Walker & Hall - Information and Advertisements

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A ceremonial key by Walker & Hall, assayed at Sheffield in 1910:










W&H - Sheffield - 1910

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News of the death, last Tuesday, at the age of 52, of Mr. Charles H. Bingham, a prominent citizen of Sheffield, came with a shock of painful surprise to the whole city when published the next morning. The sad event calls for notice in our columns from the fact that some years ago Mr. Bingham’s name figured rather prominently therein in connection with his dispute with the Sheffield Water Company on the question of the supply of water to baths. In the test case which arose out of the dispute, the Company claimed a declaration that they were not bound to supply water for private baths except on the terms of the consumer providing, at his own expense, a meter or other automatic self-registering instrument for the accurate measurement of the water used. The Court decided in their favour; but Mr. Bingham’s action resulted in the Company’s scale for baths being reduced by about 50 per cent. Deceased, who was one of the heads of the firm of Messrs. Walker and Hall, was elected Master Cutler in 1894.

Source: Journal of Gas Lighting, Water Supply & Sanitary Improvement - 9th October 1900

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Old-Age Pensions to Workpeople

Messrs. Walker and Hall, silver-plate manufacturers, of Howard Street, Sheffield, have met the difficulty of old-age pensions by a most generous proposal to their workpeople. There are about 800 of them, and yesterday afternoon they were met in one of the large rooms of the works by the three partners— Messrs. J. E., C. H., and A. E. Bingham. The senior partner announced their intention of establishing a pension scheme which will be available for the whole of the workpeople. No payment will be required from anyone, and the scheme will be controlled by a joint committee of employers and employed. The proposal is that any man or woman who has worked for the firm for twenty-one years shall be eligible to receive, either in case of permanent incapacity or of attaining the age of sixty-five, a pension according to length of service varying from 8s. 6d. to 17s. 6d. per week for men, and from 4s. 3d. to 8s. 9d. for women. At the present time there are fifty-three of the employes who are eligible to receive benefit. Several of the oldest workpeople thanked the firm for their generous proposal.

Source: Daily Paper - 1892

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CHARLES HENRY BINGHAM



An image of Charles Henry Bingham, published in 1894 following his appointment as Master Cutler of The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire.

See: The Master Cutlers of Sheffield

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WALKER AND HALL

Sheffield is a town remarkable for its contrasts, black and dingy from the smoke incessantly emitted from the countless chimneys, yet very beautiful in its suburban scenes. Journeying northwards by the Midland Railway the traveller catches a glimpse of both aspects, whilst proceeding from Manchester on the M.S. & L. Railway an extensive view of the wooded hills and watered dales is opened up for miles before the town is reached. Daisy Walk, Figtree Lane, Bower Spring, Orchard Street, and Pea Croft, now central bye ways, are names indicative of glades and pathways, once the charm of the valley through which the Don and its tributaries lazily wander, but although the march of civilization has devastated much of former beauty, the rugged moorlands and the eternal hills with their rock-crowned summits remain as of yore, as

“If the Almighty’s hand had stilled and fixed “ The waves of chaos in their wildest swell.”

If like begets like their contrast seems peculiarly favourable for the production of artistic manufactures, for is not nature the greatest teacher in such a school? Fortune-hunting may be the primary object of the capitalist, but when a trade implies an art the power of the beautiful must be recognised and appreciated, if the unpoetic end is to be attained; and if this hypothesis be sound, then Sheffield owes much to the loveliness with which she is environed, and the work of her sons in the past may be taken as an earnest that advancing culture may look to her with confidence for a practical illustration of tastes refined.

The silver and silver plate trade, which is certainly an artistic one, has made a world-wide fame for this town, and we invite our readers to accompany us in a journey round the works of Messrs. Walker and Hall, of Howard and Eyre Streets. We shall speak later of the birth of this firm, the senior partner of which holds this year the honorable and ancient office of Master Cutler. He entered the business in his 18th year, and has done much in conjunction with his partners and those around him to rear a house of which he may be legitimately proud.

