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H. and T.
Danks
The business was founded in Netherton, in
1840 by Joseph Danks, a publican who was running
the Apple Tree pub at Rowley Regis in 1850. He
is listed in the 1851 census as living at Rowley
Regis, aged 42 with his wife Elizabeth, also 42
and their children: Henry, age
19; Thomas, age 17; Mary, age 14; Edwin, age 11;
Lydia, age 8; and Elizabeth, aged 4.
In the 1850s, Edwin had an argument with his
father and brothers and was given a large sum of
money and told to go Australia to farm sheep. On
his return, he founded a company at Oldbury
called ‘Edwin Danks of Oldbury’ on a 17 acre
site, in direct competition with H. and T. Danks.
Henry and Thomas Danks ran H. and T. Danks
which specialised in the production of
Lancashire boilers. They also made iron boats.
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An advert
from 1888. |
| Thomas Danks married Ellen White in 1855 and
they had seven sons and three daughters. They
are listed in the 1891 census as living at 77
Dudley Road, Rowley Regis. At the time, Thomas
was 57 years old and Ellen was 54. They were
living with three of their sons, Thomas Albert Danks, age 28; Edwin Danks, age 26; and Alfred
Benjamin Charles Danks, age 23. They had two
servants.
Thomas died at Stourbridge in 1902, and Henry
died in 1903. In 1907, H. and T. Danks became a
private limited company and became H. and T. Danks (Netherton) Limited.
In 1937 the
name was changed to Danks of Netherton. By 1961
there were 300 employees. In 1984 the business
was taken over by Edwin Danks and Company. |
H. and T.
Danks were reconstructed and became
H. and T. Danks (Netherton) Limited. |
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An advert from
1929. |
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An advert from
1936. |
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An advert from
1958. |
Edwin Danks and
Company
As already mentioned, Edwin had an
argument with his family and was
sent to Australia to farm sheep. He
went to Australia but soon returned
and started a jewellery business in
Birmingham, which was unsuccessful.
In 1868 he set up a boiler
manufacturing company in Oldbury, in
direct competition with H. and T.
Danks. The business was located on a
17 acre site in Dudley Road, Oldbury,
alongside the canal. The company,
originally called Edwin Danks of
Oldbury, produced the same range of
products as H. and T. Danks and
became a private limited company in
1896, when it was listed as
producing boilers and iron boats. In
1903 the firm opened an office at 52
Lime Street, London. |
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The location
of the boiler works at Oldbury. |
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An advert from
1891. |
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An Edwin Danks
boiler from 1909. |
| Edwin Danks of Oldbury was
acquired by Babcock and Wilcox in
1910 and began to concentrate on the
manufacture of Lancashire type
boilers. In 1937 the company had a
stand at the British Industries Fair
and was listed in the catalogue as a
manufacturer of pipework, tanks,
valves, interlocking flooring,
structural steelwork and press work.
The firm also converted thousands of
Lancashire boilers to chain grate
stokers.
In January 1945 Mr. J. Smith
became Managing Director, after
working for many years as the
company’s chief engineer. He was
replaced as chief engineer by Mr. W.
F. Johnston. The Oldbury factory was
refurbished in 1959 and by 1961 the
firm was concentrating on the
manufacture of shell boilers, water
tube boilers, pressure vessels,
chain grate stokers and oil burners.
In 1961 the firm also took out a
patent for improvements relating to
fuel burning apparatus and in 1964
took out a patent for improvements
relating to steam boilers.
In 1984 the company took over its
old rival, Danks of Netherton and
was then taken over itself, becoming
part of the Wellman Group, run by
Wellman, Smith, & Owen of
Darlaston. It was later called
Wellman Robey.
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