Early Years

Thomas Adams was born at Worksop

Worksop

Worksop is the largest town in the Bassetlaw district of Nottinghamshire, England on the River Ryton at the northern edge of Sherwood Forest. It is about east-south-east of the City of Sheffield and its population is estimated to be 39,800...

, Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

 on 5 February 1807. His father (also named Thomas) was a maltster, a trade in the doldrums at that time. Not long after Thomas' birth, the family moved to Ware

Ware

Ware is a town of around 18,000 people in Hertfordshire, England close to the county town of Hertford. It is also a civil parish in East Hertfordshire district. The Prime Meridian passes to the east of Ware.-Location:...

, Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...

 (his father's birthplace) to try and improve their situation. Thomas Senior died shortly afterwards, and his wife took the family up to the Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

 area, where her family originated from.

In 1821, aged 14, Thomas was sent to Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire to become apprentice to a draper in the town. After serving his full seven years, he moved to London. During this time he was tricked into going over to Paris, and was robbed and abandoned there. Through the help of an English lace merchant, he was able to make his return journey. Reflecting on his stupidity in later years, Adams felt that the incident had influenced his life from then on. Safely back in London, he had a brief time in the warehouse of Messrs Boden, a Derby lace company, before moving to Nottingham.

Business Beginnings

Thomas arrived in Nottingham in late 1829, opening business from a small house at 9 Stoney Street. On 2 September 1830, he married Lucy Cullen, daughter of a Nottingham businessman, in St Mary's Church, just a stone's throw away. He seems to have formed business partnerships, buying made lace goods and selling them on to wholesale and retail customers. In the mid 1830s, he was shown in local business directories as a lace manufacturer. Within 4 years, the business moved the short distance to 14/15 St Mary's Gate where, with successive partners, he was to remain for the next 20 years.

Philanthropist, Christian and Family Man

Thomas had some reverses in trading; the scope of his business being reduced in 1843 and 1844 through a financial crisis brought about by the failure of an agent. In 1857 there was a fluctuation in the lace trade prompted by panic in America, and the American Civil War caused a worldwide shortage of cotton for much of the 1860s.

Thomas Adams was a hard and sharp businessman, strictly honest but often capable of striking a good bargain. Away from commerce, he was extremely generous, giving away large sums of money to charity, in particular, to religious and educational projects. For example, in 1846, he anonymously gave £500 to the Bishop of Lincoln

Bishop of Lincoln

The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...

 towards the building of a school for the poor. Later, after the 1870 Education Act, he gave £500 and a further £400 towards the site for a new school in nearby Poplar Street.

He was one of a band of Christian philanthropists who succeeded in building 6 churches in Nottingham. One of these, St Luke's, Carlton Road was of particular interest to Thomas as many of its parishioners were Adams Company employees. Thomas laid the foundation stone of the church on 2 July 1862.

After his death, the family bought land and provided several hundred pounds to build St Philip's Church, Pennyfoot Street; intended to be the Thomas Adams memorial church. St Mary's, where Thomas and Lucy married, has a large stained-glass memorial window at its West end. There is also a memorial to Thomas in St Leodegarius' Church, Lenton.

Expansion - the Adams and Page warehouse

Employee Facilities

The evangelical proprietor wrote a short tract, a copy of which was given to every employee before the move into the new warehouse; outlining not only the provision for their physical well-being, but also for their spiritual side:


:"We desire to regard you as our fellow Christians, and to do all that lies in our power to advance the interest of you as well as your bodily welfare. For this object we have set apart a room in the new warehouse, in which we invite you to meet us every morning in social worship, so that we may seek the blessing of God upon our daily labours."


Hine, in fact, designed a special chapel located in the basement (designated as Floor B in the ncn Adams Building). This was provided with "comfortable benches and kneeling" and had stained glass windows facing onto the main Stoney Street facade. Records show that some 400 out of a predominantly female workforce of around 600 attended chapel from 8.00 to 8.30 am, in paid work time. Thomas Adams was always present, having left home promptly at 7.45. Often he would walk in from his home at Lenton Firs, Derby Road. A chaplain was appointed on an annual salary of £200 to conduct the morning service. Later, the tradition of a New Year service in the chapel was established, with (as late as the 1930s) the Bishop of Southwell

Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham

The Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham in the Province of York.The diocese covers including the whole of Nottinghamshire and a small area of South Yorkshire...

 or Sheffield

Bishop of Sheffield

The Bishop of Sheffield is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Sheffield in the Province of York.The title was first created as a suffragan see in the Diocese of York in 1901. The only suffragan bishop of Sheffield assisted the Archbishop of York in overseeing the diocese...

 providing the address.

