Title
Monochrome drawing of the Peel & Williams Phoenix Foundry
Reference
YA2003.26/1
Production date
1812 - 1812
Creator
- Parry, JosephBiographyBiography
Joseph Parry (1744–1826), was son of a master-pilot, born in Liverpool in 1744. Parry was apprenticed to a ship and house painter in Liverpool, but chose to study art in his free time. Once his apprenticeship finished he began practising as a professional artist. In 1790 he moved to Manchester, where his work proved successful. He remained in Manchester for the rest of his life.
Parry painted portraits, including one self-portrait, as well as some large historical compositions, pictures of shipping and landscapes.
Parry is best known for his scenes of everyday life in Manchester, such as ‘The Old Market Place and Shambles at Manchester,’ and the ‘Old Bridge,’ Manchester. His work ‘Eccles Wake,’ a private commission for a Liverpool gentleman, contains two hundred figures, all separate studies drawn from life.
Parry was survived by his four sons, two of whom became artists themselves.
Scope and Content
Framed monochrome drawing in India ink by Manchester-based artist Joseph Parry. The drawing features the iron and brass foundry of Peel & Williams located in Swan Street in the Shudehill area of central Manchester. The artwork shows employees at work and equipment, as well as the company premises.
A note on the backing of the frame, apparently written by George Peel (1803-1887) or his brother Joseph Peel (1801-1866), records details of the history of the Peel & Williams company, including specific information about the Phoenix and Soho Foundries.
Physical description
Framed item.
Language
English
Archival history
Purchased from Bonhams with grant aid from the V & A Purchase Grant fund
Level of description
ITEM
Repository name
Science and Industry Museum
Associated people and organisations
- Peel, Williams & PeelBiographyBiography
Peel, Williams & Peel (1798 - 1887) Engineers
Peel, Williams and Peel was originally established under the name Peel, Williams & Co as an iron and brass foundry by George Peel (senior, d.1811) in partnership with William Ward Williams (1772-1833). George Peel was a cousin of British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. The company became the biggest engineering firm in Manchester up to the 1830s.
Initially the company was based in Manchester's Miller Street, quickly building the Phoenix Foundry in Swan Street, at Shudehill Pits. In 1810 the company acquired the Soho Foundry in Ancoats, next to the Ashton Canal. In the same year the business was renamed Peel and Williams. The older part of the Soho Foundry was destroyed by fire in 1828, but a newer foundry on the site was spared.
Pigot and Dean's New Directory of Manchester and Salford published in 1821 contains an entry for the firm, listing Peel and Williams as 'iron and brass founders, Phoenix Foundry, Shudehill; roller and spindle-makers, water-press and steam engine manufacturers, and gas-light erectors, Soho Foundry, Ancoats.'
Around 1825 Joseph Peel and George Peel (sons of George Peel, Senior) set up a partnership with Williams, and the firm became Peel, Williams and Peel.
In 1839 Peel, Williams and Peel began manufacturing railway locomotives, which were trialled on the Liverpool - Manchester line. By 1861 a local directory described the company as 'Peel, Williams and Peel, steam engine makers, iron and brass founders, engineers, millwrights, boiler, gasometer and hydraulic press makers, Soho Iron Works and Forge, Pollard st, Great Ancoats st.' In the following year Peel, Williams and Peel was awarded a medal for their machines at the 1862 London Exhibition.
By May 1887 the machinery, works and land 'lately occupied' by Peel, Williams and Peel at the Soho Foundry site were advertised for sale at auction.
Subject
Conditions governing access
Open access.
Conditions governing Reproduction
Copies may be supplied in accordance with current copyright legislation and Science Museum Group terms and conditions.
