Williams Fasteners, Green Lane formerly Williams Brothers

[Ponytail]

Williams Fasteners formerly Williams Brothers, Star Special, Made in Sheffield, Tuesday 27th October 1998.

Whites Directory 1879.

Williams Brothers, brass founders, merchants and manufacturers of bolts, nuts, screws, nails, steel files, wagon springs, saws and brass casters and agents for John Knowles & Co., crucible &etc clay mnfs. (Burton on Trent) 35 Green Lane. 

 

Advertisement from City of Sheffield Commercial Handbook and Illustrated Guide. 1939

y09977  original Local Studies Ref. 914.274 S

 

Former Ebenezer Wesleyan Mission Church South Parade, from Ebenezer Street, occupied by Williams Brother of Sheffield Ltd. 1986.

t01072 

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s40651&pos=20&action=zoom&id=119900

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s40648&pos=19&action=zoom&id=119897

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;s40647&pos=18&action=zoom&id=119895

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;a03275&pos=8&action=zoom&id=138021

https://www.picturesheffield.com/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;t10498&pos=7&action=zoom&id=132806

 

https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Williams_Brothers

 

History of Williams Fasteners formerly Williams Brothers. 

https://rocketreach.co/williams-fasteners-profile_b573da6ff98e1382

 

[Ponytail]

Link to:

Painted Advertisements. 

https://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/topic/4822-painted-advertisements/?do=findComment&comment=121115

 

[Edmund]

George was born at Northwich in 1852 and after serving his apprenticeship with J & E Ison of Ashby-de-la-Zouch then came to Sheffield in 1875 to take charge of Walker & Hall's showrooms, later going into business on his own account. His brother Edward Bagaley Williams was his business partner. For many years he was a director of the Sheffield Athanaeum, and chairman of a branch of the Ecclesall Conservative Association. He was a member of the Broomgrove Bowling Association and president in 1904.

George died of heart problems on Sunday 15th January 1905 aged 52 at Westholme on Clarkehouse Road, leaving a widow Helen, four sons and two daughters. He was a recently retired churchwarden at St Marks, and was taken ill there on the previous Sunday evening. He was buried at Fulwood after a service at St Augustines.  In July 1916 his son Douglas, a recently married solicitor, was with the KOYLI in France and was wounded by two bullets in the thigh, of which he died..

[tozzin]

Williams Brothers Green Lane 
 

The Hinges sign still clinging on to what was Williams Brothers Factory wall, can be seen on Dunfields , the factory entrance was situated on Green Lane, along with the Hinges sign you can see, Rivets, Sockets - Screws. Williams Fasteners was formed back in 1875 when George Williams moved to Sheffield at the age of 23. George’s background had been largely in boot manufacturing, but he set up in business with his brother Edward in Norfolk Street as brass founders and general merchants. They dealt in steel files, spring bolts and nuts, nails, screws and aluminium, as well as being agents for firebricks and pot clays. In 1877 Williams Brothers moved to premises in Green Lane, Kelham Island, a site conveniently situated in the heart of Sheffield’s industrial area, acquiring the stock, plants and debts of an already established firm. The building was reported to have been haunted – but that is another story! 
In those early years, when deliveries were made by horse and cart, local people were used to seeing Williams Brothers flat carts around the streets. The horses were reputed to know the delivery run so well that if the driver fell asleep with the reins in his hands, the horse would get him back through the archway and in to Williams Brothers cobbled yard. Through the years, many of the firm’s employees have also been whole families, with husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters and cousins, working together, which is still the same today. George Williams died in 1905 but his family continued to run the business until 2005. In 1919 the firm took another step forward and became a limited company, Williams Brothers (Sheffield) Ltd. The 1960's saw the final years of the brass foundry and the opening of new offices in Green Lane. 
Williams Fasteners, as they are known today, pride themselves on servicing Blue Chip companies on a national basis in the steel, mining and utility industries. With a customer base of over 3000, ranging as far a-field as Cornwall and Scotland in the UK, as well as worldwide in China, Venezuela and the Caribbean. Down the years Williams Brothers have been ready to respond to the changing needs of the market place, establishing a track record for providing a first class service to their customers. We put their success down to a combination of our friendly and knowledgeable workforce, stock and the ability to tailor-make non-stock items to a clients order. In 1993 Williams Fasteners transferred their Head Office and delivery depot from Green Lane to the their then headquarters in Shepcote Lane, Tinsley. With a 30,000 sq. ft. warehouse and 6,000 sq. ft. offices, it allows them to store and monitor £1.5 million of stock. The company remained as a family run business until July 2005 when the final family member, Andrea Shelley, great granddaughter of George Williams, completed the sale of the company to Tony Searles and Susan Battersby, two of the company directors. 
The derelict old factory is now just a ghost of what it was, a hive of noise, activity, laughter, sadness & tears, its workers have gone and it hangs on hoping someone will incorporate it in a new building complex. The site was sold to a company who planned to build flats but the property bubble burst so did the plans to build flats and what’s left is what you can see today, the history of Williams Brothers is a timeline of achievement. The firm of Williams Brothers was formed according to their name board in 1870. From 1876 they appear in the White’s trade directory as: 
Williams Bros. Merchants and Manufacturers of steel, files, spring bolts and nuts and agents to John Knowles firebrick manufacturers near Burton on Trent 193 Norfolk Street and Charles Lane Works. 
The entries in the trade directories tell of their expansion and increasing factoring of other peoples goods. By 1879 Williams Bros. Merchants and Manufacturers (brass founders, Merchants and Manufacturers of bolts, nuts, screws, nails, steel files, wagon springs, saws and brass casters and agents for John Knowles & Co crucible and clays manufacturers (Burton on Trent). I could fill a full newspaper on the expertise and achievements of Williams Brothers, their slogan shows their will to satisfy every customers needs, “If we don’t stock it, we’ll find it. If we can’t find it, we’ll make it.” 
This area of Sheffield was badly hit by the Sheffield flood in 1864, a total of 31 claims were made by people living or working or with a vested interest in the area. Strangely enough no claims were made for machinery relating to the industrial buildings suggesting little damage was done or was soon remedied. Waterfall Brothers, file manufacturers, at 36 Dunfields for example claimed only for one of their employees for 7 days of wages. George Mellor, a shoemaker at 51 Acorn Street made a claim for loss of leather and business. Mary Hannah Greaves (for Property in Ebenezer St. and Dunfields) and Joseph Stovin (for 23 houses in Green Lane and Dunfields) also made claims for repairs to their property indicating that they were whitewashed, papered and had cellars. 
Did any of you go to see the Queen give out Maundy Money this week? I personally don’t rave about the Royal family but my wife Mary who come from Ireland absolutely loves them as my two royalist friends Mr D & Mr S do, they went to see her in their Union Jack Suits. I can remember when she visited Sheffield in 1954 and thousands of children from Sheffield schools were taken to the Sheffield Wednesday ground to pay homage to her but even then I didn’t like the royals so I wagged school that day and spent the day out and about with my dog Prince (I didn’t give him that name!) all the schoolboys who attended the gathering at Hillsborough received a penknife with the occasion printed on the scales, it didn’t bother me, what you don’t have you don’t miss. I don’t know what the girls received. 
I must thank Tony Searles Williams Fasteners company Director for his assistance in writing this “W.T.E.T.” Thank you Tony. 

