Grace's Guide To British Industrial History

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Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 167,113 pages of information and 246,751 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 147,919 pages of information and 233,587 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

John Roby Ltd: An Overview

From Graces Guide

Note: This is a sub-section of John Roby Ltd

John Roby Ltd, Brassworks, Rainhill

1842 John Roby established his business at Toll Barr, Prescot as ‘Brass Founder and Copper Smith, Brass Steps, Cocks and Valves etc, Old Metal Taken in Exchange’. His customers were local chemical companies, gas and glass works, collieries, and farms as well as domestic and institutional customers.

1857 He purchased land north of Rainhill Railway Station and built his new Foundry with nine workmen’s cottages (known as Roby’s Cottages or Roby’s Row - probably the first industrial houses built in Rainhill) and a family home named Railway View.

1860 Business cards were printed in Liverpool for the newly located business showing a picture of the Foundry on one side and details of work undertaken on the other: ’John Roby late of Prescot Manufacturer of all kinds of Brass Work used by Iron and Wood Ship Builders, Engineers, Glass and Alkali Manufacturers etc Also all kinds of Gas Fittings & Plumbers Brass Work, Rainhill near Prescot’. A stock account was taken on June 30th valuing the Works buildings and contents at £5836-16-6 3/4d.

1862 In December £484-5s-6d worth of goods were sold and over Christmas a further stock account valued items in the Finishing Room, the Metal Warehouse (including metal patterns, lamps and gas fittings, bells, dolphins and guns), the Chandelier Room and the Sales Room (which supplied kitchen ranges, bedsteads, grates, basins, brackets, sidelights, spittoons, wringing machines, lawn machines and numerous smaller items). 1867 The first surviving Wages Book lists 19 men employed in February working as Finishers, Moulders or Labourers. This number had risen to 34 in February 1873.

1868 A Ledger starting in 1868 records a decade of orders including those supplied to Lairds of Birkenhead for ships with Yard Numbers between 377 to 439. These were cargo and passenger ships, barges, tugs, ferries and naval gunboats intended for owners in the United States, Africa, Argentina, Paraguay, Portugal, China, Ireland, London, Liverpool, Glasgow as well as for the Admiralty. Other customers included Alexander Stephen & Sons (Glasgow), Greenway & Company (Birmingham), and shipbuilders in Barrow, Whitehaven and the Liverpool docks. Smaller accounts belonged to customers from St Helens (and its surrounding towns and villages), Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle, Greenwich, and New Brunswick.

1872 Goods sold totalled £11854-0-2d, which was £3609-4-2d more than the previous year, and included sidelights, ventilators, iron belfries, dolphin stands, and brass guns and bells.

1883 Employment records for June list 45 employees (23 Finishers and 22 Moulders) with a total wages bill £47-6-11 ½ d. Men were paid according to a daily rate determined by national guidelines but also dependent on their skills and experience. They worked a 58 hour week consisting of 10 1/2 hrs per day Monday to Friday and 5 1/2 hours on Saturday. Boys under 18 were paid according to their age. There was no sick pay or paid holiday (although the Foundry was usually closed at Christmas) but there was a beer allowance for hot work. Employees worked either at the Foundry, in the brickfield, building or repairing their employer’s properties, and were loaned to local businesses as required.

1884 John Roby died on July 15th aged 66.

1886 At the Liverpool International Exhibition of Navigation, Commerce and Industry (opened by Queen Victoria on May 11th) John Roby, Rainhill was awarded a gold medal. On October 30th Roby workmen were given rail fare from Rainhill to Liverpool to see the exhibition, and married men were also given the fare for their wives. The medal was adopted as part of the company’s letterhead for many years.

1887 Most men were allowed a day off without pay to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in June. 1888 Articles of partnership were adopted by John Roby’s sons (John David Roby, Thomas Spruce Roby, William Henry Roby and Albert Wallace Roby) to allow them to continue the business of their father. These articles were revised in 1897 to give greater financial protection to the partners and the business.

1888 John Roby, Rainhill was awarded a memorial diploma at Glasgow International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry.

1888 The earliest surviving Work Book begins in May of this year. Many orders were being supplied to the Admiralty and ‘Contractors to the Admiralty’ was adopted for the company’s letterhead. From 1890 John Roby, Rainhill was fulfilling many orders for Messrs T Utley & Co. of Tuebrook, Liverpool. These included castings ready for finishing and also working to patterns and patents licensed by Thomas Utley & Co. Employees numbered 55 in September.

