6 - The Retirement of Thomas Webb
After the death of Thomas Molineaux in 1851, Thomas Webb ran the company with his business partner David Wilkinson. Thomas Molineaux's wife, Mary, was supposed to continue the family interest after his decease. There is no sign that she played any active role after 1851 and is not mentioned in any documents after that date.
Thomas Webb introduced his only son, Thomas George Webb, to the business partnership at some point in the late 1840s or early 1850s. Doubtless he was being groomed to take over once his father retired.
Glass Industry
During the 1850s, glass production in Manchester increased significantly as the mass production of pressed glass took off, aided in part by the repeal of the Window Tax in 1851. The firm of Burtles & Tate, another major Manchester manufacturer, was founded in 1858. The decade ended with a national glass strike which has provided us with a couple of notable letters in the newspapers of the day from Thomas George Webb and David Wilkinson.
From the newspaper clippings we have found from the 1850s, little of significance is noted at Molineaux & Webb until the glass strike and the retirement of Thomas Webb at the end of the decade.
Newspaper clippings from the 1850s
March 1852
Molineaux & Webb donated £25 to the Corn Law League. This was the last company donation to a cause that the late Thomas Molineaux had pursued since the 1830s.
February 1853
Molineaux & Webb donated £5 5s to the John Dalton memorial subscription. Dalton was a noted scientist who was resident in Manchester and died in 1844. Subscription monies were used to pay for a statue of John Dalton which cost several thousand pounds and was erected in 1855. It was displayed in various places around the town over the years and currently stands on Chester Street outside the Manchester Metropolitan University - one of the few survivals from the public donations of Molineaux & Webb.
November 1853
Accident from machinery
On Thursday, Mr. Herford, city coroner, held an inquest at the Royal Infirmary, on the body of Richard Otterburn, 23, joiner, Danson Street, Oldham Road. The deceased was in the employ of Messrs. Molineaux and Webb, flint glass makers, Kirby Street, Ancoats. On Wednesday the 26th the deceased, fancying that a shaft which gave motion to a circular saw made a noise, attempted to oil it while it was in motion. The strap which turned the saw caught his left thumb, drew his arm round, and broke it in two places. He screamed, and some men who were at work on the same premises came to his assistance, stopped the machinery and released him. He was taken to the Royal Infirmary, where his arm was amputated; sloughing afterwards came on, and he died on Wednesday last. The jury returned a verdict of "accidental death."
November 1856
A Succession of Robberies
Jonathan Fristbrook, an apprentice to Messrs. Molyneux, Webb, and Co., flint glass manufacturers, Kirby Street, Ancoats, was charged with stealing a quantity of glass and tumblers of different descriptions. Mr. Webb said he received information through an anonymous letter that the prisoner was robbing him; and after inquiry, he discovered that the prisoner had sold the articles produced to a young married woman. Some of the tumblers were made for the foreign market, being too small for use in England. The value of the articles referred to was 15s. but the firm had lost a great quantity of goods. Some six months ago another young man in their employ was sentenced to three months' imprisonment. At the expiration of his sentence he was taken back by the firm. A third person in their employ had also been found pilfering, and upon being taken to the police station, and charged with the robbery, he fell into a fit, and was not restored to consciousness for 27 hours. Under those circumstances he was not prosecuted, but finding the present prisoner, in whom the greatest reliance had been placed, was following a similar course, he was given into custody. A smelling bottle was found upon him, which he had made out of the materials belonging to the firm, and which must have taken him half a day at least to make; so that he not only stole the material, but misapplied his time. The young woman said she had bought the tumblers from the prisoner 18 months ago. He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
April 1858
City Police Court - Charge of Stealing Glass
Simon Bradley and John Power were charged with stealing several articles manufactured in glass, the property of their employers, Messrs. Molineaux, Webb, and Co. Kirby Street. The prisoners were suspected of having stolen one article of great importance, which was missing. On Wednesday, they were asked about it by Mr. Webb, but they refused to give any information. He allowed them to the next morning to think over the matter, and as they then persisted in their refusal to disclose anything, information was given to the police. Sergeants Sandford and Shandley searched the prisoners' houses, and found in the bedrooms several articles, which were identified by Mr. Webb as the property of the firm. The prisoners had been for a considerable time in the prosecutors' employ, and were earning, the one 20s and the other 18s a week. They were summarily committed for two months each.
Molineaux & Webb Uranium Glass Candlestick, 7-8 inches tall
Photo courtesy of Dave Peterson
Identified by Dave from Barry Skelcher's book on Uranium glass, date uncertain, perhaps 1850s or 1860s
Design number 493, named "Regina"
Final Site Expansion
The last growth of the site on Kirby Street that we are aware of came in February 1857 when the company bought another 582 square yards of freehold land from a Mr. Edmund Buckley.
Flint Glass Workers Strike of 1858 - 1859
Circa 1858 there was a strike of flint glass workers starting from a dispute in Stourbridge, which eventually spread nationwide. The situation escalated by the start of 1859. The dispute was summed up by a local paper in January of that year:
The dispute between the flint glass manufacturers and their hands does not seem to approach any nearer to a settlement, and it is extremely likely that the lock-out will last some time, as the men's protective society has about £3,000 on hand. The rules of which the masters complain, have been the rules of the Society for some time, but were kept in abeyance until lately. The rule which denies a master the right of taking on a man without leave of the district secretary has been rescinded; but the Society will not give up the power of fixing the number of apprentices. This last was the cause of the whole quarrel. The Society has two roles, one fixing the number of apprentices, and compelling the men to strike if more than that number are bound; by another rule, if any house supply a firm whose hands are on strike, the men there are to strike also. These rules have not been acted upon till lately, when, on account of an apprentice, the Society put no less than six houses on strike. The masters generally throughout the kingdom have locked their hands out, and have resolved to break up the Society.
