1912 Gaunt Fire

[Mike]

Came across this in the Stamford Mercury, Friday 09 February 1912. It's part of a much larger article listing a spate boiler explosions, many with fatal consequences in early February 1912, in what must have been a severe cold spell:


'It was thought that the exceptional frost was responsible for an explosion followed by fire at the works of Messrs. J. R. Gaunt and Sons, military accoutrement manufacturers, Warstone lane, Birmingham, on Monday, causing damage estimated at £15,000. Soon after the workpeople, mostly women and girls, had entered the premises at eight o'clock, the heating apparatus in the lower storey exploded with a report which caused considerable alarm in the neighbourhood. No personal injury was caused, but the workpeople had to leave so hurriedly that personal belongings were left behind. The building was entirely destroyed, and with it 20,000 dies and a large number of books dating back a hundred years, which told the story of the evolution of British military buttons and swords.'


Sounds like an important archive was destroyed as well as the dies. Shame.

[Mike]

£15000 in 1912 comes out at £1,451,000 in today's money.

[GriffMJ]

.....the amount of dies destroyed would indicate some variance in the old lines of badges from Gaunt, it could explain why some badges are so rare if the original Gaunt die was destroyed in that fire? It might explain the Gaunt Bone Head conundrum...

[rexb]

Presumably, the sword history relates to Thurkle, whose assets Gaunt had acquired, but the reference to the history of military buttons dating back a hundred years is intriguing; does anyone know where Gaunts had obtained these button dies and/or pattern or sample books, by 1912? J R Gaunt's father, perhaps? - but that would not go back as far as c.1812, unless the father had obtained them for someone else. Or, does anyone have positive evidence of any of the Thurkles making buttons? I know Francis Thurkle was making badges in the 1790s, so there may have been.

Rex

[KLR]

I can't find it at the moment but member Ticker Riley wrote quite a bit about this fire a while ago

[Bill A]

Puts a whole new meaning to fire gilt finish.

[Mike]

Found the TR thread:

http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/for...ad.php?p=66363

[btns]

Mike wrote:
"...a large number of books dating back a hundred years, which told the story of the evolution of British military buttons and swords. ... "

The son was an avid collector of these sample books. Not all of them may be linked to the Gaunt firm itself.

The books were salvaged, although badly damaged. Most buttons were covered in soot, but most triple fire gilt buttons sailed through.
After WWII the books were donated to a museum. Earlier on part had been gifted to the Birmingham Museum. Its name is The Alderman Gaunt collection. A selection of the badges is online.

In 2008 the museum sold off the books at auction and they were broken up:
http://www.dnw.co.uk/auction-archive...lection_id=104

The sample books were older than 1820s, because they held the buttons of the British Waterloo veterans who signed up to liberate Venezuela.

Attached scan has been cut from the books for the auction: Household buttons to Prince Battenburg and Prince Willy, cousin to the Queen, probably for his London residence.

[rexb]

Interesting, btns.

I don't have access to my records at this minute, but DNW sold ex-Gaunt, ex-NAM buttons in at least three auctions. I attended the first two, and, prior to both, had spent the best part of another day looking at the buttons and sample books. All the sample books I saw were Jennens. I assumed then that Gaunts had acquired these in 1924; is it your understanding that Gaunts obtained at least some of them from Jennens, prior to the 1912 fire?

There were many instances of examples of the same button in the ex-Gaunt Collection holdings of both BMAG and the NAM. BMAG has a Venezuela button, in its Gaunt Collection, accession number 1971F1213; it has a 'C JENNENS' (Charles Jennens) backmark.

I think there is little doubt that Gaunts did have 100-year old buttons and dies by 1912, but I have no idea who made them, nor how Gaunts obtained them. Do you have any knowledge of this?

Rex

[btns]

Rex,

You may be right. A series of completely cooked US staff type buttons had been manufactured by Gaunt. I assumed they had been in the fire. Of course they were their own product.

Other sample books may have come through Jennens, e.g. MS & JD. The black soot on the buttons may have been London smog.

In other words: no solid proof that any of the sample books survived the 1912 fire.

[rexb]

btns,

In the main BMAG Gaunt Collection, the interesting and puzzling non-Jennens backmark is Joseph Mann, with 33 buttons, plus another 5 having a Spies (an America merchant who lived in Birmingham for a while, before returning to New York) backmark, and also the initials 'JM', which I think indicates they were made by Joseph Moore. This is from a total of 1749 buttons, of which 986 have a Jennens backmark. There are 41 Firmin, 30 Doughty, 17 E W Jackson, 16 Nutting, 12 Weldon and 11 Kenning; all other button-makers backmarks are in single figures.