In the necessarily limited survey of these works we shall take a bird’s eye view of the general course of manufacture, although to the uninitiated without the assistance of a guide the various processes appear hopelessly involved in strange confusion, yet, intermingled as they are, the divisions, or more correctly the trades, are as rigidly maintained as though a separate roof covered each one. The machinery for the initial stages is heavier than would be supposed, and the tools throughout are costly. Space being frequently unavailable in the centre of the town where the great majority of these manufactories are situated, every nook and corner has to be occupied, and one of the points to be noticed is the amount of work that can be done with the aid of steam power in a few square inches.

Now, under the direction of a partner, we will make our tour of inspection, to whose courtesy we shall be indebted for the many explanations of detailed operations, and we shall take the furnaces first. Formerly copper was the basis of the far-famed “Sheffield close plate,” but for the last three decades it has been almost entirely superseded by nickel silver, a compound of nickel, copper, and spelter. Placed in a crucible the components are melted by a heat so intense that it is undesirable for a stranger to approach it, the more particularly as the row of furnaces or “holes” are built in the ground some 6 or 7 feet deep, the top being flush with the floor. The operative stands over and stirs the metal at frequent intervals for a period ranging from 1¾ to 2¼ hours, when it is removed from the fire and poured off into iron moulds, and reduced to ingots, which, when cold, are passed through powerful rolls and made into sheets. These sheets are next cut into slips, from which, in the spoon and fork department, the general outline of the article is taken. If it be a fork the metal is placed upon a die, upon which is thrown from a height of 8 or 9 feet, and sometimes more, a heavy stamp, which imparts precisely the shape and pattern, and marks out the prongs, which are punched through on another die. If it be a spoon the bowl part, which is always thinner than the handle, is first “half rolled” and then forced out by the falling hammer. Spouts and handles are made in halves in similar fashion, and afterwards soldered together. These stamps, which work over a wheel driven by steam shafting, are controlled by hand with the greatest ease, and a number of articles can be impressed in an hour, and the steam cylinder stamps, which fall with a weight of about 20 tons, and stamp out large surfaces such as dish covers, trays, waiters, &c., are quite as easily governed. Hollow ware of unusual size and style can be made from one piece without a joint by an alternative method of "drafting" under these hammers from the flat sheet into various moulds, each smaller than the other, until the vessel is shaped. Only a vague idea of the diversity of pattern and shape can be formed from general information, for it must be from works like these where shelf upon shelf fitted to the walls of many shops are full of dies and moulds, that an adequate conception can be gained. These dies are all wrought on the premises with the greatest care, which is requisite to secure the nicest exactness, which makes a design alone valuable.

Ordinary hollow ware, like tea and coffee pots, sugar basins, &c., in nickel silver, are hammered by hand, but Britannia metal, or, as it is also called, "Princes’ Metal," or "White Metal," is spun. We will digress here for a moment. This Britannia metal is a mixture of block tin, copper, brass, and regulus of antimony. The tin is melted in an iron trough and brought to a red heat, and with it is mixed the copper and brass brought to a liquid in another vessel, and to the whole the regulus of antimony is added. The mixture is then carefully stirred for some time, and finally moulded into ingots or heavy slabs, and rolled into sheets. It is capable of very brilliant polish, and indeed some exhibits of a Sheffield firm at the Great Exhibition of ’51 were so highly burnished that the Jurors recommended that the name of the metal should be inscribed upon it to prevent it being taken for silver. It is, moreover, very tractable, and on this account is mostly spun. We will now observe the operation. The spinner secures a flat circular piece of metal to his lathe, and as it rapidly revolves applies to it a long shaped tool pressed as a fulcrum against a "rest," which is moved forward as the spinning proceeds, and by forcing the metal upon the block or “chuck” he spins an elegant vessel in an incredibly short time.
The introduction of a simple yet effective labour-saving machine, known as ‘‘ The Wheeler,”’ has opened up another way of making dish covers, soup tureens, and similar vessels. It is difficult to describe its operations without the aid of a block illustration, but it has the advantage over “drafting” of making both sides smooth at once, and it also “ suages” or raises the rims of covers and the like, besides doing other useful work. Beading, used for the decoration of the edges, is next made, and the “ beader”’ must possess a strong muscle, for a continuously equal pressure is requisite to regularly raise the beads upon the wire which spins at a stiff rate. To the unaccustomed the noise is here intolerable, and it is a relief to move on to the “Pierce” workers, who transform the plain strip of metal to the fretted raised borders of waiters and trays, or to the figurated sides of cruets. In all these operations, save that of “Wheeling,” a rough surface and edge is left, technically known as “flash,” which must be filed down before the article can be further dealt with. Here the noise is as bad,-although of another kind, as in the beading shops, and the filers must be remarkable creatures if they can retain any fine feeling after making the most excruciating sounds all day long.

