 March 1796, and it was her two children, Thomas Bramah Diplock and Samuel Robey Diplock, who were adopted by John Joseph and his wife Martha after the untimely death of Esther and her husband William Diplock in 1831.
Edward Bramah (baptized 1751) was the younger brother of Joseph Bramah (baptized 1748) the other celebrated engineer and inventor in the Bramah family, and thus John Joseph Bramah was indeed a nephew of Joseph Bramah. It should be noted that various members of the family spelled their surname Brammer, Bramma as well as the more usual Bramah.