1893 Orders were supplied to Laird Brothers of Birkenhead for the Vanderbilt yacht ‘Valiant’.

1894 A new workshop costing £199-1-7d was built by Foundry workmen. Further improvements included fitting a new boiler and slide rest for turning large items in 1896, and the addition of a fireproof strongroom in 1897. Between 1895 and 1899 the majority of orders were placed by Lairds Brothers (Birkenhead), the Admiralty, Messrs T Utley & Co. (Liverpool), Lobnitz & Co. (Renfrew), Workman Clark (Belfast), McWhirter Roberts & Co. (London) , Burmeister & Wain (Copenhagen) and Earles Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Hull).

1898 60 yacht lights for the Queens yacht ‘Victoria and Albert’ were manufactured for Thomas Utley & Co. with further items required in 1899. The names of workmen manufacturing these are recorded in Foundry Work Books. A price guide dated 1898 lists unit costs at the Foundry for products including single/double galvanised iron sidelights, galvanised cast iron deck lights, brass deck lights, single/double brass sidelights, and deck house lights.

1899 John David Roby died on January 1st and his portion of the business was passed equally to his three brothers. There were 76 employees listed in March with a wages bill of over £90. Work was reorganised on November 16th so that workmen could be released to see the troops march through Rainhill at 10am, possibly on their way to the Boer War.

1900 Further investment was made in the Foundry. A new wall was built around the Works; new engines, tanks and a countershaft were installed for the compression engine; in 1901 new pit furnaces were built and a cupola replaced in the Foundry; in 1902 a new reservoir was constructed by the Foundry workmen at a cost of £127-4-0d, a saw tooth roof was fitted over the washing plant and new turrets erected over lathes in the New Shop; in

1903 flagstones were removed from the warehouse floor and it was concreted. A piece of land was bought at the corner of the Foundry site facilitating access to the new road to St Helens (known as New Road and later Rainhill Road) and to the main turnpike road.

1903 Albert Roger Roby (grandson of John Roby’s brother, Roger) began his apprenticeship at 4s per week on August 18th aged 13. He was one of several members of the extended family who found employment at the Foundry: between 1896 and

1904 David Roby (a nephew of John Roby) and later his son John Herbert Roby worked at the Foundry.

1904 Agents were employed to secure orders in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Germany. Major customers continued to be Cammell Laird (Birkenhead), Messrs Thomas Utley & Co. (Liverpool), the Admiralty, Workman Clark & Co. (Belfast), and Vickers Sons & Maxim (Barrow). Orders were growing with Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson (Newcastle), D & W Henderson (Glasgow), Loveridge Ltd (Cardiff), Davey & Co. (London), R & W Hawthorn Leslie (Hebburn on Tyne), John J Thornycroft (London), The Caledon Shipbuilding Co. (Dundee), Harland & Wolff (Belfast) and the Goole Shipbuilding and Repair Co.

1906 Many orders were supplied to Messrs T Utley & Co for the Cunard ships Lusitania and Mauretania.

1908 Property left in trust by John Roby, and property acquired by the brothers, was managed by William Henry Roby and his agent George A Tither on behalf of the Trustees. Apart from six pairs of villas on the outskirts of St Helens and a couple of commercial properties, these were mainly workmen’s cottages in Prescot, Rainhill, Sutton and Liverpool.

1909 On July 5th most employees were given time off without pay to see Edward VII reviewing troops at Knowsley. In September a Works outing to Blackpool was arranged for all employees. Good workmen were treated well: loans were made to them and several lived in their employers’ properties. Bad workmen were swiftly removed because of poor quality work, bad behaviour or poor timekeeping. Injuries and illnesses were common in this type of heavy industry but there was sympathy for those who through age or infirmity found the work difficult as evidenced by notes made in the Wages Books. Several longstanding employees moved into gardening or property maintenance for the tenanted properties or for their employers.

1910 Most orders continued to come from Cammell Laird (Birkenhead), Workman Clark & Co. (Belfast), Hawthorn Leslie & Co. (Hebburn on Tyne), Thomas Utley & Co. (Liverpool) and the Admiralty closely followed by Hugh Douglas (Liverpool), Vickers Sons and Maxim (Barrow), John Brown & Co. (Clydebank), and Alexander Stephen & Sons (Govan). Orders from outside Great Britain were increasing and were dispatched to Rotterdam, the Schelde, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Boulogne, the Loire, Stettin, Hamburg, Danzig, Bilbao, Cartagena, Cadiz, Stavanger, Copenhagen, Elsinore, Goteborg, Trieste, Livorno, and Genova. Thomas Roby Jnr (son of Thomas Spruce Roby) started work at the Foundry on Monday September 26th aged 17. His pay rose to 11s for 6 days of work on October 3rd which was his 18th birthday.

