| Administrative History | In 1790 Benjamin Outram and Francis Beresford became partners to exploit the coal and ironstone on the Butterley Estate in the parishes of Pentrich and Codnor. In the following year William Jessop and John Wright joined the partnership. They were primarily iron masters who mined coal to supply their own furnaces. Originally called Benjamin Outram and Co, it had became known as the Butterley Company by 1807. Outram himself died in 1805, but the Wright and Jessop families continued the business. In 1888 the Company became a public company, incorporated to carry on the business of coal masters, iron masters and iron founders. It remained, however, a family concern for the most part, the majority of directors being members of the Wright family until the 1950s.
From the earliest days there was a furnace and foundry at Butterley, and very shortly a second set of ironworks was established at Codnor Park, where one of their early major collieries was situated. During the 19th century the Company became a thriving success. In 1862 there were seven furnaces at Butterley and Codnor Park which produced one-fifth of the total output of iron in Derbyshire. Later in the 19th century the production of ironstone declined locally, but the Company still remained a major force in the iron industry. It was heavily involved in the expansion of the railway industry, by the manufacture of track and wagons at its foundry and engineering works, and Butterley was famously used for the huge arched roof of St Pancras Station in London. The Company was heavily involved with the production of bridges, heavy structural steelwork, mining equipment and machinery, presses, castings and overhead cranes.
In 1968 the Company was taken over by the Wiles Group, later called Hanson Trust Ltd, and eventually Hanson plc. They sold off the engineering side of the business, including the Butterley Works, very shortly after takeover, and concentrated their efforts on the brick-making side of the business, operating all their operations under the new name of Butterley Building Materials in 1969. Several businesses were taken over by Hansons and run by Butterley Building Materials. These included the National Star Group in 1971, seven brickworks from the British Steel Corporation, (including the six that formed the Castle Brick Co) in 1972 and the London Brick Co in 1984. The name of the whole brick enterprise became Butterley Brick Co Ltd in 1985.
See D503 for a fuller administrative history. |
| Custodial History | These items were deposited in Derbyshire Record Office in December 1965. Their provenance is unknown. |