Home/Sitemap  ·    Search   ·   you are here: Forum =>letter 20323 Brass Finisher in 1800's +++ My great grandfather was listed in documents as an apprentice brass finisher and then brass finisher in documents of the last quarter of the 1800's. Could someone give me a rough idea what a brass finisher at that time would do? Thank you for any help you can provide. Ann Terry +++ Great enquiry. Firstly, electricity was not readily available at that time so, depending on whether it was a large factory or a cottage industry , motive power would have been steam engine via overhead shafts and pulleys to a lathe, in the first instance. Or a treadle powered lathe. Either way ,such work is basically the same now, as then. Stock removal of flash, burrs and marks, using a variety of sanding, finishing buffing and polishing,belts and wheels. Working from the coarsest grits, slowly, finer and finer . Usually three or four stages, until complete. Very rewarding on different pieces. Very boring on repetitive pieces. Tapware etc. Suggest you visit a co-operative Metal polisher ,with a camera. Mark Gunn - NSW, Australia ++++ I called the Public Library with an almost exact duplicate question that you had asked and they gave me this web site. I just discovered that an ancestor's occupation listed in the 1890 Cincinnati City Directory was Finisher Works. I thought they were tailors. However, I just discovered them in the Covington, Ky. City Directory 1890 & 1892 as brass finisher. I know very little about their early history in Cinti & Covington and so hope you might have found out more about this occupation and what they probably polished and how and where your family worked (maybe the same place or places. Thank you in advance for any information you can give me. Rosalind Sommer - Cincinnati, Ohio ++++++ What is a Brass Finisher? The answer given does not really answer the question. What is a fisherman? Is he at the seaside with a small net or is he in a large sea going trawler or factory ship catching tons of cod? Peter Johnston private family tree research - Morchard Bishop, Devon, UK ++++++ I was interested about the enquiry re the occupation of brass finisher in the 19th c. My great grandfather was a brass finisher in London and dies aged 54 in 1901, from 'Phthisis Exhaustion' (TB). Does anyone know whether this was an occupational hazard? - I seem to remember reading that the trade was associated with pulmonary diseases. Lottie Alexander - York, Yorkshire, England ++++++ With regard to my former question I should perhaps add that my ^greatgrandfather lived in London, England, between 1847 (when he was born) and 1902, when he died. During his working life he was stated as being a gas fitter at 1871 then a brass finisher from 1881 - certainly on his marriage and death certificates he was down as a brass finisher and in the censuses 1881-1901. He can't have worked much in the 1900s owing to his illness. I would very much like to know a) EXACTLY what the daily life of a journeyman brass finisher was, how many hours worked, conditions, etc. and what the job itself was - where carried out- in foundries? and b)were there unions to help during his illness, in Britain? Is there anybody out there who might have the answer to these questions? Thank you Lottie Alexander (returning) - York, Yorkshire, England +++++++ A brass finisher would start the morning with an assignment from the supervisor, there would be a few different departments and the department where your ^greatgrandfather would work would depend on his expertise. Since he was Ill, I am thinking this may have been sit-down work. The departments would be raw casting/punch press cleaning of parts, then the next would be grinding/filing/chipping. The next could be dressing/smoothing and even scraping. The last would be final finishing, lapping/polishing. His day would most likely be sitting near a window, on a stool at a work bench with a device to hold the part. Each part would have specific areas that would need to be dressed, the extent of the dressing would vary from product to product and could involve some assembly. Brazing would not normally be a finishing step but bolting and press fit would be. SO let's assume he would dress and chip off small pieces of brass that were not needed on the casting, one after another the parts would be processed. The products would be transferred to the next operation. I would believe the younger people ( not always just men ) would run the faster cycle operations and there would always be opportunity for an older person to perform other operations. The stronger men would push the production through the machines faster, and the young boys 7-8 or so would be moving the parts from operation to operation. The kids may also have been helpers on the larger machines. Most likely the work day would start about 6 am maybe even 5 and would change as the business orders would demand. Odds