It's been a long time since I blogged about the Tucker family - 2016 - who were involved in brickmaking in Loughborough. Recent blog posts have been a bit wordy, so this week let's have a look at some pictures of the buildings that have used Tucker's bricks in their construction. This week we'll concentrate on buildings across the country, before looking at the more local buildings next time.
One of the earliest, and one of the most well-known buildings that made use of bricks made by Tuckers of Loughborough is St Pancras station and hotel.
"In 1868 a new London railway station opened, showcasing the best of construction materials from the Midlands. Engineered by William Henry Barlow and Roland Marsh Ordish, St Pancras station was built by the Midland Railway Company to connect London to many major English cities. The Victorian Gothic design for the hotel and station accommodation was by the renowned Sir George Gilbert Scott. The ironwork was made by the Derbyshire firm Butterley Iron Company, the majority of the 60 million bricks used in the building were manufactured by Nottingham firm, Edward Gripper, and the mortar was also produced in the Midlands. Such was the demand for brick that Edward Gripper’s firm were unable to keep up, and while disappointing for the Nottingham company, this proved to be the perfect opportunity for the Loughborough firm of Tucker who were able to provide the additional bricks. Butterley Iron Company also made bricks, and it was they who acquired Tucker of Loughborough in 1964, keeping the firm open until 1967, but liquidating it in 1979." (1)
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| St Pancras, summer 2018 |
The first school to be opened in Leicester by the Leicester School Board, in January 1874, was the Syston Street Board School, and Tuckers supplied the bricks. The following year, they supplied the bricks for the Everard's Brewery building on Southgates Leicester. I don't have any photos of either the school or the brewery, but the Everards webpage has a timeline that includes a photo of the latter.
Red-brick churches seem quite unusual, as I'm used to stone-built ones, but Tuckers supplied the red bricks for St Saviour's church in Leicester, which was built 1875-6.
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| St Saviour's church, Leicester |
The barracks at Glen Parva, which is very close to South Wigston, was constructed in 1881 and used bricks from Tuckers. There are numerous photos on the web, as well as a history of the barracks.
Apparently, the town hall at Aberavon was also constructed with Tucker's bricks, but the 'old town hall' was built sometime between 1826 and 1840, which is possibly a bit early for the Loughborough firm, and since the reference is in a volume published in 1891 (2), then the re-building of the Aberavon town hall in 1915 is most certainly not the one referred to. However, Gilbert Tucker (snr. born 1803) was listed as a brickmaker on the entry in the birth register for his son, Gilbert (jnr.) in 1838, so perhaps Gilbert snr. was involved with the building of Aberavon's old town hall.
In the same volume, mention of the Bull's Head in Leicester is also proving difficult to locate, but was on Market Place, Leicester.
An article in the 'Newcastle Daily Chronicle' of 1900 states that Messrs G Tucker and Sons would provide the chimney pots for the whole of the convalescent homes and homes of rest for discharged soldiers, but doesn't actually say where they are. The newspaper is most definitely based in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, nor Newcastle-Under-Lyme, so perhaps these homes were in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne?
The Central Board
School was erected by the Chesterfield School Board in 1901. Again, this/these has/have been difficult to locate, but could be the schools on Durrant Road and Hipper Street. Interestingly, Loughborough firms had quite a lot of input to the construction of these schools: the masonry work was done by Moss
and Co. of Loughborough. ‘The schools are faced with Ellistown red-dressed
bricks with buff terra cotta dressings (manufactured by Messrs G Tucker &
son, of Loughborough).’ ‘The schools are provided with a loud-toned bell cast
by Messrs John Taylor of Loughborough’ (3) Much later, in 1927, Tuckers would also be involved in the building of Chesterfield Technical College.
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| Chesterfield Technical College, now just Chesterfield College |
And finally for today, in 1906, ‘Messrs. G. Tucker and Sons, provided pressed sewer and wire cut bricks’ (4) for the Brent sewage works. Again, a location that I'm not 100% convinced about, but could possibly be the sewage works in Brent Cross (which isn't just a shopping centre, and convenient car park for people driving to the outskirts of London from the Midlands, to catch a train to the centre!!)
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| Did Tuckers contribute to this construction work? |
So, that covers some of the contributions Tuckers made to buildings across the country - up to 1906!!! Pop back later for more Tuckers building works: some of the best are yet to come!!
References
(1) Dyer, Lynne (2019) 'Secret Loughborough'. Stroud: Amberley
(2) 'Loughborough: History, manufactures, trade. London: Robinson, Son & Pike, 1892.
(3) 'Derbyshire Courier', 1 June 1901, pg 5. The reason for the involvement of Tuckers in Chesterfield buildings would be that Gilbert Tucker (jnr.) was born in Holmgate in the parish of North Wingfield, which is about 5.5 miles from Chesterfield, and his second wife, Annie Jane Evan Boden, was born in Chesterfield.
(4) 'Kilburn Times' 16 February 1906, pg 8
Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 21 March 2021
You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:
Lynne
Found this and the preceding Tucker Family history extremely interesting. I am the eldest grandchild of Elsie Mary, eldest daughter of William and Martha Tucker. She married Dr Robert Hargreaves of Sheffield in 1915 (died 1937). They had three children, Elisabeth (my Mother), John and Mary. She died in Sheffield in 1966.
ReplyDeleteTony Greenham.
Hi Tony! How lovely to hear from you! Thank you for taking the time and trouble to comment - it's fabulous to hear about your family history, and helps me to better understand one of Loughborough's most famous families! Thanks again, Lynne
DeleteFound this and the preceding Tucker Family history extremely interesting. I am the eldest grandchild of Elsie Mary, eldest daughter of William and Martha Tucker. She married Dr Robert Hargreaves of Sheffield in 1915 (died 1937). They had three children, Elisabeth (my Mother), John and Mary. She died in Sheffield in 1966.
ReplyDeleteTony Greenham.