For the staff's physical well-being, a separate building contained an employees' dining room, men's tea room and segregated washing facilities for both sexes. Other benefits included 'Improvement Classes', Children's Classes, a 'Penny Bank', Medical Aid Society and Library.

Further Business Expansion

The opening of the Stoney Street warehouse was inevitably the high point in Adams' career. Between 1857 and 1860, Thomas Adams & Company flourished;this in spite of recessions in the lace trade during which time nearly 60 lace firms went bankrupt.

The warehouse was greatly enlarged in the mid-1860s; probably on the strength of its flotation as a limited company. A bleaching, dyeing and lace-dressing factory at Sherwood Hill in New Basford; was built to TC Hine's designs.

Nottingham Joint Stock Bank

The end of the American Civil War had brought about a general improvement in the cotton-based textile trades, and there was a need for fresh capital to expand the lace industry.

With the support of businessmen from Nottingham (including Adams) and Birmingham, the Joint Stock Bank was formed with a capital of £1 million and offices at 60 Bridlesmith Gate. The Bank flourished, and, not surprisingly, Thomas Adams & Company became one of its first clients.

Adams became a Director of the Bank, and by 1873, Chairman. On 31 January 1873, he laid the foundation stone of the new Head Office on Victoria Street (now the Victoria Club).

Civic Connections

Outside of business interests, Thomas took on a range of civic responsibilities. A Tory, he was first elected as a Councillor for St Mary's Ward in 1846 and continued to represent the ward for the next 28 years. On several occasions, he was offered the position of Mayor, itself an accolade in Whig-dominated Nottingham, but declined the honour.

in November 1856, Adams and Richard Birkin were both appointed as Borough Magistrates. Thomas served in the role for 15 years, also becoming a magistrate for the county of Nottinghamshire also.

May 1861 saw Adams appointed as a Charitable Trustee for the Borough. He was also a member of the Lenton

Lenton, Nottingham

Lenton is an area of the City of Nottingham in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. Politically, it falls within the Nottingham South constituency. Most of the area lies within the electoral ward of "Dunkirk and Lenton", however the "Lenton Triangle" area, considered by most residents to be part...

 School Board and Radford

Radford, Nottingham

Radford is an inner-city area of Nottingham, located just outside the city centre itself.-History:Radford is bounded on the south by Lenton and Nottingham, and comprises around of land....

 Board of Guardians.
Even in his last year, Thomas was serving on several Borough committees, namely: the Bridge Estate, Parliamentary and Free Public Libraries and Museums.

Later Years

The death of his eldest son, Samuel, in 1870 was a major blow, and signalled a steady decline in Thomas' health. This was also a setback for future company plans as Thomas had assumed that sons Samuel and John would at some stage take over from him.

Thomas was suffering from jaundice, and in 1871, sought specialist care and treatment in Germany. His condition, however, gradually worsened and he died at Lenton Firs, for so long the family home, on 16 May 1873. It was reported that more than 10,000 people attended his funeral, held at "The Valley of the Rocks", in the Church Cemetery on Mansfield Road.

The stretch of Derby Road, which nowadays climbs along the edge of the University of Nottingham

University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham is a public research university based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...

Highfields campus, close to Lenton Firs is named Adams Hill to this day.

Thomas Adams' Legacy

Looking back at his concern for his workforce, it is interesting to pick up the provisions he made for their welfare when the company was incorporated in 1865.



The Company would help in "the establishing, managing and assisting of churches, chapels, schools, libraries, banks, dispensaries, infirmaries, provident societies, clubs and other institutions for the benefit of persons employed by the Company and their families and others."


This passed a man who said "I can make money but I cannot make a speech." He certainly "made money", but for 25 years there was not a church or school built in Nottingham to which he did not contribute. Whilst he gave small subscriptions publicly, his large gifts were anonymous and only revealed after his death. When probate was granted in July 1873, his estate was put at £90,000.