The site of the original factory.

The product range was greatly extended to include kettles, preserving kettles, pots, saucepans, and stewpans. The products were made in large numbers and distributed throughout much of the world. The products were continuously improved and many patents were taken out. Items were given a porcelain enamelled or a tinned finish. The enamelled products were sold under the ‘Porceliron’ name. Saucepans were fitted with patented hexagonal handles, known as ‘F.G.’, meaning firm grip.

Steam-powered automatic presses and tools were used, and the japanning shop, where the exterior of various products was given a japanned finish, had two tiers of drying stoves, each holding between 400 to 500 pots and pans. There were five floors in the warehouse, each having a weekly output of over 5,000 saucepans alone.

In the 1840s the foundry began to produce Cannon brand Colonial castings that were sold in Africa, South America, the West Indies and the Far East. The vast product range included a wide range of cooking pots, camp ovens, Havana stoves, baking pots, cassada plates, rice bowls and rice pans. One of the larger products was a huge three-legged pot with a capacity of 140 gallons, for palm oil boiling. It was sold to the West African market.

An advert from 1865.

In 1894, the company formed its own fire brigade, made-up of members of staff. The first Captain of the brigade was W. H. Hawthorne, a company director. On the 8th May, 1895, the brigade faced a huge challenge when a large fire occurred at the Deepfields site. It destroyed the warehouse and most of the stock, and caused around £5,000 worth of damage. The blaze was brought under control by the Cannon fire brigade, and fire brigades from Bilston, Dudley, Tipton and Wolverhampton.

In 1895, Cannon purchased the business of Richard Hickman, a grindstone manufacturer, and opened a grindstone department, producing Cannon ‘Excelsior’, ‘Little Wonder’, ‘Standard’ and ‘Universal’ grindstones, as well as glass cutting stones.

An advert from 1909.

In 1900, the firm became ‘Cannon Iron Foundries Limited’, to reflect the wider range of its business, which included Cannon sad irons, cast iron door hinges, axle pulleys, and even dumb bells for keep fit enthusiasts. Richard Clayton, who lived at Coseley Hall, became Chairman and Managing Director. By 1902 the firm had around 700 employees, including 40 clerks.

The ‘Porceliron’ trade mark was also used for a wide range of enamelled sanitary ware, including baths, toilets, urinals, showers and foot baths, which all sold extremely well. Products were also developed for the chemical industry including autoclaves, boilers, bowls, condensers, crystallisers, digesters, evaporating pans, stills, and tanks. The firm even produced ‘Cannon Cast Iron Quartz Crushing Mortars, which were exported to the goldfields in Australia and South Africa.

In 1905 the firm began to manufacture gas meters in London, after acquiring William Smith of London, a long established gas meter manufacturer. The business rapidly grew and large numbers were sold at home and abroad. By 1914, the firm employed about 1,000 people and by 1926 the site covered 26 acres.

Cannon also became well known for its gas fires, which were produced from the early years of the 20th century and became a great success. The fires were finished with a new patented enamelling process called ‘Vitro Lustre’ that was extremely durable and unaffected by the heat. Cannon also produced gas-heated radiators.

Cannon gas cookers became a household name and were sold in vast quantities. The first gas cooker left the factory in 1895. At that time the gas stove department covered 300 square yards and grew so rapidly that by 1926 it covered 12 acres. This was made possible because a new works was built to the east of the railway line. The new factory, which opened in 1906, had the most up-to-date machinery and extensive warehouses. Other products produced in the new factory included bathroom geysers, boiling rings, breakfast grillers, cooking ranges, carving tables, hot closets for hotels and schools etc., laundry irons, gas-heated steam radiators, tailor’s heaters, washing boilers, and water circulators.