Vivian & Sons
Encyclopedia
Vivian & Sons was a British metallurgical and chemicals business based at Hafod
, in the lower Swansea valley
. The firm was founded in 1810, disappearing as a separate entity in 1924. Its chief outputs were ingot and sheet copper, with sulphuric acid and artificial manures as by-products.
About 1800, the Cornishman John Vivian, the first of the family to settle in Swansea, became managing partner in the copper works at Penclawdd
and Loughor
owned by the Cheadle Brasswire Company of Staffordshire
. By 1806 his second son, John Henry Vivian
was made manager at Penclawdd. In 1808-10, land at the Hafod was leased from the Duke of Beaufort
and the Earl of Jersey
, by the new firm of Vivian & Sons. The partners were John Vivian and his two elder sons, John Henry Vivian and Richard Hussey Vivian
. Richard was the older but was fully occupied in his military career; it was John Henry who became managing partner.
It was upon this site that the Hafod Smelting Works and Mills were established. Wood in his Rivers of Wales (1813) refers to the works “…lately built by Messrs. Vivian & Co., in the construction of which a laudable attention has been paid to the comfort and convenience of the workmen by a different arrangement of the furnaces.”
By the 1840s, the Hafod Works were the largest of their kind in the world, and their output represented one-quarter of the entire copper trade of the United Kingdom. During the last decade of John Henry's life, 1845-1855, his eldest son, Henry Hussey Vivian
, managed the Works and took full control of the business on his father’s death. In 1853, Vivian jointly acquired, with Williams, Foster & Co. of Morfa, the White Rock Copper Works at Foxhole, leased from the Earl of Jersey. In 1864, he began to obtain sulphuric acid from copper smoke and in 1870-71 he converted part of the White Rock works to treat poor silver-lead ores. White Rock ceased operations in 1928, the lease was surrendered and the works dismantled.
By the mid-1870s, the Vivian & Sons undertaking at Hafod consisted of six works: Hafod Alkali Works, Hafod Copper Mills, Hafod Copper Works, Hafod Iron Foundry, Hafod Phosphate Works, and Hafod Silver Works. The firm also owned brick works and the old Forest Spelter Works at Morriston
; were colliery proprietors at Mynydd Newydd, Pentrefellen and Pentre; and had their own shipping offices at 6 Cambrian Place, Swansea.
In addition, H.H. Vivian personally owned the Hafod Isha Nickel and Cobalt Works. In 1883 he formed the associated company of H.H. Vivian & Co. Ltd. to take over that works, along with German silver and brass rolling mills at Birmingham and a nickel mine and smelting works at Senjen in Norway. Between 1889 and 1894 the company owned and worked the Murray mine at Sudbury, Ontario, during the period when the rich Canadian ores were displacing the nickel ores of Norway from the world market.
By the mid-1880s, the quality of Cornish copper ore had decreased and it proved to be more economical to smelt ores at the mines in Chile and elsewhere. This situation led to the gradual cessation of copper smelting in the Swansea area. Other metalliferous industries took its place, as did a greater emphasis on engineering products. During the First World War, Vivians supplied the British Admiralty with brass tubes and condenser plates, more than doubling their output. The manufacture of shell driving bands was another notable contribution.
Vivian & Sons traded from 1810 until 1924, becoming a limited company in 1916. During 1924-25, Vivians merged with two other Swansea firms – Williams, Foster and Company and Pascoe Grenfell and Sons (owned by Williams, Foster and Co. since 1897) – to form British Copper Manufacturers Ltd., which in 1928 was absorbed by Imperial Chemical Industries
(ICI). The interests of the ICI Metals Division in the Lower Swansea Valley passed in 1957 to Yorkshire Imperial Metals, a joint enterprise with Yorkshire Copper Works Ltd. The combined Hafod and Morfa Works site continued rolling copper until its closure in 1980.
Hafod
Hafod is a district of the city of Swansea, Wales and lies just outside the city centre in the north of the city. It falls within the Landore ward....
, in the lower Swansea valley
Lower Swansea valley
The Lower Swansea valley is the lower half of the valley of the River Tawe in south Wales. It runs from approximately the level of Clydach down to Swansea docks, where it opens into Swansea Bay and the Bristol Channel...
. The firm was founded in 1810, disappearing as a separate entity in 1924. Its chief outputs were ingot and sheet copper, with sulphuric acid and artificial manures as by-products.
