Kirk and Valentine
Iron manufacturers of Derwent Rolling Mills, Stanley Street, Workington, Cumberland
The first reference found to this partnership is in Oct 1867. The partners were Peter Kirk (1840-1916), who had recently left a partnership with his brothers (Kirk and Dineen) and his brother-in-law Charles James Valentine.
In late 1865 Quay Side Iron Works (also referred to as Derwent Iron Works or Quay Forge) in Stanley Street, Workington was for sale, freehold. Included 14 furnaces, a Condie steam hammer, and a train of rollers for iron bar. [1] Still advertised in 1866, it was acquired Kirk and Valentine around this time. (See map attached)
It was later reported that the works “..... had been standing idle for a long time. These works they fitted up with new machinery of a superior class.....”[2] In late 1866 Kirk had taken a patent for “improvements to rolling equipment for rolling metals.”[3] Specifically, his machine comprised 3 rollers, with the middle roller position fixed and the position of the top and bottom rollers adjustable to determine the thickness of the rolled metal. In 1869 he took another patent for " improvements in puddling furnaces, and in other furnaces employed in the manufacture of iron and steel."[4] Other patents followed and we can expect that all were applied in Kirk and Valentine’s mills.
1872 Of Derwent Rolling Mills, Workington. Manufacturer of boiler, rivet, ship-rivet, and best bolt iron.[5]
1872 Making considerable alterations and improvements to their Derwent Rolling Mills, including additional furnaces, a new steam hammer, and new engine and boiler.[6]
1872 These entrepreneurial young men, with some co-investors, took a lease on land near Harrington and began construction of the Moss Bay Hematite Iron Works. By the end of 1873, one furnace was in blast and the output was dedicated to Kirk and Valentine’s needs.
1873 Directory entry - Kirk and Valentine, Iron Manufacturers, Stanley Place, Workington. [7]
1878 In face of high coal prices and lack of orders, on 16 Feb 1878 Kirk and Valentine closed their Derwent Rolling Mills, throwing 150 man and boys out of work.[8] This is the last mention found of the firm Kirk and Valentine and, as shown below, the ownership of the freehold appears, at some point, to pass into the hands of Moss Bay Hematite Iron and Steel Company. Indeed, there is a document in 1873 showing the Moss Bay Hematite Iron Company as occupier of Derwent Rolling Mills, so timing is far from clear.[9] No notice of dissolution of Kirk and Valentine’s partnership has been found.
1878 Reported that a lease on Derwent Rolling Mills, Workington (belonging to Moss Bay Hematite Iron and Steel Company) had been taken by Kirk Brothers and Co who would restart rolling plates etc.[10]
1885 Kirk Brothers closed the Derwent Rolling Mills as their lease had expired. The owner, Moss Bay Hematite Iron and Steel Company, decided to use the mill themselves for the manufacture of tram rails and sleepers.[11] In 1892 Derwent Rolling Mills site, buildings, sidings and weigh-bridge were sold by the Moss Bay company to the neighbouring Gas Works for expansion of the latter.[12]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Cumberland Pacquet - 31 Oct 1865
- ↑ Maryport Advertiser - 11 Jun 1886
- ↑ Year 1866 patent no 2895
- ↑ Year 1869 patent no 1668
- ↑ Wright’s Improved Handbook of Manufacturers, etc., of Great Britain
- ↑ Cumberland Pacquet - 9 Apr 1872
- ↑ Kelly’s Directory of Cumberland 1873
- ↑ Carlisle Journal – 8 Feb 1878 and 1 Mar 1878
- ↑ Mineral Statistics of the UK, 1873
- ↑ The Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute 1878
- ↑ Whitehaven News - 15 Jan 1885 and Carlisle Journal - 20 Jan 1885
- ↑ Cumberland Pacquet - 9 Jun 1892