David Wilkinson of Molineaux & Webb was chairman of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Association of Flint Glass Manufacturers at this time. A letter from him in his capacity was sent to a local paper in February 1859:
Many misrepresentations being afloat respecting the "disputes in the flint glass trade," will you allow me to state in a few words what our demands, as masters, really are. These points are vitally important to our prosperity - indeed to the carrying on of our works at all successfully.
We claim to have an opinion as to the number of apprentices necessary to keep the trade in efficient working order, and to prevent its being crippled, and becoming in a very short period virtually extinct. We claim the liberty of selecting the men we choose to employ, and not having them forced on us by the "Glass Makers Society." Of the skill and ability of such men we are the fit and proper judges, and, if they prove incompetent, idle, or profligate, we assert our right to discharge them - without question, or any kind of obnoxious interference.
We claim the privilege of being exempt from paying an unskilled or inferior workman the rate of wages dictated by the Society - or, indeed, any rate of wages beyond what he is really worth. We claim entire and perfect freedom from any limit to our production: inasmuch as the trade is continually subject to fluctuations, we must meet its ebbs and flows as they come upon us. In short, we claim the right of governing our manufactories without let or hindrance, and on such principles as we may consider most conductive to our own benefit, and the prosperity of the trade generally.
We are fully prepared to do our duty as employers, and to admit the just and honest rights of our men. Will they, on their part, make the candid avowal that they also have duties to perform, and that we have rights they ought to respect? When they are ready to do this, a very small amount of reason and common sense will at once restore us to our true positions, and prevent further loss on both sides - with much bitter recrimination, and deep suffering and distress, which must inevitably come with a protracted struggle.
David Wilkinson, Chairman of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Association of Flint Glass Manufacturers
Manchester Flint Glass Works
February 2nd 1859
A further letter dating to February 1859 was sent to a Birmingham newspaper by Thomas George Webb. It jumps in to the middle of a row on the letters page of the paper from the previous month between a Mr. Woolley and Mr. Lloyd which was stirred up further by some comments by a Mr. Stone. Thomas George Webb's letter is extremely fiery, full of screaming italics and capitals!
To J.W. Woolley
Sir, permit me, a stranger to you, as also to the facts detailed in Mr. Stone's letter, to inform you that, after reading it, I submitted the facts to individuals in Manchester - members of your Society - and they added their testimony that the narrative of Mr. Stone's letter was true. They further stated, that they knew the individuals whose initials were given.
An individual, reading that same letter at a meeting of the Society, was rudely assailed by one (eminent for his poor manipulative skills, and the high price HE rates it at) as guilty of uttering known untruth. The reader thereupon, or shortly after, tendered his resignation of office - as, naturally enough, he would not be called a liar for reading and substantiating that which he knew to be true. Since that time the offender has apologised, and the offended is still of you. So much, therefore, for your denial of Mr. Stone's facts.
And now for one for which I personally vouch. When the firm with which I am connected were commencing a furnace, in 1857, one of our workmen - Charles F. O'Brien, the present President of the Society in Manchester - asked me to put on his brother Tom, a youth known to me, and one whose character I respect. I promised to put him on. Now, for the offence of asking me for a situation for his brother, the Society fined Charles F. O'Brien £1; and, if you will refer to the report of your Society's Conference, held in London, June, 1858, you will find as the 13th minute of that Conference these words:-
"That the case of Charles O'Brien, of Manchester, be not entertained by Conference."
That was the answer to his (Charles F. O'Brien's) appeal against the fine inflicted upon him.
Be good enough, my dear sir, to spare me any hard words as to insinuation of my motives in writing this letter. I am not fool enough to pen that which I think, much less know, can be refuted. Refute MY fact, if you can; if you cannot, oblige me by saying little or nothing about it.
I am, yours very respectfully, Thomas Geo. Webb
Manchester, February 1st 1859
The Retirement of Thomas Webb
Thomas Webb, the last of the founder members of the glass company retired at the end of 1859. A banquet was held at the works and he was presented with a testimonial which included an illuminated address inscribed:
“This vellum, as a record and memorial, with a Silver Tea and Coffee Service and Cigar Case were presented to Thomas Webb Esq by the Workpeople of the Manchester Flint Glass Works, on his retirement from that concern. He was one of the first founders of those Works thirty-three years ago and many of the subscribers to the Testimonials were servants under and co-workers with him from the beginning. As an earnest and sincere expression of regard, one more unanimous could not have been rendered; all in that establishment having cheerfully contributed in proportion to their means. Manchester Flint Glass Works, December 30th 1859.”
Images of the cigar case and an inscribed jug from the presentation can be found on the biography page for Thomas Webb.
Unfortunately the vellum described above is not known to have survived to the present day, but back in the 1970s it was in the possession of Pamela Webb, and a slide image was taken at the time.
Vellum presented to Thomas Webb on his retirement
Image courtesy of R. Dodsworth
Partnership dissolution notice
Notice is hereby given, that the Partnership subsisting between us the undersigned, carrying on business at Manchester, as Flint Glass Manufacturers, under the style of Molineaux, Webb, and Company, was dissolved on the 31st day of December last, by the retirement of the undersigned Thomas Webb. The business from that time has been, and will, for the future, be carried on by the undersigned, David Wilkinson and Thomas George Webb, under the said style of Molineaux, Webb, and Company, who will pay and receive all debts due by or to the said late partnership.
Dated this 11th day of January, 1860.
Thomas Webb
David Wilkinson
Thomas George Webb