![Sample our Humanities journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5939/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Humanities.jpg"})
Abstract
The firm of Chance Brothers became the major British manufacturer of optical and lighthouse glass during the second half of the nineteenth century. But this specialised business grew out of a number of precursor partnerships and companies in the West Midlands and Bristol regions dating back into the eighteenth century which among, other items, manufactured window glass. In a number of instances, for example by employing French workers to transfer Continental techniques to England, these earlier businesses foreshadowed later practices of their successor. This paper examines the development of these family-based businesses until the mid-nineteenth century. It argues that their innovatory technical, engineering and manufacturing practices were shaped by many social and cultural influences. In this case of Chance, these included: intra-family relationships; educational provision; the supply of capital, where connections with the slave trade were significant; and a profound understanding of how to use the tax system for maximising profit. What is striking compared to the contemporary Midland businesses of the Wedgwoods or of Boulton and Watt, is the lack of interest by the Chance family until mid-century in using scientific knowledge and method.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to the following archives for permitting me to study their collections: Chance Family and Chance Business archives, held by the Sandwell Community History and Archives Service (SCHAS); The records of Chance and Homer and of Robert Lucas Chance, held at the Cadbury Special Collection, Birmingham University (CSC); The Boulton and Watt archive at the Library of Birmingham Library (LoB); Worshipful Company of Glaziers held at the London Metropolitan Archive at the Guildhall, City of London; Cheshire Archives and Local Studies Service, Chester.
Notes
1 Eleanor S. Godfrey, The Development of English Glassmaking (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975). Since this paper was written in 2015, two more works have appeared: Michael Noble has self published a well researched book (A Documented History of Glassmaking, Michale Noble, 2016) containing as he says in the preface ‘detailed overview of the history of glassmaking from the late medeaval period to the start of the industrial revolution’. In 2019, David Dungworth’s, 'Glassworking in England from the 14th to the 20th century,’ was published by Historic England.
2 W. H. B. Court, The Rise of the Midlands Industries (London: Oxford University Press, 1938).
3 C. T. Barker, The Glassmakers (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1977).
4 J. F. Chance, Chance Brothers and Co. (London: Spottiswood, Ballantyne and Co Ltd., 1919).
5 John C. Logan, ‘The Dumbarton Glass Works Company: A study in Entrepreneurship,’ Business History, 14.1 (1971), 61–81.
6 A. F. Smith, The Nailsea Glass Works – Introduction (Bristol: Avon Archeological Unit, 2004).
7 Godfrey, p. 4.
8 Barker, p. 2.
9 Ibid., p. 6.
10 Court, p. 121.
11 Ibid., p. 124.
12 Hente Louw, ‘Window-Glass Making in Britain c1660 - c1860 and Its Architectural Impact,’ The Construction History Society, 7 (1991), 47–68, p. 52 suggests that the ascendency of sash windows as the preferred style in Georgian architecture may have been a contributing factor to this change.
13 D. R. Guttery, From Broad Glass to Cut Crystal (London: Leonard Hill (Books) Ltd., 1956), p. 97.
14 Ibid., p. 96.
15 British Patent No 2812.
16 J. F. Chance, Chance of Bromsgrove and Birmingham (London: Wetherby and Co., 1892).
17 As the family was a little unimaginative with the use of First Names, I’ll identify common first names as William1, William2 etc. in the order of their appearance in the family tree.
18 Chance, Chance of Bromsgrove and Birmingham, p. 51.
19 Ibid., p. 50 recorded that William2 made a new will within a week of the death of his eldest son, leaving his widow ‘1s only’.
20 Ibid., p. 51. There is also reference to a John Chance of Worcester shipping iron ore down the Severn who may have been a relation. Neil Raven and Jon Stobart, ‘Network and Hinterlands: Transport in the Midlands,’ in Towns, Regions and Industries, ed. by N. Raven and J. Stobert (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005), p. 124.
21 Sandwell Community History and Archives Service (hereafter SCHAS) FP-CH 2/2. This is a confusing account book, inscribed as belonging to William by Henry Chance, one of his Great Nephews.