About 1800, the Cornishman John Vivian, the first of the family to settle in Swansea, became managing partner in the copper works at Penclawdd
Penclawdd
Penclawdd is a village which is situated in the north of the Gower Peninsula in Swansea, Wales. Penclawdd is most famous for its local cockle industry which goes back for many years to Roman times. It falls within the Penclawdd electoral ward. It is one of the larger villages on the Gower Peninsula...
and Loughor
Loughor
Loughor is a town in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. It lies on the estuary of the River Loughor. The town has a community council called Llwchwr....
owned by the Cheadle Brasswire Company of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. By 1806 his second son, John Henry Vivian
John Henry Vivian
John Henry Vivian was a Welsh industrialist and politician of Cornish extraction.Vivian was the son of John Vivian, of Truro, Cornwall, and his wife Betsey, daughter of the Reverend Richard Cranch, and the brother of Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian...
was made manager at Penclawdd. In 1808-10, land at the Hafod was leased from the Duke of Beaufort
Duke of Beaufort
Duke of Beaufort is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, illegitimate son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset, a Lancastrian leader in the Wars of the...
and the Earl of Jersey
Earl of Jersey
Earl of the Island of Jersey, usually shortened to Earl of Jersey, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1697 for the statesman Edward Villiers, 1st Viscount Villiers, Ambassador to France from 1698 to 1699 and Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1699 to 1700...
, by the new firm of Vivian & Sons. The partners were John Vivian and his two elder sons, John Henry Vivian and Richard Hussey Vivian
Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian
Lieutenant General Richard Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Vivian GCB, GCH, PC , known as Sir Hussey Vivian from 1815 to 1828 and Sir Hussey Vivian, Bt from 1828 to 1841, was a British cavalry leader who came of a Cornish family.-Early career:Educated at Harrow and Exeter College, Oxford, Vivian entered...
. Richard was the older but was fully occupied in his military career; it was John Henry who became managing partner.
It was upon this site that the Hafod Smelting Works and Mills were established. Wood in his Rivers of Wales (1813) refers to the works “…lately built by Messrs. Vivian & Co., in the construction of which a laudable attention has been paid to the comfort and convenience of the workmen by a different arrangement of the furnaces.”
By the 1840s, the Hafod Works were the largest of their kind in the world, and their output represented one-quarter of the entire copper trade of the United Kingdom. During the last decade of John Henry's life, 1845-1855, his eldest son, Henry Hussey Vivian
Henry Vivian, 1st Baron Swansea
Henry Hussey Vivian, 1st Baron Swansea was a Welsh industrialist and politician.-Biography:Born at Singleton Abbey, Swansea, Henry was the eldest son of industrialist and MP John Henry Vivian and his wife Sarah, daughter of Arthur Jones, of Reigate. His uncle was Sir Richard Hussey Vivian, first...
, managed the Works and took full control of the business on his father’s death. In 1853, Vivian jointly acquired, with Williams, Foster & Co. of Morfa, the White Rock Copper Works at Foxhole, leased from the Earl of Jersey. In 1864, he began to obtain sulphuric acid from copper smoke and in 1870-71 he converted part of the White Rock works to treat poor silver-lead ores. White Rock ceased operations in 1928, the lease was surrendered and the works dismantled.
By the mid-1870s, the Vivian & Sons undertaking at Hafod consisted of six works: Hafod Alkali Works, Hafod Copper Mills, Hafod Copper Works, Hafod Iron Foundry, Hafod Phosphate Works, and Hafod Silver Works. The firm also owned brick works and the old Forest Spelter Works at Morriston
Morriston
Morriston is a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston ward. Morriston is sometimes referred to as a distinct town , however Morriston never had a town charter, and is now part of the continuous urban area around Swansea, the centre of which lies three...
; were colliery proprietors at Mynydd Newydd, Pentrefellen and Pentre; and had their own shipping offices at 6 Cambrian Place, Swansea.
In addition, H.H. Vivian personally owned the Hafod Isha Nickel and Cobalt Works. In 1883 he formed the associated company of H.H. Vivian & Co. Ltd. to take over that works, along with German silver and brass rolling mills at Birmingham and a nickel mine and smelting works at Senjen in Norway. Between 1889 and 1894 the company owned and worked the Murray mine at Sudbury, Ontario, during the period when the rich Canadian ores were displacing the nickel ores of Norway from the world market.
By the mid-1880s, the quality of Cornish copper ore had decreased and it proved to be more economical to smelt ores at the mines in Chile and elsewhere. This situation led to the gradual cessation of copper smelting in the Swansea area. Other metalliferous industries took its place, as did a greater emphasis on engineering products. During the First World War, Vivians supplied the British Admiralty with brass tubes and condenser plates, more than doubling their output. The manufacture of shell driving bands was another notable contribution.
Vivian & Sons traded from 1810 until 1924, becoming a limited company in 1916. During 1924-25, Vivians merged with two other Swansea firms – Williams, Foster and Company and Pascoe Grenfell and Sons (owned by Williams, Foster and Co. since 1897) – to form British Copper Manufacturers Ltd., which in 1928 was absorbed by Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
(ICI). The interests of the ICI Metals Division in the Lower Swansea Valley passed in 1957 to Yorkshire Imperial Metals, a joint enterprise with Yorkshire Copper Works Ltd. The combined Hafod and Morfa Works site continued rolling copper until its closure in 1980.
External links
- http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/300184/details/hafod+and+morfa+copperworks%3B+yorkshire+imperial+metals,+swansea/