So far we have only been concerned with the larger wares in skeleton, but how woefully incomplete they would be but for the hundred and one added parts so often lost to sight. In a store room we now enter we find these essentials, such as screws, nuts, bolts, short bars, balls, legs, feet, supports, small solid handles, animals, in whole or in many portions, and other ornamental oddments. These are made in scores and grosses, mostly cast in sand, except such things as balls, which are made in the hollow when large enough, and delivered out to the workmen, who, in many sub-divisions, fit the whole of the pieces together. These men are often grouped in trios, and work into each other’s hands. It is a feature of this trade that no waste accrues, and what cannot be used on the premises, and such is very little, is sold. The miscellaneous room will afford the best evidence of this, for from the veriest scraps and odd pieces are made toast racks, grape scissors, salad servers, asparagus and sardine tongs, knife rests, silver trowels, nut crackers, and other useful commodities.

(to be continued)

Source: The New Monthly Magazine - 1882

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WALKER AND HALL (continued)

The cutlery branch next attracts attention, steel table and dessert and fish cutlery being in process of manufacture. The cheaper kind of plated cutlery is stamped, but the better class is worked by hand. We need not tarry here as these plated blades will receive further consideration in a few moments, meanwhile we will enter the engraving room, which might rank as a secret chamber. Work done here must be well done, but the outside world little know how wonderfully it is done, and how skilfully the engraver with his many little gravers picks out the most intricate design. The chief of this department holds no sinecure, for to a considerable degree he is a dictator of taste, but certainly he assists in creating it. The incessant cry for new beauties reaches his ear as soon as uttered, and he must surrender his faculties to the whim of the hour. Fashion is repeating itself just now “as though art stopped short in the Court of Josephine,” yet neither Queen Anne style nor mediaevalism pure and simple would be acceptable to our modern esthetes if unaccompanied by the finest workmanship. But fickle fancy: how long will the rage endure? A staff of chasers are found in another room, making a thing of beauty a joy for ever.

The buffers now take the plate in hand, and buff with Trent sand and oil to remove any roughness which might yet remain upon it. Women and girls are exclusively occupied in these shops, and wear handkerchiefs over the mouth to keep out the dust which flies from the buffers spinning round at a terrific speed.

