Charles Howell was an accountant and company secretary of Saltley Carriage and Wagon works in the black country of England. They made a lot of stuff for trains, such as carriages. He also was a director at Hingley Ironworks , which lead the world in casting and forging some huge pieces of iron - including anchors and chains for passenger ships such as the Titanic and Gigantic. These bits were the only parts of the boat designed to sink... Info on the Black Country chain making industry - follow this LINK haha http://www.bclm.co.uk/map42.htm Charles visited Hobart in 1913. Not sure whether this was for business or pleasure - probably both. Little did he know that his granddaughter would emigrate here.       Mighty forging by husky chainstrikers! I believe each link weighed around 500lbs whilst the anchor weighed 15 1/2 tons! There is a family album in England with more pics of the ironworks - some starring CEH next to a pile of chain. Have to get hold of this soon. Transporting the anchor with 20 draught horses from the ironworks to Dudley station and thence via railway to Fleetwood where it was loaded on the Duke of Albany and transported to Belfast Quay on 5/5/1911.
   The Titanic may have not have sunk if top quality rivets had been used! http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/science/15titanic.html
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Blacksmithing >
Great-Grandfather's Iron connection |