John Hardman and Co

‎‎

1868. Houses of Parliament Railings.

Laxton's Building Price Book 1868.

1876.

John Hardman and Co of Great Charles Street, Birmingham

of Stained Glass Works, Newhall Hill, Birmingham

and Dublin Works - Upper Camden Street.

and London Offices and Showroom - 13 King William Street, Strand, WC.

1837 John Hardman and A. W. N. Pugin met in Birmingham. Hardman had his own business, inherited from his father, a manufacturer of metal buttons.

1838 Pugin persuaded Hardman to begin producing metalwork to Pugin’s designs.

1841 Production was expanded to include monumental brasses

1845 The business also began to make stained glass. The throne in the House of Lords is made of wood, gilded with inlaid enamel and rock crystals, by Hardman. Hardman's moved from the premises of the button-making firm into its own workshops at Great Charles Street (the button business continued to thrive and won a prize medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851.)

1852 Pugin designed for the firm until his death in 1852 when this role passed to his nephew, John Hardman Powell.

1855 Hardman and Co, of Great Charles St, brass ornaments, stained glass, etc

The name of the firm was changed to John Hardman and Co and moved to Newhall Hill. Two younger sons, Edward (1833–1876) and Henry (1835–1882), worked for the firm in Ireland.

1857 John Hardman had sacrificed his health for the business, exacerbated by financial strain, hard work, and anxiety. He retired from an active role in the firm in 1857 and retired completely in the summer of 1863.

Hardman was succeeded as senior partner in Hardmans by his elder son, John Bernard Hardman (1843-1903); his younger son, Mary George Edward Hardman (1846-1904), was also involved in the firm. Also their cousins, John Hardman Powell and his brother William Powell, seem to have been involved in the business for much of its history.

1880-1920 One of the principal Birmingham glass works.

1883 The firm was divided - the metalworks became Hardman Powell and Co and moved to their own premises.

1914 Due to declining demand for their type of metalwork, Hardman Powell was reabsorbed into John Hardman and Co. but the metalwork activity was eventually closed.

c.1939 The firm was renamed John Hardman Studios, at which time Donald Battershill Taunton (1886-1965) and Patrick Feeny (1910-1995) were designers.

1970 The firm remained at New Hall Hill until 1970

See Also

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Sources of Information

• Birmingham’s Industrial Heritage by Ray Shill. Published by Sutton Publishing 2002. ISBN 0-7509-2593-0
• Stained Glass in Wales [1]
• Pugin - the team [2]
• Hardman family biography, ODNB