22 The responsibility for these voyages seems a matter of dispute. Chance, Chance of Bromsgrove and Birmingham, p. 51 asserts that these were undertaken by Thomas Chance, whereas they clearly show in the account book of William3 SCHAS FP-CH 2/2. It is possible that this ‘wrong’ attribution of the responsibility for the voyages was deliberate obfuscation on the part of J. Chance to distance the family from involvement with the slave trade.
23 SCHAS FP-CH 2/2 p14.
24 D. Eltis and M. Halbert, ‘Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Database,’ <http://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/search> [accessed September 7, 2016].
25 Various bonds exist in the Chance Family papers showing the extent of these loans. FP-CH 2/3/1 is one such – binding William Albutt (his cousin) for the sum of ‘fifty pounds of good and lawful money of Great Britain’.
26 SCHAS FP-CH 2/1/1 to 2/1/3 contain original correspondence and toll books for this road and a handwritten note on the flyleaf of 2/1/1 states ‘The Chance Mortgage began in 1768’.
27 Chance, Chance of Bromsgrove and Birmingham, p. 54 indicates that these two were at school together in ‘a red brick house at Winson Green and later as apprentices to Mssrs Male, Rock, factors on Birmingham’. I have been unable to trace any record of this apprenticeship within the Chance family papers.
28 SCHAS FP-CH 4/1/1 contains the original partnership agreement between William3, William4 and Edward Homer.
29 Raven and Stobart, p. 123. As they point out, ironmongers were ‘merchants putting work out to domestic workers’. Their activity, coupled with the turnpiking of the roads, encouraged ‘ribbon development’ of small manufactories along the route of the turnpikes thus encouraging the growth of the ironmonger factoring trade.
30 M. J. Daunton, Poverty and Progress An economic and Social History of Britain 1700 – 1850 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 238-9.
31 SCHAS FP-CH/4/1/7.
32 Mrs (or Miss) Tibbatts does not appear to have been a member of the family by either blood or marriage.
33 Cadbury Special Collection, Birmingham University (hereafter CSC) MS67/1 Stock books of Chance and Homer provided the data for this table.
34 Elizabeth W. Gilboy, Wages in Eighteenth Century England (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1934), p. 47 shows a track of the daily wage of labourer and craftsmen from 1700 to 1800 at Greenwich hospital. On p.39 there is a table showing how the average weekly wage decreased away from London; this indicates that the wages in the Birmingham area would be some 40% less than those in London.
35 Chance, Chance of Bromsgrove and Birmingham, p. 1.
36 Chance, Chance Brothers, p. 1.
37 Court, Chapter 3.
38 CSC MS67/1/1/3.
39 Stanley D. Chapman, ‘British Marketing Enterprise: The Changing Roles of Merchants, Manufacturers and Financiers 1700 – 1860,’ The Business History Review, 53 (1979), 205–34, 224.
40 Smith, p. 4.
41 Ibid., p. 3.
42 Chance, Chance of Bromsgrove and Birmingham, footnote to p. 52 suggest that the connection came in Bristol through Thomas Chance, whereas Pedigree No 3 on p.90 makes reference to John Lucas being a freeholder in Bromsgrove. Library of Birmingham (hereafter LoB) MS 3377/3/4/8/35/1 is a lease of a parcel of land in Great Charles Street, Birmingham to a Mr. John Lucas, ‘carpenter’ from 1 May 1761, who may be the same person. John Lucas died in 1775 and it is unclear from surviving records whether the family moved to Bristol before or after his death, or even if it was originally a Bristol family. Certainly, the tenor of p. 52 suggested the latter, whereas that of p. 90 and the lease suggests the former, particularly as Newhall Street (where the premises of Chance and Homer stood) was a street that crossed Great Charles Street.
43 SCHAS FP-CH/4/1/4. This document shows that William4 had taken the oath as a Burgess of the City of Bristol and was admitted to ‘the liberties of the city’. He qualified as he had married the daughter of a Freeman of the city and paid the due fee of half a crown.
44 Charles Hadfield, Canals of the South West and the Border (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1960), p. 48. John Houghton, a solicitor and fellow investor, became secretary to the Birmingham Canal Company.
45 Smith, The Nailsea Glass Works and K. Vincent, Nailsea Glass (London: David and Charles, 1975) both corroborate this view.
