Page 146 - Redditch People

Redditch People

Life and Times of Edwin Smallwood

Edwin Smallwood was the eldest of seven children born to William and Elizabeth
Smallwood. He was born in 1808. His father had come to Redditch from Smethwick to
undertake his apprenticeship as a needle-maker with William Bartleet and Sons. He
subsequently set up a very successful business and went into partnership with John
Wright of Birmingham. Wright could gild the head of a needle so as to make it appear as
gold instead of having the dull hue that was typical of Redditch needles at that time. The
business became very successful with their gold headed needles selling at £1.00 per 1000
needles.

So successful was the business that it attracted royal patronage. Princess Charlotte - only
daughter of George, Prince of Wales (later to become George IV) and Caroline of
Brunswick - bought her needles from Smallwood and Wright.

Edwin as a boy enjoyed the benefits of the family business being educated privately in
Birmingham at a school near Bennett's Hill. As a young man he often travelled into
Birmingham to attend the 'old theatre'.In 1829, his father died and Edwin, as the eldest
child, inherited the family business. Edwin was 21 at this time (see picture). The
partnership with John Wright continued and for the next 40 years or so the business did
well. However, Edwin did not have his father's business acumen and gradually orders fell
away, although occasional orders for Smallwood's needles still came in as late as 1882.

Edwin was a Liberal in his politics. He believed that ordinary working people should be
able to vote and have a say in how their lives were ruled. One report says that around
1830 he led a march on horseback through Headless Cross as part of the Great Reform
movement to get more representation in Parliament. Later, during the 1830s he
supported the Chartist Movement.

Edwin lived his whole life in Redditch. For most of his adult life he lived at No. 12 Church
Green East. He lived here with his brother, Charles, who the censuses described as a
'needle manufacturer' or 'warehouse man'. Edwin became rather eccentric in old age, his
behaviour and dress being more like that of a successful businessman of the 1830's rather
than that of the 1870's and 1880's. After Charles died in 1885, Edwin moved to Church
Green West.

Edwin Smallwood as a young man

William Smallwo0d

Page: 146 © RLHS 2015