Cooper's and the Knox Family

Cooper’s and the Coopers Operative Society

In 1901 over 600 coopers were working in Dublin. Yet less than 200 were members of the coopers society. There were many reasons for this, most likely the single one being money. It cost £10 for a non-offspring of a member to join. That is a lot of money. Offspring could join for £1-3-0. In 1867 it would appear that the Abbey Street Coopers joined the society, prior to that they had their own society. The cost of joining was £10.  20 Coopers joined and some were rejected.

It was not a requirement of Guinness that coopers had to be in the Society. It has to be pointed out that coopers were paid up to the 1950’s via piece work. That is you got paid for what you produced.

The Early Years

When John Knox married Mary Shaughnessy in Glendalough in 1846, a John Keogh was a witness. Now a John Keogh (from Bray) came in the coopers ledger in 1849, and stayed up to 1897. (I’m still looking for his death cert). It is possible that this John taught the young Knox’s the trade.

John Knox (born 1850)

When John married Anne Kelly in 1869 he states his occupation as Cooper. John worked all his life as a cooper, and moved from Abbey Street about 1878 to Francis Street. In  the 1901 and 1911 census he states his occupation as Cooper. He paid “Divides” to the society from 1907 to 1911. As there are no records of “divides” being paid prior to 1901, it does not mean they were not, possibly because the book has been lost. But there is no record of him joining the society, i.e. paying his Ticket Money.

Christopher Knox (born 1852)

Christopher joined the society in 1878. It cost him £10. Neither of his 2 brothers (Joseph or John) joined. He continued to be a member up to the time he died in 1916. For a period 1884 to 1886 Christopher paid no dues, but in the ledger, it is crossed with “in America”. The story is told that Christopher went to Boston with the intention of setting up his own cooperage.

 It is probable that Christopher, John, Joseph and Edward Cotter operated a Cooperage in Lower Abbey Street,  from about  1870 to 1878. Thereafter the family went their own ways. Later on in the early 20th Century Christopher had a cooperage about Dorset Street.

Edward Cotter

Edward married Mary Knox in Dublin in 1874. Edward stated his address as the same as Mary’s and his occupation as Cooper. Edward was not a member of the society. Edward and Mary moved to London in 1880. Edward died in London in 1882, and Mary returned to Dublin.

Joseph Knox (Born 1860)

Joseph was not a member of the society. He paid “divides” from 1901 to 1910. He possibly worked with Christopher about Dorset Street in the period 1901 to 1907. He worked in Guinness for various short periods (1890, 1891, 1893-1894, 1897-1899, 1901). In 1908 he joined Guinness for a longer period but was laid off (or left) in 1914. From there he went to Liverpool and  ended up in the Isle of Man and worked in Castletown Brewery. In Castletown, his job would have been mainly in cask repair. The brewery does not appear to have had the space for building casks from raw timber. He died in 1936, aged 76.

The next generation 1

Neither Joseph nor John had sons, so the sons of Christopher continued the Cooper’s trade

 Patrick Knox (born 1878)

Patrick paid his cooper’s society Ticket in 1897. He may have worked with Christopher and worked for small periods in Guinness in 1913-1914 and again in 1927. Paddy had one son Patrick who became a cooper.

Thomas Knox (born 1880)

Thomas paid his society Ticket in 1902. He was initially a journeyman cooper, working for short periods in Guinness (1899, 1900 and 1901-1903). In 1905 he joined Guinness permanently, promoted to grade 6 and was posted to the North Wall. Thomas had one son Bernard who became a cooper.

Christopher Knox (born 1888)

While Christopher was a son of Christopher, he did not join the society. He worked as a journeyman cooper and as a coopers assistant, and for a year in Jameson’s prior to 1909. In 1909 and again in 1911 (up to March) he worked for short periods in Guinness. He was not around for the 1911 census, so it’s safe to say he emigrated (to Toronto, Canada) between March and May of 1911.

The next generation 2

Patrick Knox (born 1904)

Paddy joined the coopers society in 1924. He worked solely in Guinness up to his retirement. He died in 1986.

Paddy had two sons, Ronnie and Brendan who became coopers and worked solely in Guinness.

Bernard Knox (born 1920)

Benny joined the society in 1945. He worked solely in Guinness up to his retirement in 1975. In 1963-1964, Guinness ceased using oak casks for storage and distribution, instead using the metal casks with minimum repair. Initially the cooper’s were assigned to work on the conversion of acres of old casks to pieces of decorative barrel like furniture. When that project was finished, most of the cooper’s where assigned (at Guinness Fitters wages) to work in the Guinness Plastics Division. (This was for both Guinness and the Coopers a disaster, these jobs did not match the Coopers skills).

 The next generation 3

Ronnie Knox joined the society in the early 50’s, his brother Brendan joined in 1956. They both worked in Guinness.

The Dublin  Operative Coopers Society Certificate

 GUINNESS Cooperage Photo's

I can recognise a few, like Bernard Knox, Jimmy Tyrell, Jim Carroll, Brendan and Ronnie Knox...

Jimmy Carroll, Foreman, Guinness Cooperage

Guinness was definitely a very caring (parental company) at the time. I think this is the signing of the famous agreement guaranteeing all Coopers a position, with Coopers salary, with the onset of the Aluminum Kegs. And with it the demise of the Guinness Cooperage. This would have been about 1963 give or take a year or 2.