Thomas Adams 1807 – 1873
Thomas Adams 1807 – 1873 was a British philanthropist, Justice of the Peace, lace maker and a banker in his later years, who was on the Provisional Committee of Lloyds Bank of Birmingham, First Chairman of the Nottingham Joint Stock Bank, and on the Management Committee of the Birmingham Homeopathic Hospital,
As a lacemaker, it is possible that Thomas Adams may well have known Jean Barthelemy Arles Dufour and William Leaf, who were so influential in the introduction of homeopathy into Britain,
Lacemaking in Britain had become industrialised by 1860, driving many local people out of business as steam powered machinery became the vogue. Many people became very wealthy as a result, and Thomas Adams was one of six lacemakers on the Board of the Nottingham Joint Stock Bank, and Thomas Adams established close connections with Birmingham Banks,
Thomas Adams made a great deal of money, and he lived at Lenton Firs (Lenton Firs farm is still in existence), and it is now part of the University of Nottingham,
Although the British domestic trade had its seat in London, the sales offices of Adams, Birkin and others in what, thus, became known as the Lace Market attracted German, American and other buyers, becoming the centre for export…
…in 1865, the Nottingham Joint Stock Bank was opened by the lace manufacturer, Thomas Adams, and the entrepeneurial lawyer, Jesse Hind. Their best known customer was Jesse Boot 1st Baron Trent (the founder of Boots the Chemists, which began life as a herbal shop which Jesse Boot 1st Baron Trent expanded with product lines such as Boots No Name Ointment and Boots Patent Lobelia Pills), until 1905, when the Boot Empire outstripped their capacity and Jesse Boot 1st Baron Trent moved his account to the National Provincial Bank…
The magnificent lace warehouse of Thomas Adams & Co, Stoney Street, was designed by the architect, Thomas Chambers Hine.
Historically, it is probably the largest and finest example of a Victorian lace warehouse to survive in the country, and has been listed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport as Grade II* (of architectural or historical interest). The building now forms part of the City campus of New College Nottingham….
As a committed Christian and philanthropist, Thomas Adams was determined to provide humane conditions and good facilities for his workforce.
A large area of the basement (now Floor B) was designed as a chapel (with a company chaplain and vestry) where more than 500 workers and managers would take part in a service before starting work. Indoor toilets, washing facilities and tea rooms were provided for staff, and there are records of a sick fund, savings bank and book club….
The Adams Company closed the factory in 1950
Opened on 10 July, 1855, the building is named after its original owner Thomas Adams (1807 – 1873), a Victorian industrialist with strong Quaker views and a deep social conscience.
He selected the Nottingham architect Thomas Chambers Hine and between them, they created a building which, for a variety of social and architectural reasons, is quite unique….
Until recently, the Adams Building was in a serious state of decline, due to rising repair costs, outdated standards of workspace, and under-occupation. Many floors were structurally unsound, having sagged or failed under the weight of heavy machinery.
In 1996, the building was acquired by the Lace Market Heritage Trust, and after being considered for the new headquarters of English Heritage was restored and imaginatively converted to a new use as a College of Further and Higher Education for New College Nottingham. Many of the courses held here (such as fashion and textiles) continue the traditional purpose of the building for the design and manufacture of clothing.
The £16.5 million restoration of the Adams Building itself triggered a revitalisation of the Lace Market district as a whole. The project was assisted by grant aid from the Heritage Lottery Fund and European Regional Development Fund, and was a pilot scheme for the Government’s Private Finance Initiative. CPMG Architects designed the refurbishment…
The Adams Building was officially re-opened by HRH the Prince of Wales on 5 February 1999.
There was a Library, drawing room, dining room, and billiard room of note. Once more, when looking out from the front of the house, a scape of fields and woodland could be appreciated together with a view of Nottingham Castle and Lenton village…
In 1830 he married Miss Lucy Cullen, and they had a family of ten children born to them. His character was developed by industry, frugality, fixity of purpose, sincerity, truthfulness, strong domestic affections, great liberality, and above all, the fear and love of God, carrying with it a deep sense of responsibility.
Of course he had his imperfections and faults, like other people, and the last thing he would have thought of was to regard himself as perfect, for humility was one of his distinguishing features.
