Henry Rose and His Family

Henry, born in 1802, married Mary Mason in Penn, Wolverhampton, in 1830. They had six children:

Henry was Works Manager, at the family’s ironworks in Moxley. Their eldest daughter Mary married colliery labourer, Edward Smith in 1854 at Dudley. They had five children, but Mary died in 1868 at the age of 36.

Elizabeth, Henry's second daughter, married Israel Millington, in 1860 at Wolverhampton. He was a baker. By 1871 they were living in Pinfold Street Darlaston, but sadly he died in 1874. Three years later Elizabeth married Edward Mallard, a solicitor, who had also previously been married. They married in Birmingham, and in 1881 were living at 103 Varna Street, Birmingham, in a house they shared with three other family members. The first two were Henry J. Slater, and Florence M. Slater, children of Elizabeth's sister Jane, and her husband Samuel Slater. The third was Kate R. Smith; Mary Ann Rose and Edward Smith's daughter.

Henry J. Slater became a solicitor's articled clerk, and married Jane Mallard, Edward Mallard's daughter from his first marriage. They were married in 1897 and had a daughter Mildred. Unfortunately Henry died in 1936 at the age of 70, and left £7,776.16s.7d. to his wife and daughter.

Henry and Mary's third daughter, Martha, never married, and stayed to look after her parents. Their fourth daughter, Jane, married Samuel Slater, a nut and bolt manufacturer. They were married in 1864 in West Bromwich, and lived at 2 Bills Street, Darlaston. They had five children. By 1881, Jane, Samuel, and their five children were living with Jane's parents, Henry and Mary, at 8 Dangerfield Lane, Darlaston. By 1901 Samuel had died, and Jane moved to Birmingham with daughters Gertrude, and May. Gertrude, who was 22 at the time, worked as a dressmaker to support the family.

Henry and Mary's last daughter Esther, married Benjamin Riley in 1879 at Stourbridge. In 1881 they had a pawnbrokers shop, in Pinfold Street, Darlaston, and by 1891 had moved to Enfield, in Middlesex where Benjamin was a gun viewer.

William, Henry and Mary's son, led an interesting life. He married Elizabeth Parker in 1860 at St. Mary’s Church, Wednesbury, and worked in the ironworks at Moxley as a clerk. They had seven children, and were involved in an unsuccessful expedition to South America in 1868.

The priest at St. Marys’ was Father George Montgomery, who was born in Dublin and ordained in 1849. After a period in Rome, he came to Wednesbury in 1852 and formed a Roman Catholic mission which soon had upwards of 3,000 members. He was shocked at the miserable and amoral state of his parishioners, many of whom were immigrants from Ireland. After much research, he organised a mass emigration to Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, in an attempt to improve their lives.

The expedition which had 339 members, set sail from London on 12th February, 1868 aboard the ship, "Florence Chipman". William and Elizabeth Rose were on board with their four children, Marie aged 9, Elizabeth aged 7, William aged 5, and Charles, just one year old. It is believed that William and Elizabeth’s cousin David Rose junior was with them. The ship arrived in Rio de Janeiro on 26th April, 1868.

The emperor Dom Pedro II, who welcomed the expedition, wanted the immigrants to pick coffee, and sent them to an area of land that had been set aside. William however had other ideas. He knew that there were rich mineral deposits in the area, and so went prospecting for copper.

Charles’ son Horace used to tell tales of their adventures in Brazil. They used to swim in a river that was full of alligators, and on one occasion the girls had to fetch their mother from church in the pony and trap, but were stopped in their tracks by a large snake. One of the girls went to get their father, who killed the snake with a machete.

The expedition was unsuccessful. The conditions were terrible, there was an outbreak of yellow fever, which caused many deaths, and Elizabeth was pregnant. They arrived home in 1869, and their third daughter Martha was born. They had two other sons, John, born in 1872, and Henry, born in 1875. Sadly Elizabeth died of pneumonia, whilst in premature labour in 1877. It must have been a great blow to William and the children, who had to leave school at the age of 14 and go to work to support the family. At the time he was working as a roll turner. By 1881 he was a stocktaker and manager, living at 199 Butcroft, Darlaston. By 1891 he had retired and lived with his two sons, Charles, and John, who were both tap and die makers. William had a stroke and died on October 19th, 1895 when only 58 years old.

William and Elizabeth’s Children

Marie, born in 1861, trained as a nun, and in the 1880s became a teacher at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Church Street, Darlaston. She married Vincent Martin Cody, also a teacher, and they moved to Walthamstow, in Essex.

