W Dowler & Sons
Encyclopedia
W Dowler & Sons founded 1744 in Birmingham
were a large scale manufacturer of numerous goods, notably buttons, Vesta matches, hand bells, letter balances, swords
, corkscrew
s and whistle
s.
It was in the 1870s after long legal fights over inheritance between the brothers George and William Dowler that the company was named after William Dowler (1876) .
At 1870 a large fire that started at the vesta match making department destroyed their factory and it took over half a year to reopen.
The tragedy was well covered by the newspapers at the time as Dowler was one of the 20 Birmingham companies employing over 500 workers at that time.
It was probably no coincidence that during this year T Yates another Birmingham brass Foundry and whistle maker came out with the first known printed whistle catalog.
Addresses: 91 Great Charles Street and later Graham Street Works (since 1901)
The button factory exists to this day as W Dowler & Sons Ltd.
, J Dixon & sons& J Stevens & Son
, later to be joined by J Hudson & Co..
General service whistles (GSWs) and Porteous top GSWs.
Button whistles - escargot-type whistle with metal buttons or coins at the sides of the barrel.
Though Dowler is mostly known for the above models there are some rare ones are attributed to him.
The Hiat Registered Design of 1894 a combination of an escargot whistle with button sides and a beaufort with mouthpiece, sometimes referred to as Crest top Beaufort.
They subcontracted whistles from A De Courcy & J Hudson & Co. from about 1904.
From 1884 onward GSWs became the main standard with most police forces after J. Hudson & Co. won the contract for supplying the Metropolitan Police
with whistles in 1883.
And with rare exceptions 19th century stamps bearing a specific Police Force name are either made by Hudson or Dowler (Dowler being much scarcer).
Police Forces stamps either on Beaufort or GSWs whistles made by Dowler:
Salford Police, Maidstone Police, Bradford Police,
Leeds Police, Edinburgh Police, Wakefield City Police,
Brighton Police, Hove Police, Leicester Police,
Wallacey police, Liverpool City Police, Bristol Police,
Lancashire County Constabulary, W R C Police (West Riding Constabulary), Derby Borough Police The Knoxcall Police Call, and others Like "Manchester Police" some times numbered or with additional stamp:
" A Inspector " & Number Or " Superintendent " & letter .
Other Stamps on GSWs:
"Manchester Highway Department " Numbered .
" International" and "International police whistle " A Brand name for Dowler cheaper GSW model.
The First Dated Army whistle 1894 Year stamp appears on a Dowler GSW.
W.Dowler & Sons Graham St. Works.
G.P.O (General Post Office).
Stamps with Distributors name: Chas Prater & Co.(London), Smith & Wright, Reynolds & Co.(London).
Very rare whistles of 1894 Reg. Design are stamped on the body: "'Hiat' constabulary Reg. design No.225730 "
with buttons of Devon Constabulary, Cambridgeshire Borough Police and Durham City Police.
"Dowler & Sons, Birm. (on the inside part of button whistles).
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
were a large scale manufacturer of numerous goods, notably buttons, Vesta matches, hand bells, letter balances, swords
Swords
A sword is a cutting/thrusting weapon made of metal. Sword or swords may also refer to:* Swords, County Dublin, Ireland* Suit of swords, a suit in Latin-suited playing cards and Tarot decks* SWORDS, a ground-based military robot...
, corkscrew
Corkscrew
A corkscrew is a kitchen tool for drawing stopping corks from wine bottles. Generally, a corkscrew consists of a pointed metallic helix attached to a handle. The user grips the handle and screws the metal point into the cork, until the helix is firmly embedded, then a vertical pull on the...
s and whistle
Whistle
A whistle or call is a simple aerophone, an instrument which produces sound from a stream of forced air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means...
s.
History
Since the late 18th century the Dowler family were in the brass founding business and making whistles at least since the early 1860s.It was in the 1870s after long legal fights over inheritance between the brothers George and William Dowler that the company was named after William Dowler (1876) .
At 1870 a large fire that started at the vesta match making department destroyed their factory and it took over half a year to reopen.
The tragedy was well covered by the newspapers at the time as Dowler was one of the 20 Birmingham companies employing over 500 workers at that time.
It was probably no coincidence that during this year T Yates another Birmingham brass Foundry and whistle maker came out with the first known printed whistle catalog.
Addresses: 91 Great Charles Street and later Graham Street Works (since 1901)
The button factory exists to this day as W Dowler & Sons Ltd.
Whistles
Dowler was one of the four large British whistle makers in the nineteenth century along with T YatesT Yates
T Yates was a Birmingham manufacturer of metal goods, for home, being manufactured use since early 19th century .He made whistles during the victorian era and was the leading whistle manufacturer in Britain for many years ....
, J Dixon & sons& J Stevens & Son
J Stevens & Son
J. Stevens & Son Was A British Company located since 1820s in London & Glasgow, Brass Founders Manufacturing Military & Railway supplies & engineers.In 1871 The company name changed to J...
, later to be joined by J Hudson & Co..
Models & Whistle Types
Beauforts & Cased Beauforts.General service whistles (GSWs) and Porteous top GSWs.
Button whistles - escargot-type whistle with metal buttons or coins at the sides of the barrel.
Though Dowler is mostly known for the above models there are some rare ones are attributed to him.
The Hiat Registered Design of 1894 a combination of an escargot whistle with button sides and a beaufort with mouthpiece, sometimes referred to as Crest top Beaufort.
They subcontracted whistles from A De Courcy & J Hudson & Co. from about 1904.
Body Stamps
Dowler was the Largest supplier of Beaufort whistles to particular police forces during the 1870s.From 1884 onward GSWs became the main standard with most police forces after J. Hudson & Co. won the contract for supplying the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
with whistles in 1883.
And with rare exceptions 19th century stamps bearing a specific Police Force name are either made by Hudson or Dowler (Dowler being much scarcer).
Police Forces stamps either on Beaufort or GSWs whistles made by Dowler:
Salford Police, Maidstone Police, Bradford Police,
Leeds Police, Edinburgh Police, Wakefield City Police,
Brighton Police, Hove Police, Leicester Police,
Wallacey police, Liverpool City Police, Bristol Police,
Lancashire County Constabulary, W R C Police (West Riding Constabulary), Derby Borough Police The Knoxcall Police Call, and others Like "Manchester Police" some times numbered or with additional stamp:
" A Inspector " & Number Or " Superintendent " & letter .
Other Stamps on GSWs:
"Manchester Highway Department " Numbered .
" International" and "International police whistle " A Brand name for Dowler cheaper GSW model.
The First Dated Army whistle 1894 Year stamp appears on a Dowler GSW.
W.Dowler & Sons Graham St. Works.
G.P.O (General Post Office).
Stamps with Distributors name: Chas Prater & Co.(London), Smith & Wright, Reynolds & Co.(London).
Very rare whistles of 1894 Reg. Design are stamped on the body: "'Hiat' constabulary Reg. design No.225730 "
with buttons of Devon Constabulary, Cambridgeshire Borough Police and Durham City Police.
"Dowler & Sons, Birm. (on the inside part of button whistles).