J. B. Garnham and Sons
J. B. Garnham and Sons of 132 Upper Thames St., London, E.C.4; 44/47 Devonshire Street, Theobald's Road, W.C.1.
of Plantation House, Mincing Lane EC3
1867 Company established by James Bird Garnham, specialising in the non-ferrous scrap metal.
Over the years the firm also specialised in metallurgical by-products and secondary raw materials generally. They possessed a considerable knowledge of the antimony, aluminium, nickel, cobalt and tungsten commodities trade, but were especially involved with copper and zinc as well as tin and lead.
Many of the metals purchased were held in secure storage facilities and specially graded for foundry use. Large stocks were usually held.
1890s James’s son, James Coote Garnham, joined the family company.
They seem to have developed close connections with the Castle shipbreaking business.
1903 Acquired HMS Gorgon to be broken up
Subsequently a further 21 ships were sold to Garnham between 1905 and 1922
1905 After the liquidation of shipbreaker Henry Castle and Sons, J. B. Garnham started to purchase ships so that shipbreaking work could continue on the by now idle wharves.[1]
1906 Castles Shipbreaking Ltd was incorporated to take-over the Assets, Liabilities and Business of Henry Castle & Sons Limited as a going concern.
Later became Garnham, Harris and Elton Ltd, metal merchants and smelters, following the admission of new directors and shareholders, including David Harris, a chemicals manufacturer.
1921 James Coote died in Cairo
1922 James Bird died
1965 (?) The company continued to trade for many years after the deaths of the original family members until it was purchased by Wolverhampton Metal Co
1967 Wolverhampton Metals was taken over by Imperial Metal Industries.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [2] history of Castle's Shipbreakers