Archibald Kenrick.

The foundry was built on a piece of land, covering over 4,000 square yards, which he leased from John Houghton, for an annual rent of ten guineas. It was just to the east of Spon Lane, stretching from Union Street to the canal. The firm still occupies the same site today.

Archibald and Rebecca moved into the Springfields, a large mansion house at the top of Roebuck Lane. Being quite close to the foundry, Archibald would ride to and from the works on a mule.

In 1805, the firm began to produce cast-iron hollowware, particularly for culinary use, and Archibald developed and patented a new annealing process. In 1812, steam powered machinery was installed in the factory, which became the first factory to manufacture saucepans with rims.

The factory in about 1800.

At this time, Archibald’s nephew, Samuel Kenrick joined him as a partner in the business, which became known as Archibald Kenrick & Company. In 1807, Rebecca Kenrick gave birth to a third son, Timothy Kenrick, but sadly she died in 1809. Her other children were Archibald, born in 1798 and George, born in 1803.

In 1812 Archibald married his second wife, Mary Eddowes, who was 48 at the time. There were four sons and three daughters from Archibald’s two marriages.

Samuel Kenrick initially had one fifth of the profits, which rose to one quarter in 1814 and one third in 1820. The relationship between the partners deteriorated and Samuel left the business in 1827 to establish Summit Foundry nearby, taking some of the workmen with him.

Archibald was then joined in the business by his eldest son, Archibald junior. He had been educated at a private academy and studied mechanics in Birmingham. On the 20th October, 1826 he married Anne Paget at Loughborough.

In 1827 Archibald Kenrick, Junior, became a partner with his father Archibald Kenrick, in the business, which became Archibald Kenrick and Sons.

Archibald junior began to suffer from ill health, and so in 1847, his son John Arthur Kenrick, left university to assist in the family firm. John Arthur took responsibility for production. In 1850, John Arthur's brother, William Kenrick, joined the company and became responsible for commercial management.

The company’s 1840 catalogue includes door furniture, saucepans, a waffle iron and a humane man trap. In 1844 the firm began casting hinges.

In 1868, production management was in the hands of Frederick Ryland, a professional engineer who was also the first non-family manager employed in the firm. Kenrick’s first travelling salesman was appointed in 1872 and in 1873, George Hamilton Kenrick, cousin of the two senior partners, John Arthur Kenrick and William Kenrick, entered the firm. He became responsible for the day-to-day commercial management.

By 1878 Kenricks employed over 700 people and so new offices and warehouses were built. At that time, more than 30 percent of products were sold overseas. In 1883 the firm became a limited company, with John Arthur Kenrick in charge. On the 23rd February,1885, Timothy Kenrick died, at Maple Bank, Birmingham.

In 1889 Kenricks acquired the bedstead castor business of Parry & Wythes of Birmingham and in the following year, new offices were opened in Glasgow, Dublin and Leeds. Expansion continued in 1898 when Kenricks acquired brassfounders, Thomas Pemberton, and increased the workforce by a further 400 people.

A cooking pot.

In 1895, 19 acres of land was given to the town by John Arthur Kenrick and William Kenrick as the site for Kenrick Park.

In 1898, John Arthur Kenrick JP., resigned as company chairman and in 1904, Kenricks began to manufacture cylinder door locks. By this time, the company controlled several steel hinge businesses which were amalgamated in 1910 to form United Hinges Limited, with premises adjacent to Kenricks’ factory.

A cast-iron door knocker.

In 1912, during his time as Mayor of West Bromwich, John Archibald Kenrick presented the Kenrick Clock in Dartmouth Square, to the Borough. It still stands there today.

At the outbreak of the First World War, civilian production ceased and the business relied on government contracts for work as part of the war effort. Products included grenades and shells and fulfilling a large number of military contracts.

By 1930, George Hamilton Kenrick (1850–1939), was chairman of the company. The 1930s were a bad time for the cast-iron hollowware and hardware trade, which had been in permanent decline for a decade or so. Most of the holloware produced at that time was made from aluminium and so Kenricks had started to produce different cast-iron products including electric and gas irons, but without success. Their best selling cast-iron products were baths and so the firm concentrated on their production. Bath sales accounted for 39 percent of turnover by 1935.

Around this time, Wilfred Byng Kenrick became chairman and he appointed his son William, as head of the sales department.

In 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War, the firm had to rely again on government contracts for war work. The manufacture of hollowware ended and the many highly profitable government contracts, rescued the company from its decline. The firm began moving from iron-casting to die-casting. During the war, the company manufactured seven million hand grenades and 1.5 million, 2-inch mortar bombs.

Wilfred Byng retired in 1953 and Arthur Wynn Kenrick, a distant relative, formerly joint managing director of Kenrick and Jefferson, was appointed Chairman, and John Donkin, an engineer, who formerly worked for GEC, was appointed as joint general manager to work with William.

At the same time, an Australian inventor offered William the option of using a patent for producing Shepherd's furniture castor, by die-casting. William recommended this to the board and production soon began.

Thanks to the great success of the castors and William's insistence that from then-on, the number of sales, and what the consumer wanted, would determine product policy and investment, rather than the plant's capacity to produce items, enabled the firm to survive.

A cast iron door stop.

In 1988, new die-cast products included phone box casings, socket covers and engine mountings. More castors were introduced in the form of the Suroy industrial castor in 1990 and the Textile castor in 1991, along with the Sabre Lock shootbolt for windows.

In 1993 the popular Sentri Lock system was launched and Kenrick’s Window Test Centre opened. Since then, Kenricks have continued to develop new and innovative products and the firm has celebrated its 230th anniversary. Which is quite an achievement.

A Shepherd castor.