Martha married clock maker William Bernard Dilger in 1890, who had a shop in Bilston. His family came from the Black Forest, Germany. It is said that they were involved with the invention of the modern cuckoo clock.

John married Emily Butler in 1898, and they had a daughter Lily. He later went off to California, but was caught by police in a gambling den, where he hit an officer. About this time (1906) there had been an earthquake, and it is said that he made his escape on horseback to the nearest port and boarded a ship for China. He settled there for a number of years, married a Chinese lady and had a son. In later life he decided to come home, but was most upset to find that his wife had remarried. He then went to live with his brother, Henry.

Sadly he suffered from senility, and died in a nursing home in the 1950's. Henry, the youngest child married Jane Knight in 1904, and they lived their life in Darlaston. He had four daughters and a son, and worked as a plater. He died in 1961.

Charles Rose married Keziah Newton in 1892 at St. Mary’s Church, Bilston. Her parents were licensees of the Black Horse public house in Pinfold Street, Darlaston, and lived at the back of 16, Pinfold Street, in Winn's Buildings. Charles was a toolmaker and pipe fitter. They had six children, three girls and three boys.

The tale goes that they went with a group of people to Stoke-on-Trent in the hope of finding work. All the women and children were put on a train, while the men walked.

They got as far as Penkridge on the first day, and slept under a hedge before continuing their journey. Charles only stayed for a short while, he couldn't find a job and did a moonlight flit back to Darlaston, because he had no money for rent.

He eventually found work as a pipe fitter and spent the rest of his life in Darlaston. He died in 1950 after a stroke.

Horace began his working life as a toolmaker at W. Martin Winn Limited, nut and bolt makers in Heath Road. He then became a pipe fitter like his father, and later a railway inspector at Old Park Works, part of Metropolitan Cammell.

Horace Rose. Courtesy of Mary Harding.

Horace Rose in later life. From an old newspaper cutting.

He remembered the grimy but colourful colliers who drank there.

As a youngster he walked to West Bromwich with his father to see the after effects of the explosion at Hamstead Colliery on 4th March, 1908, which killed 26 men. He remembered seeing their names chalked on a wooden door.

In later life he lived at Wheaton Aston.

The End of an Era

The late 1870s were difficult times for the British iron makers, who used large quantities of coal in the smelting process. By this time, much of the local coal in the Wednesbury and Darlaston area had already been mined. Miners were dissatisfied with their rates of pay, and working conditions, which led to a long strike in the industry.

At the best of times pits were prone to flooding. During the strike pumping engines were not operated, and many mines flooded. In 1870 it was estimated that around 150 million tons of coal, and 20 million tons of iron ore were under water in South Staffordshire alone.

This happened at the same time as a depression in the iron trade, and the payment of higher wages, which and been demanded by the unions. Within a few years many of the local ironworks had closed, never to reopen.

The ironworks at Moxley also suffered greatly from the recession, which resulted in the business going into liquidation in 1886.

This came as a great blow to the family, especially to David Rose senior, William Napoleon Rose, and Arthur Thomas Frederick Rose who were running the business at the time.

Another view of the family's grave.

Their son David Rose junior died in January 1887 from bronchitis and brain complications. He was buried in the family grave, with his father, perhaps because the family wanted to bring them together again.

IN MEMORY OF

ZIBIAH

THE BELOVED WIFE OF

DAVID ROSE

OF GOLDTHORN COURT

WHO DIED MAY 3^RD 1871

AGED 59 YEARS

IN LOVING MEMORY OF DAVID ROSE

ALSO ELIZABETH ROSE

THEIR DAUGHTER

DIED DEC 20^TH 1886

ALSO DAVID ROSE SON

DIED JAN 1887

In 1898 the Victoria Ironworks was acquired by William Henry Wesson, and the factory became known as Wessons. He also acquired the Rose family’s old Moxley home, The Heath.

The Heath has long since been demolished to make way for Heath Acres. In 2011 the factories on the site of Victoria Iron Works were demolished. All that now remains in Moxley to remind people of the Rose family and their great achievements is the family grave in front of All Saints’ Church. A sad end to a wonderful story.

All Saints' Church, Moxley.

Wesson's factory and offices in 2010.

Another view of Wesson's factory in 2010.

The sad remains of the factory in 2012.

The wasteland where the proud factory once stood. As seen in February 2012.