John Joseph Bramah (1798–1846), nephew of inventor and locksmith

Joseph Bramah Joseph Bramah (13 April 1748 – 9 December 1814), born Stainborough Lane Farm, Stainborough, in Barnsley, Yorkshire, was an English inventor and locksmith. He is best known for having improved the flush toilet and inventing the hydraulic p ...

, was an English ironmaster and engineer.

Career

On 1 July 1832, the partnership between J.J. Bramah and his cousins Francis Bramah and Edward Bramah, described as "Engineers, Millwrights, Ironfounders, Smiths, and Plumbers", was dissolved as J.J. Bramah left to run his own business. Bramah, together with

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the ...

and

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...

, created a substantial railway equipment business at

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Victor ...

, London, starting from his uncle Joseph Bramah's business.Grace's Guide: John Joseph Bramah
Retrieved 28 March 2012. The 1815 ''Beauties of England and Wales'' described it as "the chief ornament of this neighbourhood", being the "amazingly extensive and interesting manufactory of Mr. Bramah, the engineer, locksmith, and engine-maker", and praising it in terms: "These works have been deemed worthy the inspection of royalty, and have excited the admiration of the most powerful emperor of Christendom, Alexander of Russia." In 1836, Bramah was insured as an "iron founder", of 4 Eccleston Place, Pimlico. In 1839, with Charles Fox (1810–1874), the company became Bramah, Fox and Co at

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider b ...

, near Birmingham. It was known as the London Works. In 1840, Messrs. John Joseph Bramah and others, "engineers", had "the contract for supplying the iron work of the Black wall Railway". 1844 Bramah, Ironmaster of

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

, was a member of the committee of management of the

Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was a railway company in England. It built a line from Wolvercot JunctionThe nearby settlement is spelt ''Wolvercote'' and a later station on the LNWR Bicester line follows that spelling. ...

. 1844 Bramah purchased share in the Broomfield ironworks, at which point the name of the partnership became Bramah, Barrows, and Hall. 1845 Bramah of Ashwood House purchased Horseley Ironworks and intended to put them into full operation, according to the ''Wolverhampton Chronicle''. 1846 13 September: Death of Bramah, an extensive ironmaster and celebrated engineer, at Ashwood House, Kingswinford in his 48th year. Messrs Barrows and Hall purchased his share in the partnership Bramah, Barrows, and Hall from his estate.

Family

Bramah was the nephew of

of Ashdown House, Kingswinford. He was married to Martha Barracliff (1801–1870). They lived in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

. When Bramah's sister Esther Frances Bramah died, the couple acted as wards for the orphaned children Thomas Bramah Diplock and Samuel Robey Diplock. Thomas Bramah Diplock is chiefly famous for having been the coroner for some of the "

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

" murders.

Bibliography

British History Online: Chapter IV: Pimlico

References

External links

1798 births 1846 deaths English ironmasters English engineers 19th-century English businesspeople {{Improve categories, date=July 2021