In 1855 his firm—for there were nine partners—built the large and handsome warehouse in Stoney Street, and, his idea being that religion should accompany and guide business, a room in the warehouse was set apart for a chapel in which prayers were every morning offered in a short service commencing at eight o’clock, and this service he always attended, so leaving his house at fifteen minutes to eight.
A Chaplain was appointed, and a letter was addressed by Mr. Adams to four hundred workpeople in which they were styled “Dear Friends,” asking their cooperation, and the time spent in the service was at the cost of the firm.
The workpeople heartily responded, and formed improvement classes, a penny bank, a medical aid society, and other means of promoting the reading of wholesome literature, piety, frugality, general culture, etc.
His directions were, “Let the chapel regulate the business, and don’t let the business extinguish the chapel. Let us give up everything which we cannot ask God to bless.”
Mr. Adams was very generous as a supporter of schools and churches. £500 was, about 1845, placed in the hands of the Bishop of Lincoln for the building or enlargement of St. John’s, Trinity, and St. Mary’s Schools, and it was then unknown that he was the donor.
In 1870 he gave £500 towards supplying every district in Nottingham with school accommodation. £400 was given for a school site in the Poplar district, and £500 to what was then called a Free Church, afterwards St Stephen’s, in a yard on Bunker’s Hill, in order to provide for the poor of the district who would not attend a more public church.
In conjunction with the Rev. J W Brooks, Vicar of St. Mary’s, Col. Holden, Mr. F B Gill, and others, six new churches were built, and to St. Luke’s he gave largely, and for twenty five years there was not a church or school built in Nottingham to which he did not contribute (except All Saints’, built by Mr. W Windley).
He inaugurated a scheme for six parochial Scripture readers, and was a large benefactor to Foreign Missions. In order to disguise his works he gave openly small subscriptions, and large ones anonymously, his idea being that he was responsible to God to contribute according as God had prospered him, so he adopted the patriarch’s rule, “Of all that Thou shalt give to me I will surely give the tenth to Thee.”
His personal public labours were also considerable, for he acted as a Justice of the Peace for both town and county; for many years he was a member of the Board of Guardians, and a member of the General Hospital weekly Committee, but withal he could never make a speech! He could work, and give, but not make a set speech.
In the spring of 1870 his health began to show signs of giving way, but he continued his labours partially until 1873, when on May 16th he died, aged sixty six, and was buried in the valley of rocks in the Church Cemetery.
Ten thousand people attended the funeral, the parishioners of Lenton erected a memorial window in the parish church, and “Adams’ Hill” is so named to his honour. His daughter. Miss Adams, continued as a useful parochial worker.
After Thomas Adams’ death, his friends commissioned two windows in Lenton Church in his memory:
Thomas Adams was one of the largest manufacturers of lace in Nottingham, his works situated in the Nottingham Lace Market. The building is still there but occupied by another manufacturer.
Apart from the usual offices and workrooms. Thomas Adams also had a chapelin his factory where employees could attend a short morning service – the Vicar of Lenton, at that time, being the Chaplain who officiated at the early morning service.
He was for many years a Churchwarden of Lenton Church, generous supporter of the Church Schools, Church and Foreign Missions.
It is said that 10,000 people attended the funeral of Thomas Adams who died May 6th 1873 and was buried in the Church Cemetery, Mansfield Road.
The subjects represented in the window are: (a) The humble Publican contrasted with the proud Pharisee (Luke XVIII). (b) The Prodigal’s return and the Father’s welcome (Luke XV) (c) The Faithful Steward (Luke XIX) (d) The Good Samaritan (Luke X)…
The Timothy Window: A small window in the south east wall was given to the Church in memory of Thomas Adams, the cost being covered with the surplus of money collected after defraying the cost of the larger window. This is called the “Timothy Window” being a portrayal of Timothy being instructed in the Scriptures by his mother, Eunice. It is inscribed “Sp’us Sa’s Pater Filius”, i.e. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “From a child hast thou known the holy scriptures”, in the book shown, it reads “All flesh is as grass, all the glory of man is as the flowers of grass”….
On the south side of the church there is a tablet to the memory of Thomas Adams J.P., “erected by his grateful children”. He was born 5th February 1807. Fell asleep May 16th 1873, also in memory of their beloved mother, Lucy Adams, born August 28th 1807, died August 28th 1874.
Sue :: Nov.16.2009 :: British History :: No Comments »