I have not found Joseph Mann in directories after 1839. Presumably, someone bought Mann's pattern books, and dies, probably, but who, how did [some?] of them reach Alderman Gaunt, and when?

Rex

[btns]

Rex,
This is an (incomplete) series of backmarks from the 2008 sale. On the same line is a guess at their identity.
backmark Name
<none, birdcage shank> Argentina Army
<none> Medicos Cirurgioes da Armada Real
<none> USA army - general service
<none> USA army - general service
<none> Vatican City - Administration
A. de Block, Amsterdam Artillerie
Army & Navy Co-Operative Co:, Made in England U.S. Navy
B.Y. Pippey Co N.Y. U.S. Marines
Best Quality, London army - infantry
Blain, Paris z-unidentified family coa- <acorns>
Blain, Paris royal L.L.R.
C. & J. Weldon, Naval Quality, Warranted U.S. Navy
C.J.M. Fyrwald & Co, Kjøbenhavn government - coat of arms 1819
D.S. & C. Pigott, Gresham St, London <gaunt coll> Royal Dutch Navy, Koninklijke Marine
Dusenbury & Schab, N.Y., Made in England USA army - general service
Dusenbury & Schwab, N.Y., Made in England USA army - general service
Edmonds & Sons, 8 Gresham St., London King's College, Cambridge
England Best Quality, N.S.M. N.Y. USA army - general service
English Make, Trade Mark <dog's head on torse> stock design - tin back - foul anchor, plain back, no rim
Extra Quality Argentina Navy
Extra Quality African Royal Mail Line
Extra Quality Infantry, Officers / War School
Extra Quality Infantry
Extra Quality Engineers / Ingenjörvåpnet
Extra Quality Army Quarter Master / Intendanturen
Extra Quality Kungl Postverket
Extra Quality music band - stock design
Extra Quality John Wanamaker Department Store
Extra Quality National District Telephone Company
Extra Quality z-stock design- Fire Department - 3 trumpets
Extra Quality z-unidentified- L.B. or L.R.
Extra Quality Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company
Extra Quality Conductor
F. B. Kachel, S:Haag Genie (Ingenieurs, Mineurs, Sappeurs)
Geo Evans & Co, Philadelphia Philadelphia Traction Company
Geo Evans & Co, Philadelphia Union Traction Company (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Goodwins Pat., July 27. 1875 Connecticut, State of
greek key design Jamaica Direct Fruit Line
H. Tomes, London U.S. Navy
H.V. Allien & Co, London, Admiralty Quality U.S. Navy
Herman Nypels, Helder Royal Dutch Navy, Koninklijke Marine
J. Goode & Co, Valparaiso, Fire Gilt Chile, Navy
J.R. Gaunt & Son Inc, New York, Made in England USA army - general service
J.R. Gaunt & Son Ltd, Rouse's Point N.Y., Made in England USA army - general service
Jacob Reed's Sons, Phil U.S. Marines
Jacob Reed's Sons, Phil, Made in England USA army - general service
Jacob Reed's Sons, Phila U.S. Navy
Jennens & Co, London U.S. Navy
Jennens & Co, London U.S. Navy
Lassen & Co, Bruxelles Leopold I
Made in England Maryland, State of
Marque's, Genoa Royal Sardinian Navy
N.S.M., London & New York, Made in England U.S. Marines
Oak Hall Clothing Co, Boston USA army - general service
Rosenfeld Bros, Baltimore, Made in England Maryland, State of
Rosenfeld Bros, Balto United Railways & Electric Company of Baltimore
Rosenfeld Bros., Baltimore Baltimore City Police
S. Oppenheimer & Co, Rangoon z-unidentified- F.D.
S.N. Meyer, Washington D.C., Made in England USA army - general service
Schuyler H & Co, New York, Super Quality U.S. Navy
Starkey, London Army General Staff Officers
Stone Uniform Company Inc Catholic War Veterans
Superior Quality, <wolf's head>, Made in England USA army - general service
Superior Quality, Made in England Maryland, State of
The Fechheimer Bros Co, Cincinnati Cincinnati Traction Company
The Stratton Co, New York, Made in England U.S. Coast Guard
W.H.H.C., London U.S. Navy
W.H.H.C., London U.S. Marines
Warranted Fire Gilt Philadelphia Police

[btns]

Two backmarks from MS & JD made buttons. I think there were a few pages cut from a book with such buttons.

[rexb]

Well done, btns; you made more comprehensive notes than I did.

There is a greater range of backmarks naming overseas firms than in BMAG’s Gaunt Collection, which includes only two on your list, S N Meyer, and the ‘N.S.M’ backmarks of his son, N S Meyer, who was Gaunt’s US agent. There are not many 20th century buttons in the Gaunt Collection at Birmingham.

Rex