Papers relating to Josiah Mason

Artificial collection of material largely collected by John Findlay, including papers formerly in the possession of Mason's nephew Martyn Smith, with additional papers acquired from other, often unknown, sources. Papers consist of correspondence relating to Mason's career and business interests, legal records including property deeds, deeds of foundation of Sir Josiah Mason's Orphanage and Almshouses and papers relating to the terms of Josiah Mason's will, copies of records relating to Mason's family history, and ephemera relating to Mason's life and the arrangements for his funeral. There is also a file containing correspondence, ephemera and photographs relating to the orphanage which largely dates from the 1920s and 1930s but includes press cuttings relating to the demolition of the orphanage building in 1964.

The papers gathered by John Findlay in the early 1990s largely relate to Mason's family history and it seems that he used these and the correspondence and legal papers formerly belonging to Martyn Smith to carry out research on Mason's life, career, and philanthropic activities in Birmingham. As John Findlay was chairman of the Old Masonians Association, for ex-pupils of Sir Josiah Mason's Orphanage at Erdington at the time he was gathering these materials, it is likely that he was carrying out research as part of this role in order to provide information to members of the association.

Josiah Mason was born on 23 February 1795 in Mill Street, Kidderminster. He was the second son of Josiah Mason, a carpet weaver who was later clerk to a carpet manufacturer, and his wife Elizabeth Griffiths. Mason had no formal education but learned to read and write with help from local nonconformist Sunday Schools. He had a number of jobs in local trades in Kidderminster, and moved to Birmingham in his early twenties to work for his uncle, Richard Griffiths, in the gilt-toy business. Mason married Richard Griffiths' daughter, Anne, on 18 August 1817. They had no children. Mason subsequently became manager of Samuel Harrison's business producing split rings in 1824, and a year later he purchased the business for £500. He developed the business by devising a way to split steel pen nibs mechanically, and won an exclusive contract to supply his products to Perry & Co. He invested the money he made in an electroplating business run by George and Henry Elkington, and set up new works and showrooms in Newhall Street, and also had showrooms in Liverpool and London. Mason and Elkington also worked with Alexander Parkes in copper smelting and nickel production in the 1870s, and Mason established a nickel works of his own in Birches Green near Erdington.

Mason spent much of his wealth on charitable causes during his own lifetime, including almshouses and an orphanage for girls in Erdington which he established in 1858, and which was later expanded to admit boys as well. In recognition of his philanthropy he was given a knighthood in 1872. Mason founded a science college in 1870 which was intended to provide scientific instruction primarily for the benefit of citizens of Birmingham, and of his home town, Kidderminster. Mason Science College opened in 1880 and expanded to teach a broader curriculum of subjects during its lifetime, including English, Greek and Latin, modern European languages, medicine, and training for elementary school teachers. It was absorbed into the newly founded and incorporated University of Birmingham in 1900. The orphanage remained open until 1964. Mason died at Norwood House in Erdington on 16 June 1881. His wife had died in 1870.

Sources: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Eric Ives, Diane Drummond & Leonard Schwartz 'The First Civic University: Birmingham 1880-1980, an Introductory History', Birmingham 2000

The collection has been arranged into the following sections:

1: Papers gathered by Martyn Josiah Smith

2: Papers gathered by John Findlay

3: Papers relating to Sir Josiah Mason's orphanage

4: Papers relating to Sir Josiah Mason's funeral

5: Articles about Josiah Mason

6: Portraits of Josiah Mason and his family

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Please see https://calmview.bham.ac.uk/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=XUB%2fZ%2fJM&pos=1 for more information

Catalogued by Helen Fisher, July 2012. Prepared in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; and National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections. Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Much of this material appears to have been gathered together by John Findlay and deposited at Special Collections in the 1990s. The provenance of the other material in this artificial collection is uncertain, but it formed part of Special Collections' manuscript holdings relating to the University of Birmingham by the 1960s.

UB/MC: Records of Mason Science College