Catalogue description ASSOCIATED LEAD MANUFACTURERS LTD

Correspondence reports etc

For the history of the firm during the 19th century, see Notes on the History of the Iron and Lead Manufacturing Activities of the Walker Family (Ref. CR 245/26).

Associated Lead Manufacturers Ltd

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The records listed below were deposited in the City Record Office on 16 February 1977, by Associated Lead Manufacturers Ltd., Lead-works Lane, Chester, via C.N.Ribbeck Esq., a director of the company. Records which are less than 30 years old may not be produced for public inspection without permission from Associated Lead Manufacturers Ltd.

The leadworks at Chester were erected in 1800 by the firm of Walkers, Maltby and Company, which originated in the white lead manufactory started by Samuel Walker the elder, at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1778. Initial difficulty was experienced in obtaining permission to trade from the city authorities, because none of the firm's members were freemen of Chester. However, this problem was overcome, as at least one member was a freeman of the City of London.

By 1801, there were five or six white lead stacks, a paint mill, a shot tower, and red lead ovens, and in 1803-04, a rolling mill was erected. The firm subsequently came to be known as Walkers, Parker and Company, and played a significant role in Chester's industrial development during the 19th century. By the 1950's, the firm's name had been changed to Associated Lead Manufacturers Ltd.