Assuming now that all is ready for the silver, we will visit the plating works which are found on the premises, an unusual thing in this trade, and by way of contrast a line or two on the old system of plating. An ingot of copper filed perfectly smooth, a thick plate of silver fastened upon it by wire; it was next placed in a furnace and heated until the attendant workman perceived a flash of light glance between the two metals denoting their union. The ingot was then removed and rolled, the silver and copper closely adhering, and it was found that each constituent rolled out in exactly equal proportions. That process was discovered by Mr. Thomas Bolsover, in 1742, while repairing the handle of a knife made partly of silver and partly of copper; but it was Mr. Joseph Hancock who developed it and made its adoption general. It was a great stride, but the introduction of plating by electricity revolutionized the whole business, and made Sheffield yet more famous. Mr. Wright, a surgeon of Rotherham, who was the cause of this important change, spent considerable time in electrotyping experiments, and discovered after much trouble that one metal would adhere to another by the aid of electricity. He never worked the discovery himself, but sold it to a Birmingham firm. An important circumstance, however, militated in favour of Sheffield at this juncture. Mr. George Walker, a poor knife hafter working from seven years of age to aid in supporting his mother and her family, exhibited as he grew up a scientific turn of mind. He was permitted to join a class of surgeons, which, singularly enough, assembled in a room now belonging to the proprietors of these works, and he subsequently became an assistant to Mr. Wright, the inventor. Mr. Walker secured the Royalty of electro-plating for Sheffield, commenced business on the new plan, but being still a poor man a schoolmaster joined him with a small amount of money, from whom, however, he soon parted. Mr. Hall, a gentleman of wealth, then provided the necessary capital, and thus the pioneer firm of Walker and Hall, electro platers, was founded. The present proprietors exhibited at the Jubilee Meeting of the British Association at York, last year, the battery and the vat used by Mr. Walker for electro plating the first spoons that were ever done in Sheffield. They are curiosities of the trade and vastly different to the vats and machinery employed to-day to which we now turn. It is necessary that every article, great or small, should be made chemically clean as a preliminary to the vats, and this is effected firstly in a caustic potash boil, and secondly in a strong acid. The goods are now immersed in a solution of Cyanide of Mercury, and from thence passed into a vat charged with about three times the electricity requisite for the succeeding vats, it being most essential that a first coating should be given with the least possible delay. They are next passed under a steam-driven ‘scratch brush” of hard brass wire, and once more immersed, this time in another vat rich in silver. A dead white coat is now found upon the articles, and formerly it was necessary to scratch brush them again to get up an ordinary silvery surface, but a most fortunate accident led to the preparation of another solution, and now bright plating is done in a vat and the troublesome scratch brushing dispensed with. The vats done with, it only remains to dry the goods in hot saw dust and wash them in hot water, and they are ready for the finishing rooms. Gilding, frosting, enamelling, and other branches both important and interesting must be passed over, but suffice it to say that with the many inventions and clever appliances now at the command of this trade it is easier to state what cannot be done than to specify the contrary. Until quite recently electric batteries were the only generators ; they were at the best clumsy, dirty, bulky, and unhealthy, but they are now entirely superseded by the introduction of dynamo electric or similar machines, two of which are ample to supply an enormous amount of power. The floors of these rooms are covered with sawdust, which is preserved and sold for the particles of silver it contains, as the drippings from the articles when taken from vat to vat are in the aggregate of much value. Part of the silver used by this firm is refined on the place.

We must just retrace our steps for a moment and take a peep at the ivory department. Here the tusk is cut into a variety of shapes and passed to the skilled carvers and polishers, and sent forward to those who fit the tangs of the cutlery in these handles and prepare it for the burnishers. The hollow parts or odd ends of the tusks, which cannot be utilised for handles, are turned to many accounts, such as serviette rings, drinking cups, &c., and even the ivory dust is saleable, either to the thrifty housewife for making jelly, or to the chemist for lamp black. We have now reached the final stage, which engages a number of girls and women in burnishing with steel tools the various goods, and the variety of tools needed for this business is amazing, or, if they are not burnished, they are polished with lime and oil, another kind of buffing, and “dollied” with rouge. A very beautiful surface is gained either way, which is selected according to the article. If a specially good polish is required the surface is “handed” as well as dollied. Cousin Jonathan burnishes a good deal by steam, but it is inferior to that done by hand. Another washing and drying completes the processes, and the goods are sent up to the warehouse and from thence to the packing rooms.

We have said nothing of the general stores or the glass department, nor can we do more than just mention the large stock of spoons, forks, tea and coffee services, and hollow ware in the rough, kept with a view to emergencies or large orders. The initials W. & H. on a flying pennant comprise the corporate mark of this firm, to whom the first prizes were awarded at the recent Sydney and Melbourne Exhibitions, and these were the only two occasions of their ever exhibiting. About 500 persons find employment on the premises, and specimens of the work they turn out are to be seen in the large show room, which the visitor to the town interested in the beautiful might profitably spend a morning in inspecting.

