YALE AND TOWNE CO. WOOD STREET, WILLENHALL
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Read the history of
the Yale Towne Co. |
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EDWIN J. YATES & CO. MERRIDALE LOCK WORKS,
WOLVERHAMPTON
Henry Yates, who was Edwin John Yates' father, was
making brass cabinet locks in St. John's Square, Wolverhampton, by 1828
when he was listed in Pigot & Company's Royal and Commercial Directory.
He had at least two other children, William H. Yates, who was working
for his father in 1854 and died in March 1868 and Fanny Matilda who
married in 1859. In William White's History, Gazetteer and Directory of
Staffordshire, published in 1851, Henry is listed as living on Penn
Road, Wolverhampton.
Henry exhibited a number of locks at the Great
Exhibition in 1851 and was a Prize Medal winner. A description of his
entry was published in the Staffordshire Advertiser on Saturday 29th
March, 1851:
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Staffordshire Advertiser
On Wednesday, a case of
locks, fabricated by Mr. H. Yates, brass cabinet
lock manufacturer, St. John’s Square,
Wolverhampton, an also intended for the Great
Exhibition, formed a feature of the day’s
display. Without claiming much novelty in
principle, they were remarkable for peculiarity
of construction and neatness of workmanship. The
backs of nearly all the locks – which were about
thirty in number, and embraced specimens of
Barron’s, Bramah’s, and Chubb’s patents, as well
as some with improvements made by Mr. Yates –
were made of open work, rendering the movements
visible, in the same style as modern timepieces
and watches. Much commendation was bestowed on
the various keys attached to the locks, the bows
of which were ornamented, and made somewhat in
the fashion of the polished steel goods for
which Wolverhampton was once famous. |
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I must thank
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| Below is a copy of an article published in an unknown
newspaper in 1851 by some of the Prize Medal winners at the
Great Exhibition, including Henry Yates. |
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The Lock
Manufacturers of Wolverhampton versus Chubb.
We, the undersigned, Lock
Manufacturers of Wolverhampton, who have been
awarded Prize Medals at the Great Exhibition, in
conjunction with Messrs. Chubb, have seen with
considerable surprise the pretentions put forth
by them in their advertisements in this Journal
on the 22nd and 29th ult, that their Locks are
the best and most secure before the public, and
founding their claims to superiority on the
ground of having Special Approbation annexed to
their award. We hereby protest against such
pretentions, and question their right to
superiority either for principal or workmanship.
We declare our belief that as Lock Makers we are
equal in every respect to Messrs. Chubb, and we
are authorised on the authority of Dr. Lyon
Playfair to state that the award of Special
Approbation was intended to indicate that the
Collection shown by the exhibitor generally
merited approval, in addition to the objects
especially included in the medal award. It was
also distinctly stated by his Royal Highness
Prince Albert in his speech at the close of the
Exhibition that the Jurors did not attempt to
decide on degrees of merit, but they awarded all
who had attained a certain degree of excellence.
Now we cannot, and we think the public will have
the same difficulty to discover the grounds for
such boasting (so different to the conduct of
Messrs. Bramah, who also received Special
Approbation with their Prize Medal), and we
think that Messrs. Chubb should have been the
last persons to put themselves forward after the
great humiliation they must have experienced in
having their locks picked by Mr. Hobbs.
We hereby challenge Messrs.
Chubb to test their claims to superiority before
a competent tribunal, as the only mode of
arriving at the truth, the Judges to be chosen
partly by ourselves and partly by Messrs. Chubb,
and the Locks to be those shown by each of us at
the Opening of the Exhibition on the 1st May
last.
| Henry
Yates, |
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Joseph Taylor, |
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William and John Lea, |
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James Gibbons,
Jun. |
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George Harley, |
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Charles Aubin. |
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Benjamin Walters, |
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Courtesy of
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| Some time between 1851 and 1856, Henry Yates moved his
business to Merridale Lock Works, 88 Merridale Street,
Wolverhampton. In 1862 he exhibited at the International
Exhibition, also known as the Great London Exposition, which was
held in South Kensington between 1st May and 1st November. In
July 1866 he retired and transferred the business to his son,
Edwin John Yates, as can be seen from the article below which
appeared in the Birmingham Daily Post on 9th July, 1866. |
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Merridale
Lock Works, Wolverhampton, 2nd July, 1866.
Sir, I beg to inform you
that I have transferred to my son, Edwin John
Yates, as from this date, the Business so long
carried on by me at the above address; and in
thanking you for past favours, I desire to
express the hope that you will extend to my
Successor the same kind of support that you
awarded to me.
I am, Sir, yours
respectfully.
Henry Yates |
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Courtesy of
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An advert from the catalogue of the 1884
Wolverhampton Arts and Industry Exhibition. |
| Edwin J. Yates & Company are listed as makers of cabinet
locks and dead locks etc. in Peck's Circular Trade Directory of
1896 and are listed as lock makers in the 1908 edition of the
Wolverhampton Red Book, but not in the 1913 edition or later.
I must thank |
YOUNG AND GLOVER, BELL STREET, WOLVERHAMPTON
| The firm was originally called Young and Smith, as
can be seen from this advert from Melville & Company's
1851 Wolverhampton Directory. |
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From the Nottingham Journal, Thursday
8th December, 1881. Courtesy of
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This advert is from the catalogue of the 1884
Wolverhampton Arts and Industry Exhibition.
Both this and the previous advert, indicate that the business was
founded in the early 1830s.
Nothing else is known about the company. |
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