A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE acter. A similar conclusion may be deduced from an examination of the lists of trades in the other chief towns in the county, and it was left to modern times to institute and develop this industry in Berkshire. In 1830 Christopher Harris carried on the business of iron founder in Gloucester Street, Faringdon. At Abingdon, Nathaniel Dean in Stert Street, Robert Fairbrother in Bridge Street, and George Smith in Ock Street, were the chief Brass and Iron Founders. At Hungerford there was at that period a foundry owned by Mr. Richard Gibbons. In the neighbouring "village of Kintbury, Mary Harper in 1830 owned a foundry which has now ceased to exist. Newbury had no less than five iron founders at this period : William Ayres in Bartholomew Street, Joseph and Henry Burton near the gas works, John Deane at Speenhamland, who also worked in brass, William Golding at St. Mary's Hill, and William Plenty & Sons in the market place. At Reading there were three firms : James Hall at Bear Court, Bridge Street, who also paid special attention to the making of ploughs, Perry & Barret in Horn Street, and James Wilder at Hill Hall. At Wallingford Leonard Wilder, the founder of the firm Messrs. R. J. & H.Wilder, who carry on the Wallingford Ironworks, had a foundry at Mill Bridge, and was noted as a plough manufacturer. Thomas Castle in the High Street and William Guttridge in Green Tree Square were engaged in this industry. At Wantage John Austin had a brass foundry in Newbury Street, and Joseph Golding in Grove Street. Thus the county was fairly well provided with iron foundries at the beginning of the century, but many of these were doubtless small factories, and judging from the observa- tions of Dr. Mavor in his View of the Agri- culture of Berkshire we may conclude that the principal landowners and farmers were accustomed to procure their agricultural im- plements from Leicestershire, Cirencester, Northumberland and other distant places rather than from local manufacturers. How- ever, the Berkshire plough, cast-iron plough- shares, especially those improved by the invention of Mr. W. Morland of West Ilsley, the Hinton plough and scuffler, and other implements constructed of iron, we* e doubt- less made at the local foundries. These foundries were mostly of a primitive type, and the inventions which have been made since the beginning of the last century have revolutionized the methods adopted for the manufacture of implements and machinery. The large and important foundries of the present time form a striking contrast to the insignificant furnaces existing in the country during the period which we have been con- sidering. In every department of the iron industry numerous improvements have been made which need not be recorded in this place, inasmuch as they relate to the general history of industry and not to its progress in the Berkshire county. It will be sufficient for our present purpose to enumerate the chief foundries and engineer- ing works which exist at the present time within the limits of the county, and to record any special features of interest which may characterize each works. Inasmuch as Berk- shire is chiefly an agricultural county it is natural to find that the operations of most of the iron founders are concerned with the manufacture of agricultural implements and machinery. But the special advantages of Reading as regards nearness to the Metropolis and abundant railway facilities have attracted the greatest amount of enterprise in this industry. One of the oldest foundries in Reading is that of Messrs. T. C. Williams & Sons, Ltd. It was established in 1790 by Mr. Benjamin Williams, who was locally renowned as the introducer of public lighting into his borough. The business was carried on by his son and grandson until 1901, when it was converted into a limited liability company. The works consist of an iron and brass foundry, and the firm is specially engaged in the heating of buildings by hot water, steam, etc., the manufacture of cooking apparatus and general engineering. The number of workmen em- ployed is from 60 to 100. The works of the Pulsometer Engineering Company, Limited, stand on a plot of nearly 12 acres on the south side of the Oxford Road just beyond the Tramway Terminus. The company, which was established in the year 1875, moved to Reading in 1901 owing to their premises at Nine Elms, London, being too small. The title of the firm is taken from their principal manufacture the Pulsometer Steam Pump. The original founder of the works and the present manag- ing director is Mr. John Eliot Hodgkin, F.S.A. Among the noted foundries in Reading may be mentioned the Kennet Ironworks, situated in the Vastern Road and owned by Mr. Francis A. Smith. A large number of steam engines and steam boilers are con- structed here, and also steam lorries, and machines for making bricks and tiles. Mr. Samuel Griffith has a foundry in the same locality, Vastern Road, and Mr. John Wilder 384
