J. R. Gaunt & Son Company History

['Ticker' Riley]

I thought I would start to post up my findings about the history of J. R. Gaunt & Son here, rather than to the other two recent threads on the J. R. Gaunt’s History Timeline or the J. R. Gaunt & Son Advertisements, if only to try and keep things in chronological order as I put them up.

I must say that I am particularly grateful to Forum member btns, not only for all his interesting postings on the subject of Gaunts so far, but also for sharing information on his sources with me. Specifically I owe him my thanks for telling me about three interesting small articles that have appeared in Button Lines: The Journals of the British Button Society, which I wouldn’t have otherwise known about. I believe two of the articles (both published in two parts) are from the 1970s - one by Captain Nigel Waite on ‘J. R. Gaunt and Son Limited’, touching on the Firm’s history, the kind of items made and the actual manufacturing processes; whilst the second is by Lynette Carey about ‘The J. R. Gaunt Collection’ at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which also briefly talks about the Company history, though is mainly about her work in cataloguing the buttons in this collection. The third Button Lines article is perhaps the most pertinent here, and is actually by John Richard Gaunt (grandson of James Richard Gaunt, the J. R. Gaunt in the Company’s name) - it is entitled ‘J. R. Gaunt & Son Limited: A Brief History by John R. Gaunt’, and is from 1994.

Where applicable I’ll make reference to these Button Lines articles, as well as to relevant trade directories and census returns. I do stress, these will only be preliminary findings, and there will still be much work to be done to establish a full picture of Gaunt’s badge making activities, let alone when certain Gaunt marks were used, etc. Nevertheless, hopefully this will give other Forum members involved in researching this particular firm something to work on – more to come over the next few days then!

Regards

Martin

[KLR]

Martin, you're a star - and btns is one too !
I'd be very interested in seeing the article about the BMAG collection - I spent a day going through it all, though I admit, not much about the buttons ! Julian

['Ticker' Riley]

James Richard Gaunt, who went on to found J. R. Gaunt & Son with his eldest son Charles Frederick Gaunt, was born on 24 December 1834 in Birmingham (James’ birth date is noted in his record of baptism, which took place at St Philips Church in Birmingham on 2 March 1835). He was the son of Richard and Ann Gaunt, and had a number of brothers and sisters. In the 1841 census returns for Birmingham the family were living at 36 Water Street (Ref. HO/107/1144/6, ff. 10v.-11r., pp. 13-14), where Richard Gaunt’s occupation is given as “Buttonman”. Richard Gaunt himself seems to have come from the Black County town of Rowley Regis in South Staffordshire, and by the 1851 census we have him and his family living in a house at 18 Court, Morland Street, where he is now listed as being a “Tool Maker”:

Ref. HO/107/2057, f. 559, p. 20

In his account of the Firm’s history John Richard Gaunt says of his great grandfather Richard that he “was a toolmaker and button man” and that he lived from “1809 until 1895”. So far I haven’t looked to see if the dates for Richard Gaunt are correct, but certainly the census records appear to corroborate John R. Gaunt’s information. Mr Gaunt also mentions a John Gaunt and a Josiah Gaunt who were brothers, and were recorded as being “Button men of Summerhill” in 1767, which would suggest button making was an industry which the Gaunt family had been involved with for a number of years.

Richard Gaunt is also in the 1861 census in Birmingham, only this time at 49 Unett Street, and is down as a “Stamper & Piercer” (Ref. RG9/2157, f. 76, p. 20). Interestingly btns has found that Richard, who it seems had his own business, became bankrupt in 1862. Further details of this can be found in the on-line version of The London Gazette. Whilst Richard appears to have carried on, ten years later in 1872, another entry in The London Gazette talks about the liquidation of his assets. By the late 1850s Richard’s son James Richard was in London, and was supposedly working for Firmins, but more on that in my next posting.

Regards

Martin

P.S. For those that are interested The London Gazette also notes the dissolution of a number of partnerships involving Richard Gaunt (dates of dissolution in brackets) – with Henry Jenkins as “Button-Makers” (2 April 1840), with John Tyrer as “Button Makers” (8 July 1840), with Samuel Bassett as “Manufacturers of Buttons and other Articles” (26 January 1841) and with George Williams as “Stampers and Piercers” (6 May 1847).

[Keith Blakeman]

Excellent stuff, really looking forward to the next instalment.

['Ticker' Riley]

Hi Julian & Keith

Glad you’re both finding things of interest, and perhaps of help? I hadn’t intended to look at Gaunts just yet, but after all the recent postings elsewhere on the Forum, and with btns’ help, things have come together quite quickly. I have to say here that in a posting to one of the other Gaunt threads, I did point out that Firmin’s website has the establishment date for J. R. Gaunt & Son as 1750. Initially I thought this was more likely to be the correct date, as you would expect Firmin to know the history of Gaunts more than anyone! But by now I’m having serious doubts about this because, so far, I can’t personally see anything to suggest such an early date. The answer may be in one of the other companies Gaunt acquired, or possibly something to do with the earlier Gaunt buttonmen in the family? Anyway, I’ll make another posting here tomorrow about James Richard Gaunt and his time in London.

Best regards

Martin

['Ticker' Riley]

As I noted in my last posting, I’m now going to briefly look at James Richard Gaunt and the fact that he lived in London for a number of years. First up is his marriage from 1857, which was at St John’s Church in Southwark, and where both he and his father Richard are noted as being “Tool Maker”:

Whilst this doesn’t say where he was working, John R. Gaunt in his article claimed James had been “a toolmaker in Firmin’s Birmingham factory”, and that he “finally became a manager in the London branch at Whitehorse Yard”. James Richard had certainly left Birmingham for London, though unfortunately so far I haven’t been able to find him and his new wife in the 1861 census. I have, however, traced a baptism for a daughter called Ellen at St George’s Church in Bloomsbury in 1861, which would confirm James was in London at this time. In the baptism entry, the family’s abode is down as “High Holborn”, and James’ trade as a “Press Tool Maker”. A number of other children were born in London over the next few years, such as his son Charles Frederick Gaunt in 1864, and the 1871 census records James and his growing family living in Clerkenwell at number “2 Wilmington St”, with James given still as being a “Tool Maker”:

Ref. RG10/385, f. 59, p. 23

Further children were born in London after this, including Walter Francis Gaunt in 1875. Exactly how long James Richard was in London for I can’t be sure, but it certainly seems he was there from at least 1857 up to 1875, and probably for a few years after this date. By 1881 though he was back in Birmingham - something I’ll put in my next posting. I have to say that from the above it looks to me more like James was a tool maker at Firmin’s London works, even if he may possibly have started with them at their Birmingham factory. There’s nothing to say here he was the London manager, but perhaps Firmin’s own records would confirm this??

Regards

Martin

[Wilf]

Originally Posted by Keith Blakeman

Excellent stuff, really looking forward to the next instalment.

Me too, I've just spent some time reading through the thread, interesting stuff. Nice one 'Ticker' it must have taken a lot of time and patience to research all that [JR Gaunt].