46 Vincent, p. 7.
47 Ibid., p. 9.
48 Eltis and Halbert.
49 Smith, p. 4.
50 Genealogical records suggest that William Coathupe was born in Cheshire in about 1758. Cheshire Archives and Local Studies Service, Chester, ZM/AB/2/f.113v contains a record of the apprenticeship of William Coathupe to a Vintner (in Chester) about March 1775. When Coathupe moved south and became associated with Lucas is unknown.
51 LoB MS 3782/12/39/330.
52 Chance, Chance Brothers, p. 1.
53 Chance, Chance of Bromsgrove and Birmingham, p. 54.
54 The original partnership document does not appear to have survived. SCHAS FP-CH4/1/10 is a handwritten unsigned document dated 27 April 1807 indicating a partnership between William Chance the elder (William4) and Robert Lucas Chance for two years, with final paragraph that stated the terms under which William junior (William5) will be brought into the business after the termination of the partnership. SCHAS FP-CH 4/1/12 is a fragment of a hand written document dated 25 September 1810 between William Senior (William4) and Robert Lucas to include the glass and factoring concern. This is the first mention of ‘glass’ in any of these agreements and may indicate an anticipation that R.L. Chance would join the business in Nailsea.
55 CSC MS67 1/1/4, p33. This agreement is written in a page of the account book of the firm.
56 Smith, p. 6.
57 Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, 31 May 1824 recorded that ‘Henry Chance Esq. was on the 21st inst. Called to the degree of Barrister at Law by the Hon Society of Lincoln’s Inn’.
58 Smith, p. 4.
59 Chance, Chance of Bromsgrove and Birmingham, p. 54.
60 Ibid.
61 CSC MS 67, 3/2, contains his statement of assets and liabilities dated May 1831, showing that he still had leases on both domestic premises.
62 CSC MS 67, ‘extra material’. Sir Hugh Chance made notes relating to the accounts of Robert Lucas Chance when reviewing the records sometime between 1960 and 1970. The accounts (and notes) are held on a poor microfilm copy at the Cadbury Special Collections.
63 The surviving records of what Robert Lucas Chance did in the period between 1816 and 1830 are restricted to the microfilm copy of his accounts already referenced, summaries (made by Sir Hugh Chance in the period 1960-1980) of letters between Robert Lucas, William5 and Henry Chance SCHAS BS 6/10/1/1/1 and a few newspaper reports.
64 Worshipful Company of Glaziers Minute book 1816–1859, London Metropolitan Archives MS 05735/4.
65 Chance, Chance of Bromsgrove and Birmingham, p. 55 states 1824. CSC MS 67, Sir Hugh Chance, in his notes to the accounts, believes the firm was purchased in 1822. The London Gazette, 31 August 1822, in the list of ‘Partnerships Dissolved,’ records ‘R.L. Chance and J. Dixon, Paul's Wharf, merchants’. This indicates that the purchase of Spon Lane was in 1822.
66 Chance, Chance Brothers, p. 2.
67 Ibid.
68 SCHAS BS6/10/1/1/5, undated summaries of selected correspondence between RLC, Henry and William Chance Company Papers. The handwriting of the summariser suggests this was the work of Sir Hugh Chance sometime in the period between his retirement from Chance Brothers Ltd in 1964 and his death in 1981.
69 SCHAS FP-CH 4/5/2/2.
70 George Chance is mentioned as a debtor in RLC’s accounts of 1831, see CSC MS 67/1/2
71 SCHAS FP-CH 5/3/1 – These appointments reflect the almost medieval condition of the civil administration of Birmingham in the period.
72 Chance, Chance Brothers, p. 6.
73 Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser, 14 July 1825 under the headline ‘Patents Recently Granted’. British Patent 5174, 16 May 1825 is listed in the index of British patents held at the British Library. However, the details of the invention do not appear in the detailed records at the BL and are thought to be lost. Badams had a career as a ‘commercial chemist’. His mill, complete with steam engine, was reported to have burnt down with the loss of a life in February 1827 (Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, 12 February 1827).