1911 A day off without pay was allowed for the coronation of George V on June 22nd. On September 3rd a Works trip to New Brighton was attended by all except five men who remained working at the Foundry.

1912 Albert Wallace Roby (son of John Roby) and his wife died in the Ditton Railway disaster on September 17th.

1913 William Wallace Roby (son of William Henry Roby) started work at the Foundry aged 15 at 6s per week. On Saturday October 4th a Works outing was arranged to celebrate the 21st birthday of Thomas Roby (Jnr). A special train left Rainhill around 8am and returned at 9.25pm taking all employees (and their wives), members of Rainhill Bowling Club (and their wives) and a number of private guests to Blackpool - a total of 244 individuals. Meals were provided at Clarke & Heap’s Station Restaurant in Blackpool. John Yates (an employee) was asked to present a gold cigarette case to Thomas Roby (Jnr), and a vote of thanks was given to Thomas Spruce Roby by the Foreman (Oliver J Lowe) who commended Mr Roby for the help he provided to those in need both in the firm and outside and thanked him for his kindness in arranging such an enjoyable day.

1913 The largest customers were hardly changed but newer ones included Palmers Shipbuilding (Hebburn on Tyne), Fairfield Shipbuilding (Govan), William Beardmore & Co. Ltd (Dalmuir), and Scott’s Shipbuilding (Greenock). Orders from abroad continued to grow and were also being sent to Malmo, Le Havre, La Spezia and Frederikshavn.

1914 New Articles of Association were adopted on March 14th converting the company into a private limited company with authorised capital of £20,000. The two remaining brothers and partners (William Henry Roby and Thomas Spruce Roby) become the directors of John Roby Limited each receiving 7000 shares valued at £1 per share and an annual salary of £1500. The Company Secretary was Thomas Roby (Jnr). The business of John Roby, Rainhill was sold to John Roby Ltd for £14,000 (£2000 of freehold property, £2000 of machinery and plant, £5000 of stock and £5000 cash in the bank) while freehold land was conveyed to the new company for £2000. The registered office of the new company was The Brass Foundry, New Road, Rainhill, Near Liverpool. In memory of Albert Wallace Roby, the Roby family gave land and the wall around it to St Ann’s church, Rainhill extending the churchyard to St James Road. In

1916 a further donation was made by the family to meet the cost of laying out and draining the extension. Funds which the church had already collected towards the extension were used to build a war memorial in

1918. 85 men were employed at the Foundry in December 1914.

1915 William Henry Roby died suddenly on December 30th 1914 at his home Cedric House, Rainhill. His widow made a gift of a Lych Gate at the corner of the graveyard extension in memory of her husband. Thomas Roby (Jnr) and John Rogers (both grandsons of John Roby) were appointed as Directors. A letterhead in use at this time reads ‘On Admiralty, India Office, Lloyds and Board of Trade Lists. John Roby Ltd Manufacturer of Sidelights in All Metals, Bells, Deckfittings etc as used for battleships,Torpedo Ships, Passenger and Cargo Steamers, Yachts etc; Manufacturers of Utleys Patent Safety Lug Sidelights under special licence’.

1917 Orders began to reduce and the machining of shell cases was no longer required. Major customers were: Cammell Laird (Birkenhead), Palmers (Hebburn), Vickers Ltd (Barrow), R & W Hawthorn Leslie (Hebburn), John Brown & Co. (Clydebank), Bow McLachlan Ltd (Paisley), Harland & Wolff (Govan and Belfast) and Holman & Co. (Newport). Orders from overseas continued to expand in Norway (Grimstad, Bergen, Arendal, Christiania, Larvik, Kaldnes and Frederikstad), Denmark (Aalborg, Nakskov, Odense and Kalundborg), Sweden (Oscarhamn) and Canada (Vancouver).

1918 William Wallace Roby enlisted and his younger brother John Baldwin Roby started work at the Foundry aged 15 at 6s per week. After the war William Wallace Roby became a Director of the company in 1920 followed by John Baldwin Roby in 1924.

1920 Thomas Spruce Roby (son of John Roby) died on October 19th at his home Ashleigh, Rainhill.

1921 Orders from British companies declined. Cammell Laird (Birkenhead) continued to be the largest customer followed by Workman Clark (Belfast), Davey & Co. Ltd (London), R S Stokvis and Zonen (Rotterdam), Thomas Utley & Co (Liverpool) and the Admiralty. 112 casks were sent to Vancouver for SS Spectator. In November it was discovered that 6 men had missed paying unemployment contributions which had begun in

1920: a note in the Wages book reads that John Roby Ltd would pay their share and the men could repay ‘when times are better’. Only 26 men were employed in June.