[RLongden]

This post is only a couple of hours old, but Williams Fasteners are not on Shepcote Lane and haven’t been for years?!

when they went ‘pop’ (I’ll leave you to read about the goings-on there!), the name (as a trading style only) was bought up by Northern Power Tools, then sold on to Tachart Ltd. and now they are just a sign on a fence in Swinton, Rotherham.

Green Lane were the halcyon days of Williams Brothers and were totally respected in the business (I’ve worked 36 years for the competition 😁). Just wanted to clarify some facts, even a little less romantic…

[tozzin]

11 minutes ago, RLongden said:

This post is only a couple of hours old, but Williams Fasteners are not on Shepcote Lane and haven’t been for years?!

when they went ‘pop’ (I’ll leave you to read about the goings-on there!), the name (as a trading style only) was bought up by Northern Power Tools, then sold on to Tachart Ltd. and now they are just a sign on a fence in Swinton, Rotherham.

Green Lane were the halcyon days of Williams Brothers and were totally respected in the business (I’ve worked 36 years for the competition 😁). Just wanted to clarify some facts, even a little less romantic…

I did relay that in my article but because I went over my words that were allowed so some irk decided to edit it for space for adverts. I've.amended the reference to Shepcote Lane, thanks for the input, it should be correct otherwise things like this mistake will be passed down as a  true statement.

[RLongden]

No problem and hope you didn’t view my comments as contentious? Apologies if it came across that way. Afraid I am a nut-and-bolt anorak, so take an interest in all the firms in and around Sheffield over the decades. Some we owned, some we competed against and even some we bought from, as they were experts in their field. Some manufacturers still here, most sadly not, as not much of a local market for the products now in these parts and most fasteners seem to be made just east of Sheffield these days….. about 6000 miles east! 😢

[tozzin]

27 minutes ago, RLongden said:

No problem and hope you didn’t view my comments as contentious? Apologies if it came across that way. Afraid I am a nut-and-bolt anorak, so take an interest in all the firms in and around Sheffield over the decades. Some we owned, some we competed against and even some we bought from, as they were experts in their field. Some manufacturers still here, most sadly not, as not much of a local market for the products now in these parts and most fasteners seem to be made just east of Sheffield these days….. about 6000 miles east! 😢

No, no I'm ok with it really, you were quite right in pointing it out. 

[RLongden]

1970 Kelly’s advertisement and rep’s business card of same era, possibly late 70’s, or early 80’s?

[MartinR]

I think the rep's card must be slightly earlier.  It gives the address as "Sheffield 3" whereas the 1970 Kelley's has "Sheffield S3 8SF".  I know that postcodes didn't come in until a couple of years after 1966, because I had to change the address on the envelope when writing home.

[RLongden]

21 minutes ago, MartinR said:

I think the rep's card must be slightly earlier.  It gives the address as "Sheffield 3" whereas the 1970 Kelley's has "Sheffield S3 8SF".  I know that postcodes didn't come in until a couple of years after 1966, because I had to change the address on the envelope when writing home.

Good spot and I never made that connection. The card was out of a huge binder full of them, which I found when clearing out my cupboard at work. Reason I guessed the date was a label from our company in the binder, with the Edmund Road address, which must have been mid-70’s, but you’re right about the postcode.

[MartinR]

I went away to boarding school in 1966 and Sunday morning's routine was letter-writing followed by chapel, or the other way around depending upon the visiting preacher.  Letters were collected up and it was checked that every boy had written one home, hence my certainty about the postcode introduction.