Thomas WILLIAMSON

Bef 1728 -

• Name	Thomas WILLIAMSON
  Birth	Bef 1728  [1]
  Gender	Male
  Event	3 Mar 1746/47	Chelwood, Somerset
  	REMOVAL ORDER: Thomas Williamson, Mary, his wife, and Richard and Joseph, their children, to be removed from Chelwood to Amblecote in the parish of Old Swinford, Staffordshire [Somerset CRO ref. Q/SR/315/57]
  	By the early 17th century the local combination of fine clay, coal and abundant sand had been put together to produce glass. The banning of charcoal for glass manufacture and the arrival of highly skilled protestant French refugee glassmakers from Lorrain boosted this industry. By the 1620's there was an established glasshouse at Holloway End. Within a few years additional glass manufactories had sprung up all over Amblecote. The glass industry dominated of course, with all manner of items produced in dozens of works. Amblecote is nowadays rightly celebrated for its decorative cut glass products, but the late 1700's saw the manufacture of bottles, sheet glass and much more. Apothecary's phials were an important product, whilst James Kier (1738-1820) a chemist, managed a glass house at Holloway End that made glass tubes essential for thermometers - a small but vital tool in enabling industrial progress. Kier went on to become a manager at Bolton & Watt's famous Soho factory in Handsworth (itself a corner of Staffordshire projecting into Warwickshire) and a leading member of the Lunar Society. Meanwhile the tradition of glass tube manufacture for scientific use at Holloway End continued well into the 20th century. Interestingly the area's lead crystal tableware became internationally famous under the name of 'Stourbridge' glass, whereas in fact most of the factories producing it were in Amblecote or Wordsley. The fact that neither glass masters nor workers appear to have objected to this probably reflects the non-partisan outlook individuals living across hazy borders tend to adopt; as well as indicating the acknowledged predominance of Stourbridge as the regional centre, despite it being in a different county. [www.amblecote.org] Thomas's great-grandson, William WILLIAMSON was back in Amblecote in 1861 as a crown glass maker.
  Residence	30 May 1754	Stanton Wick, Somerset
  Residence	20 Apr 1756	Stanton Wick, Somerset
  Residence	3 Jun 1757	Stanton Drew, Somerset
  Residence	Aug 1758	Stanton Wick, Somerset
  Residence	26 Nov 1760	Stanton Wick, Somerset
  Residence	18 Apr 1765	Stanton Wick, Somerset
  Death	Thomas WILLIAMSON, buried Stanton Drew, 31 Mar 1773 - probably this one.
  Person ID	I2354	Gadd
  Last Modified	19 Jul 2010

  
  

  Father	WILLIAMSON, Glassmakers
  Family ID	F796	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary HODGES
  Marriage	11 Sep 1744	St. Mary, Stanton Drew, Somerset
  Children	+ 1. Richard WILLIAMSON,   b. Bef 13 Mar 1746/47   2. Joseph WILLIAMSON,   b. Bef 13 Mar 1746/47   3. William WILLIAMSON,   b. Abt 1750   d. 1754, Stanton Drew, Somerset (Age 4 years)   4. Thomas WILLIAMSON,   c. 30 May 1754, Chelwood Independent, Somerset d. 1754, Stanton Drew, Somerset   5. Hannah WILLIAMSON,   c. 20 Apr 1756, Chelwood Independent, Somerset   6. Sarah WILLIAMSON,   c. 20 Apr 1756, Chelwood Independent, Somerset   7. Thomas WILLIAMSON,   c. Aug 1758, Chelwood Independent, Somerset bur. 12 Feb 1760, St. Mary, Stanton Drew, Somerset (Age ~ 1 years)   8. Nancy WILLIAMSON,   c. 22 Jan 1763, Chelwood Independent, Somerset   9. William WILLIAMSON,   b. 1757, Stanton Drew, Somerset bur. 07 Feb 1835, Nailsea, Somerset (Age ~ 78 years)   10. Ann WILLIAMSON,   c. 18 Apr 1765, Chelwood Independent, Somerset   11. Thomas WILLIAMSON,   c. 03 Mar 1768, Chelwood Independent, Somerset
  Family ID	F799	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	15 Jul 2010

  
  

• Sources

  [S28] Marriage date.