1923 Between July and December monthly income did not exceed £600 compared to a monthly high of £6085-15-5d in September 1915.

1925 A note made in the Wages Book reads: ‘Staff reduced consequent on long trade depression. J.Roby Ltd regrets this'.

1926 An article in The Journal of Commerce dated March 24th described a new design of porthole which improved ship ventilation for passengers: patented by Mulhern and Co Ltd of Bootle and manufactured by John Roby Ltd of Rainhill.

1928 The long standing manufacturing arrangements between Thomas Utley & Co. and John Roby Ltd were formalised. Subject to mutually agreed prices, all orders for casting work required by Utleys for ships’ lights would be placed with John Roby Ltd and they would be asked to quote for all enquiries received by Utleys for ships’ lights. Thomas Roby (Director of John Roby Ltd) was elected a Director of Thomas Utley & Co Ltd and he received 500 shares in the company on payment of £500. Between 1928 and 1930 most orders were placed by Thomas Utley & Co. Napier & Miller (Old Kirkpatrick), Harland & Wolff (Belfast) and Lithgows (Port Glasgow) fitted out some ships with windows and Utley pattern sidelights made in Rainhill. Cammell Laird only placed 2 small orders in

1929. However 99 men were employed in September 1929 with a net wages bill of £203-7-2d and a series of improvements began including the construction of a sand blast room with a high speed air compressor, new furnaces and tanks, a new Foundry building in 1929 and extensions to existing buildings.

1929 John Yates retired with a pension on August 28th having started as an apprentice at the Foundry aged 13. He had been presented with a silver watch for good attendance during his apprenticeship, and on retirement received another timepiece having never lost time from work in 60 years. He wrote ‘I want to express to you my sincere gratitude for all the kindness and consideration you have shown me during the sixty years I have been employed by you.’ Oliver J Lowe was another longstanding employee who joined the company in 1887 and retired in 1945 after 58 years, many of them as Foreman.

1930 Cunard placed an order for an Atlantic passenger liner (Yard No 534) with John Brown & Co. of Clydebank. Thomas Utley & Co. (having been awarded the contract to supply sidelights and windows) were left on the verge of bankruptcy when work at the yard stopped late in 1931 due to the depression. John Roby Ltd had a smaller involvement in the contract and was not so badly affected. In May 1932 John Roby Ltd suggested continuing the manufacture of Utley Patent Sidelights at Rainhill.

1932 Many orders were small, sometimes only one or two items. There were larger orders from Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson (Wallsend), Simpson Lawrence & Co. (Glasgow), Smiths Dock Co. Ltd (Teeside), Hawthorn Leslie & Co. Ltd (Hebburn on Tyne), Davey & Co. Ltd (London), Stokvis & Zonen (Rotterdam), Cook Welton Gemmell & Co. Ltd (Beverley) and the Admiralty. Orders from Scandinavia continued: from Oslo, Moss and Trondheim in Norway, Solvesborg, Kalmar and Kockums in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. However orders placed between January and April fitted on one page of an order book and only 21 men were left on the payroll at the end of March.

1934 John Roby Ltd had bought the name Thomas Utley and on January 17th a new company called Thomas Utley (Rainhill) Ltd was incorporated to make and supply Thomas Utley products. The Directors were the directors of John Roby Ltd and the registered office was Sutton New Road, Rainhill. A workshop at the Rainhill Foundry was set aside and Francis Utley (cousin of Thomas Utley) transferred from Silverdale Avenue to Rainhill to supervise the transition and continued to work there until his retirement in

1962. Work resumed on Queen Mary and the ship was launched on September 26th at John Brown & Co., Clydebank in presence of George V and Queen Mary. Thomas Utley (Rainhill) Ltd issued a souvenir brochure giving details of the Utley patent sidelights and windows which had been fitted.

1935 In the years leading up to World War 2 the largest orders still came from the Admiralty, Vickers Armstrong (Barrow and High Walker), John Brown & Co. Ltd (Clydebank), John Samuel White & Co Ltd (IOW), Cammell Laird (Birkenhead), Davey & Co. (London), William Denny Bros Ltd (Dumbarton), Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstad (Goteborg), Hawthorn Leslie & Co. Ltd (Hebburn on Tyne), Loveridge Ltd (Cardiff), and Simpson Lawrence & Co Ltd (Glasgow).