74 SCHAS BS6/10/1/1/5, p. 6.
75 SCHAS BS6/10/1/1/5, p. 4, summaries probably made by Sir Hugh Chance.
76 This eventually happened in the mid 1830s. The new alignment virtually bisected the property held by Chance Brothers.
77 CSC MS 67 ‘extra material’. Summaries of the accounts of RLC made by Sir Hugh Chance see note Footnote62.
78 SCHAS FP-CH/4/6/6. Hand written manuscript agreement, signed and sealed by RLC and Henry Chance, witnessed by Thomas Hyde, Clerk to William5.
79 The Leeds Intelligencer, 14 April 1831.
80 Jacksons Oxford Journal, 23 April 1831.
81 CSC MS 67/3/2 dated ‘1831’ shows the Credit and Debit account for both RLC and the British Crown Glass company. Pages 1 to 4 show the detail of ‘The Estate of R. L. Chance,’ 5 and 6 detail for ‘The Estate of British Crown Glass Co’.
82 CSC MS67/3/2, p. 2.
83 SCHAS BS6/1/1/5.
84 Badams does not appear to have such a supportive family to back him up. Although I can find no reports of his bankruptcy, the following announcement appeared in Aris’s Birmingham Gazette on 30 May 1831: ‘SALE OF ELEGANT FURNITURE…..TO be SOLD by Auction …… all the elegant and very superior HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE and EFFECTS of John Badams, Esq.’
85 SCHAS BS6/1/3/1, p. 1 of the minute book.
86 Chance, Chance of Bromsgrove and Birmingham, pp. 5, 6. No record of this visit now exists in the family or company archives.
87 Smith, pp. 1, 25. Archaeological evidence suggests that the necessary pits to swing the glass to elongate the cylinders were in place in the early 1830s. As has been explained, Robert Lucas filed a patent in 1805 in Scotland for ‘an improved method of flattening cylinder glass’ so there may have been some experimenting with cylinder glass in Nailsea as early as 1807.
88 SCHAS BS6/10/1/1/1. Handwritten, untitled and unsigned note in handwriting similar to that of Robert Lucas Chance, dated 13 May 1831.
89 SCHAS BS6/10/1/1/5. Manuscript notes made by Hugh Chance under the title Birmingham Canal on p. 3.
90 This was the equivalent to more than two years wages. Chance, Chance Brothers, p. 7 indicates that the wage rate (admittedly in 1836) for one of the best of the French blowers was 400 francs per month. Another source R. Edvinsson, T. Jacobson and D. Waldenstom, Exchange Rate, Prices, and Wages 1277-2008 (Stockholm: Ekerlids Forlag Sveriges Riksbank, 2010), p. 282 suggest that the exchange rate between the franc and pound was about 2:1, making this payment the equivalent of 5000 pounds – a large sum at the time.
91 SCHAS BS6/10/1/1/5 under the title ‘WC to HC 24 Dec 1833’.
92 Chance, Chance Brothers, p. 26.
93 Thirteenth Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the Excise Establishment - Glass (London: His Majesty's Stationary Office, 1835), pp. 1–159.
94 Ibid., p. 3.
95 Ibid., pp. 10–16. There are fifty paragraphs of regulations.
96 Ibid., p. 11.
97 Ibid., p. 16.
98 Barker, p. 59.
99 I suspect that the report of the visit to France in 1830 may be another attempt at obfuscation on the part of J. F. Chance in the 1890s
100 Thirteenth Report, pp. 27 and 28.
101 Peter M. Jones, Industrial Enlightentment (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2008).
102 P. Gauci, Emporium of the World: The Merchants of London 1660 - 1800 (London and New York: Hambledon Continuum, 2007), Chapter 5.
103 Ibid., p. 84.
104 LoB MS 1237 contains an undated membership list of the Society, included in which are the names of both Robert and William Chance.
105 Jones, p. 230.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Rob Johnstone
Rob Johnstone graduated from UCL with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1967. After a varied career in several industries he returned to study at UCL fifty years after he ‘went up’ for the first time. This paper is an edited version of his dissertation submitted to UCL as part of an MSc in Science and Technology Studies.
Correspondence to: Rob Johnstone. Email: [email protected].
![Supercharge Your Next Research Paper: Research and write your next paper with Jenni AI.]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/112447/MPU-L1HU.png"})