are that there was a lunch break and maybe even tea. Pending on the plant, the workers would come back after supper and work later sometimes till 9 or 10 pm. Most likely he worked Saturdays also. I would believe he was good at what he did, since they kept him on even though he was "ill." There would be fine dust everywhere, smoke and debris all over and most likely when the window was open, in the 1890-1900s the air may not have been "fresh" anyway. He would walk to work unless there was a company wagon. Most shopping was done daily and someone else did that. Some paydays could have been held up and postponed or not paid at all..if it was a profitable company ( sounds like it for being in business for at least 20 years ) the paydays would be there and on time. That would be considered a good place to work. Hope this helps. Paul Barnhart - Lake in the Hills, Illinois       +++++++ In response to Lottie Alexander's letter regarding brass finishers. It would seem that pulmonary diseases could well have been an occupational hazard. My great grandfather's brother was a brass finisher in the 1880's in Sunderland from leaving school, and he died of pneumonia exhaustion at only 41 years of age. DERRICK GRAHAM HOGGART - FERRYHILL . CO. DURHAM, ENGLAND May 14, 2008 Thank you so much to the people who answered my question on the possible dangerous nature of the occupation of brass finisher. I must have rather rushed my 2nd posting where I say it was my grandfather who was a brass finisher in the 1880s! It was, of course my great grandfather, (Henry Ward, who was born 1847 and died in 1902, as I mentioned of TB - phthisis exhaustion, according to his death certificate. Thank you again. Lottie Alexander (returning) - York, Yorkshire, England October 5, 2008 My ancestor was also a brass finisher. He lived in Chancery Lane in the City of London and died in 1845 also of a respiratory illness. I was wondering where he is likely to have worked given where he lived. Are there and known foundries in this area of London? PHILIP BACON - Worthing, West Sussex, England December 9, 2008 My great grandfather was a brass finisher in the railway works in Perth Scotland.He died of pneumonia in 1893 aged 60. Alan Petrie - Gosport, Hampshire, UK June 30, 2009 My Great Great Maternal Grandfather was listed as a Brass Finisher on his sons marriage certificate, 1894. Making his birth date probably 1845 ish. Have read above qualifications of a Brass Finisher, my Gt Gt Grandfather surname was Thomas, I guess quite a few industrial processes at that time would require his employment. I'm still trying to trace him in the archives Regards, Michael Luff - Norfolk England July 16, 2009 There seems to have been a lot of brass finishers around in the 1800s! My Great Grandfather was a gas fitter and brass fitter. He died of Tuberculosis at the age of 43 in the Bethnal Green Workhouse.He seems to have been there because of his illness as his wife continued to support their family with her dressmaking business. My GG Grandfather was a "rouger". Can anyone tell me what this sort of work entailed. the only pewter that I am familiar with is the stuff used to make beer mugs! Jessie Dennett - Wakkerstroom,Mpumalanga, South Africa Hi, Jessie. Yes, pewter is used for mugs and drinking vessels, and possibly was used for figurines and knobs & handles and so on. Rouge is a polishing compound. (jeweler's rouge [link is to product info at Amazon]). So I would assume that your great grandfather polished the rough pewter objects to a smooth shine. I would assume that the buffing wheels were powered by belts, driven by a water wheel or steam engine, and your great grandfather would dress the wheels with the compound, and then hold the mugs against them, until all areas were sufficiently smooth. Regards, Ted Mooney, P.E. finishing.com Brick, New Jersey August 7, 2009 My Grandfather worked in a Brass Foundry between the years of 1885 - 1925 approximately, I don't know in what capacity, but I do know he died at about 55 years of age from a lung complaint. His workplace would have been in or near Hackney, as that is where the family lived. His surname was Haviland, and if anyone knows where I can find out more, ie: the company name and address, a list of staff members etc., I would be very grateful. Jo-anne Ackrill - Brisbane, Queensland, Australia December 18, 2009 My Great-Great Grandfather was a 'Brass Dresser Journeyman' in the late 1800's. He died at only 27 years of 'Phthisis' His father was a 'Fender Moulder' but I don't have any details about his death. Their surname is LYNDON and would have worked in the Birmingham area of England. R. TURNER - Toowoomba, QLD, AUSTRALIA April 5, 2010 Mt GGG Grandfather was also a brass finisher in Glasgow and died of Phthesitis Pulmonaris, which I gather is TB. This seems to have been an occupational hazard given the other responses. David Mason - Glasgow, Scotland