1937 Orders were supplied to Cammell Laird for the first Ark Royal.

1938 Following the construction of Queen Mary similar products were ordered by Cammell Laird for Mauretania and by John Brown & Co. for Queen Elizabeth.

1942 Centenary of the founding of John Roby Ltd. A list made in 1941 details 125 regular customers.

1945 Stewart Bale (a photographer specialising in commercial and industrial subjects) was employed to take photographs of the workforce and of the Directors in June. He also took product photographs which were used for advertising.

1946 William Wallace Roby died after a short illness on January 23rd.

1947 In the late 1940s Cammell Laird (Birkenhead) and Vickers Armstrong (Barrow and High Walker) remained the largest customers but there was plenty of business from John Brown & Co. Ltd (Clydebank), Burmeister & Wain (Copenhagen), Cook Wilton Gemmell Ltd (Beverley), Grayson Rollo & Clover Docks Ltd (Liverpool), Goole Shipbuilding and Repairing Co., Loveridge Ltd (Cardiff), Alexander Stephens & Sons Ltd (Glasgow), and Simpson Lawrence Ltd (Glasgow)

1949 John Rogers died on December 26th. Albert Roger Roby (great nephew of John Roby) was invited to become a Director having been with the firm since

1903. He remained a Director until his death in 1954

1952 In the 1950s orders continued from Cammell Laird (Birkenhead) and Vickers Armstrong (Barrow and Newcastle). Major projects included refurbishing the side scuttles on the Queen Mary and a large order for sliding windows, deadlights and deckhouse sidelights, from John Brown & Co. Ltd (Clydebank) for the new Queen’s Yacht (Britannia): all work required to be to royal yacht finish with maker’s nameplates kept unobtrusive. There were also Canadian orders from the Royal Navy Dockyard (Esquimault), Davie Shipbuilding (Quebec) and St John’s Dry Dock (Ottawa).

1956 The Company’s authorised capital was increased to £80,000 by the creation of £40,000 of B shares and £20,000 7% preference shares. A Works club was initiated in the

1950s to be known as The Employees of John Roby Ltd Social Club.

1957 A brass Altar Cross given to St Ann’s Church by John Roby Ltd was dedicated on Easter Sunday. Rainhill Parish Church Magazine referred to its ‘beauty and exquisite workmanship’. Thomas Spruce Roby (Jnr) and Christopher John Martin Roby (both great grandsons of John Roby) joined the business. In 1960 the directors of Thomas Utley (Rainhill) Ltd and John Roby Ltd were Thomas Roby, John Baldwin Roby, Thomas Spruce Roby (Jnr), and Christopher Roby.

1962 In August the Prescot and Huyton Reporter ran a feature on the employees of John Roby Ltd.

1966 John Roby Ltd and Thomas Utley (Rainhill) Ltd merged to form Roby & Utley Ltd. The Directors of the new company were Thomas Roby, J B Roby, Christopher Roby and Thomas Utley.

1967 The last major order for the company came from John Brown & Co. Ltd for the new Cunard liner QE2, which was launched in 1967 in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II.

1973 It was announced that the company had entered voluntary liquidation and would cease trading at the end of June having completed all outstanding orders. The remaining 45 employees were to be made redundant. The Foundry plant, machine tools, work and office equipment and van were sold by auction on September 19th.

1975 The Foundry buildings were demolished and the site was redeveloped for housing. New street names reflected Rainhill’s railway history rather than the many famous ships linked to the site.

During its 130 year history John Roby Ltd was involved in building every type of ship from naval battleships, aircraft carriers, survey ships and tugs to passenger ferries, cargo ships, ocean liners, trawlers, icebreakers, barges and yachts. Products were manufactured for ship owners in the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, South America, Japan, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the Caribbean and the USA. Of the thousands of ships supplied with parts from the Foundry four are known to have survived. Queen Mary is a tourist attraction in Long Beach California; QE2 is a floating hotel in Dubai; the Royal yacht Britannia is a tourist attraction and luxury hotel in Leith near Edinburgh; and Caroline, a Royal Navy light cruiser and a rare survivor of World War I service is now part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy and open to the public in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter.

See Also

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Sources of Information

  • St Helens Archive Service where most of the records relating to the Roby Foundry (from the 1840s onwards) are held (reference RO/Roby Collection) National Museums Liverpool: Maritime Archives B/ROB/1/1-4 and Bryson Collection Boxes 1-40 Sixty Years of the Liverpool Nautical Research Society 1938-1998 (Thomas Utley 1854-1927 and his Successors by Ken Tinkler)