Source: The New Monthly Magazine - 1882

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SHEFFIELD MANUFACTURERS AND OVERTIME FOR FEMALES

The Master Cutler of Sheffield, Mr. R. Groves Holland, presided on the 18th inst. over a meeting of Sheffield manufacturers convened through a circular issued by Messrs. Walker and Hall—Electro Works—and Messrs. James Dixon and Sons—Cornish-Place—to consider certain proposed amendments to the new Factory and Workshop (Amendment) Bill, which will affect the question of female labour. By the Act of 1878, manufacturers were allowed to employ women and young children, under specified conditions, for forty-eight days overtime in the year. In 1895 overtime in the case of young persons was prohibited, and that for women was reduced to thirty days. Under the new Factory and Workshop Bill introduced by the Government, these questions are not affected; but two amendments stand in the names of Mr. Sydney Buxton and Sir Charles Dilke, the first proposing to reduce overtime for females from thirty days to fifteen, and the second to abolish the overtime altogether. These proposals would very gravely affect the silver, electro, cutlery, and several other of the lighter staple trades of Sheffield, and the meeting unanimously passed a resolution protesting against both amendments, and further requesting the Silversmiths’ Association of Sheffield to take the question up and bring it before the Government and local members of Parliament.

Source: The Engineer - 5th July 1901

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

AN EMPLOYERS’ UNION

Sir,—Colonel J. E. Bingham, J.P., head of the extensive firm of Walker and Hall, Electro Works, Sheffield, has an important letter in the Times arising out of the articles in that journal on "The Crisis in British Industry." The Colonel's cure for the mischief wrought by trade combination is simply employers’ combination. He would have the battle which was fought in the engineering world transferred to the wider field of British industry, and the question settled there once for all. After pointing out how thoroughly that fight was fought to a finish, and what the results would have been had it not been successfully fought, the Colonel goes on to say that the very success of these large trade fights proves the necessity of adequate capital being guaranteed in order to meet trade disputes. His idea 1s that masters should combine in one great organisation, employers contributing financial guarantees in proportion to their means, and he leads the way offering to guarantee £10,000. Now this is, I think, a very handsome offer, and if the suggestion is taken up and carried out with equal energy and liberality, there would soon be get together a fund large enough to fight any difficulty a firm might be called upon to face. The Colonel does not at all exaggerate when he states that many millions of pounds could be guaranteed, and that the work for which the money was collected would not be drawn upon except to a very inconsiderable extent. ‘‘I believe,” he says, ‘‘the larger and more decisive the first fight the better, as it would then prevent unfair trade disputes for the future.”

Colonel Bingham has intimate knowledge of the Sheffield trades, both heavy and light. His own business is one of the largest of its kind in the country. It concerns cutlery, silver, electro-plating, Britannia metal, and allied industries, in which some 1200 to 1500 hands are engaged. His experience is not now put before the public for the first time. While he regards the methods of union officials to be the chief cause of the trouble, he does not shut his eyes to the difficulties which have been occasioned by the jealousy of competing firms. That, indeed is one of the dangers ahead, as it has been one of the chief difficulties behind. In nearly all trade troubles in the Sheffield district there has been an utter lack of cohesion amongst the employers. They have been too ready to take men from other establishments, sometimes through the knowledge that these men possess making them specially valuable in their new place, and at other times simply through desire to take advantage of some ‘‘ boom” in the market. There ought to be more loyalty in the ranks of the employers. If there were half as much loyalty amongst them as there is in labour, the present trouble would not have reached the magnitude it has done.

It is quite true, as Colonel Bingham says, that the union officials’ methods all make against the cheapening and improving of processes of production, without which foreign rivals cannot be successfully met in the world’s markets. Combination can only be met by combination, but the masters themselves will have to take a much broader and higher view of the situation than they have hitherto done if that combination is to be successful. In fact, they will have to take a leaf out of the Book of Labour, and without seeking anything that is inequitable, which is not part of their programme, they must be content to bear some modicum of inconvenience and loss to secure the general welfare of master and workman in the particular craft concerned. Pope’s old maxim, "All partial evil is but universal good," applies to trade as to other matters, and although in the past it has been impossible to secure an effective combination which can please at every point all those closely concerned, it ought not to be beyond the wit of manufacturers to devise some means of meeting and beating the despotism which has practically deprived them of the control of their own workshops.

Is it too much to hope that the ventilation of the subject in your columns will do good.

DON.

Hallamshire, January 15th.

Source: The Engineer - 17th January 1902

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Spoons and tongs set by Walker & Hall, assayed at Sheffield in 1903:








W&H - Sheffield - 1903


W&H - Sheffield - 1903

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Holy Communion set by Walker & Hall, assayed at Sheffield in 1951:








W&H - Sheffield - 1951


W&H - Sheffield - 1951



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