| AdminHistory | Osborn Street was a widened version of a street previously named Dirty Yard. It became the base for the Amor foundry from around 1844. This area of Whitechapel was a hub of small-scale brewing from the 17th century (1). By the early 19th century, brewing was in decline, so related buildings were otherwise utilised. By 1844, a house fronting Osborn Street, together with a southerly warehouse in Whitechapel High Street, was taken over by Thomas Amor, a brass founder, whose company manufactured brass cocks for the brewing industry. Amor rebuilt, to form a turnery and forge at the back of the site, together with a double-fronted two storey shop house facing the street. By the 1880s, the company was providing fittings for machinery used by brewers; distillers; soap boilers; hospitals and parish unions (2). The business passed into the ownership of J. H. Swiney (3) until Spitalfields-based engineering firm Thomas Noakes and Sons took over in 1911 (4/5). They remained until the 1920s, when the main building became a warehouse.
At the first East London Industrial Fair in 1865, Amor showcased 'a splendid piece of brass work in the shape of a model vacuum pan for sugar refining' (6). Such gatherings represented 'the industry of the working classes in East London' and 'a powerful means of promoting the advantages of the working class' (7/8). According to local sources, the Fair was held annually until the early 20th century. Today, the site has become the subject of various proposals for redevelopment.
Sources of information:
1. '19-25, Osborn Street ': 4th October 2019 in surveyoflondon.org
2. 'Swan Yard': Ibid
3. Thomas Noakes and Sons in gracesguide.co.uk
4. A Belfast-based engineer J. H. H. Swiney is mentioned in gracesguide.co.uk
5. L 9258 Thomas Noakes and Sons - Brass cock founders; hydraulic engineers; coppersmiths; pump makers, etc. (THLHLA)
6/7/8. 'Opening of The First East London Industrial Exhibition': p.2 in The East London Observer and Tower Hamlets Chronicle, Saturday 3rd June 1865 (British Newspaper Archive) |