At the beginning of the 19th the mass production of iron and steel in Rotherham was mostly still in the hands of the various Walker Brothers concerns. The firm cast Southwark Bridge (not the present day one) about 1811 - 1813 but lost a great deal of money when the Bridge Company defaulted on part of their debt. From about 1820 it was resolved to close the iron and steel making works in Rotherham and it was eventually wound up in 1833. The assets were sold off and others used this as an opportunity to set themselves up in the iron and steel trade. This is sometimes a bit difficult to follow as some sources refer to the name of the company and some to the name of the works which are not always the same. I've tried to match them up where I can. As I research this subject I realise that I could write a book on it but somehow I don't think that mass of information is appropriate here.
In 1841 the population of the town of Rotherham was 5505. It was estimated in the 1850s that around 900 of these worked in the iron and steel industry and allied trades. Parkgate Iron and Steel Works alone employed about 600 staff and about 200 of these lived in Rotherham town. So you can see that a sizeable percentage of the population was employed in the trade with many more dependent upon it.
Corbitt & Co
Stove grate makers.
Ebenezer Elliott senior and junior
A site on the River Don called New Foundry near the current Bailey House. The firm went bankrupt about 1818-19.
Geach & Co.
Took over the Holmes Blast furnaces in the mid 19th Century. These did not close until the 1920s. The ruins of the blast furnaces were still standing in 2002 but have since gone.
George Wright & Co
Of the Burton Weir Works (Stove Grate) on a site at Millmoor, Masbrough.
Habershons
In 1829 they leased the Holmes Works from the Don Navigation Company. They became specialists in cold-rolled steel sheet which had various uses including crinoline frames and pen nibs.
Harrison & Camm
Based at Rotherham Wagon Works, Holmes, Masbrough they produced goods for the railways including wagons, wheels and axles.
G & J. Brown
Rotherham Iron Works were established by Joshua Walker & Co. for the manufacture of maleable iron. Initially power was provided by six water wheels which were replace by four steam engines. They were extended considerably by G. and J. Brown. The company manufactured Patent Solid Iron Tyres for locomotive engines, tenders, carriages and wagons, also general forgings, best scrap bars and rods, boiler plates, sheet iron and other items.
Kirk & Kidgell
(The) Masbrough Stove Grate Co, belonging to Messrs. Perrot.
Micklethwaite & Skelton
Northfield Iron Company
The company cast various large iron items eg. anchors.
North Central Wagon Co. of Rotherham
The company produced railway wagons many of which were leaded to colliery companies.
Owen & Co
At Wheathill Foundry.
Owen & Dyson
On Fullerton Road at Ickles they produced railway wheels and axles.
Peter Stubs & Co.
The company was a toolmakers from Warrington. They were looking for a site to manufacture their own high-grade steel. In 1842 they purchased Holmes Hall, demolished it and built their Warrington Works on the site. Also called Holmes Steel Works.
Robert Jenkins Boiler Works
Founded 1856. This was still in existence until the late 1970s or 1980s.
Sandford & Owen later Owens Patent Wheel, Tire and Axle Co. Ltd.
In 1838 after the splitting of the partnership with Yates, Sandford went into business with William Owen at the Phoenix Works producing railway wheels and axles.
Sandford & Yates
James Yates and Charles Sandford took over the Walker Family's foundry interests. The partnership split up in 1838.
William Corbitt and Co
Ironfounders and stove grate makers.
Yates, Haywood & Co.
In 1838 after the splitting of the partnership with Sandford, Yates retained the foundry business and took over the Masbrough Flax Works which produced stove grates, cooking ranges and other cast-iron goods. In 1846 Yates took others into partnership to form Yates, Haywood & Co and the company were producing all forms of cast iron from fireplaces and kitchen ranges to rails and balustrades. I think that the company was still in business up to about thirty years ago but I an not too sure. Their Effingham Works still exists with its long facade is still in existence and the building is in use by a number of companies.
Yates and Haywood Effingham Works on Thames Street
Alma Iron Works
Off Steel Street at Holmes, Masbrough.
Burton Weir Works
At Millmoor, Masbrough. This was in the hands of George Wright & Co in the 1870s.
Brinsworth Iron & Wheel Works
Off Brinsworth Street in the New York area. Used by John Baker & Co. for the production of goods for the railways.
Effingham Works
On Thames Street. Built and run by Yates, Hayward & Co.
Ferham Works
Run by John and Richard Corker.
Holmes Steel Works
Blast furnaces, steel works and rolling mills covered a vast site off Steel Street just north of the river at Holmes, Masbrough. The site of the iron works and the blast furnaces was sold to the Don Navigation as they wished to control the abstraction of water from the river and canal and in 1829 they leased it the Habershons. Holmes Hall which was next door to the ironworks was sold to Peter Stubs & Co who demolished and built their Warrington Works there (also known as Holmes Steel Company).
Midland Steel Works, Masbrough.
Morgan Macauley and Waide
At the Baths Foundry
New Foundry later the Phoenix Works
Rawmarsh Road. In the hands of the Ebenezer Elliotts until bankruptcy. Then run by Sandford and Yates, then Sandford and Owen.
Rotherham Forge previously Brown's Forge
Forge Lane, Rotherham.
Rotherham Foundry
Domine Lane. In 1831 it was taken over by Sandford and Yates, becoming the property of Yates in 1838 when this partnership spilt.
Rotherham Wagon Works
Holmes, Masbrough. Harrison & Camm were based here and made railway wagons, wheels and axles.
Various other people operating out of the Baths foundry on Westgate, the Wheathill Foundry on Sheffield Road and the Ferham Works and Clough Works at Masbrough. On the 1901 Ordnance Survey Map of Masbrough many of these are described as stove grate works. They have all gone.
