brass plate makers & brass finishers

[somerlea1]

Hi

does anyone out there have any idea what a brass plate maker actually did (apart from the obvious!) ? Did they make the engraved brass plates that doctors & lawyers have outside their offices, or was there more to it than that? Also, how did the work of a brass plate maker differ from that of a brass finisher?

My g-g-grandfather's occupation switched back and forth between the two jobs with successive censuses, were they just alternative terms for essentially the same job? It would be nice to know

thanks

Irene

 

[juliejtp]

Found this site A gazatter of lock and key makers, nice pictures of some brass plates. Suppose this is one aspect of the job.

http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/locks/gazetteer/gazwil-wor.htm

Julie

 

[juliejtp]

Or what about this Saltford Mill see brass rubbing.

http://www.aamoore.co.uk/brassmill/doc/Brassmill-88.htm

Julie

 

[juliejtp]

Definition of brass plat. Brass plated furniture usually has a steel frame electroplated either with a thin layer of brass or brass and nickel. The plated surfaces should be smooth free from water marks and covered by protective coating.

Julie

 

[somerlea1]

Thanks for all that Julie. Great-great-grandad worked in Southwark/Lambeth in the middle part of the 19th century - it would be nice if I could find out exactly where / who for, but I don't think that's likely. He was already in his 50s when great grandad was born, so not much has come to us by way of family stories, etc.

Saltford Mill isn't too far from us here, so maybe I can go and have a look at one of their open days. I wonder if they had similar places in Southwark? I suspect it was too built up even then, though they didn't seem to make so much fuss about Health & Safety as we do now.

Irene