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Job Poxon was quite an entrepreneur in Wednesbury in the late Victorian era. He was involved in a number of business enterprises and also noted for his innovations.
Job Poxon's first wife died following an accident in her pony trap, and he got married again six weeks later to the widow of a local butcher (a Mrs Perry).
He had a total of 12 children (by his first wife) and 53 grandchildren.
He had homes at Cleveleys (Blackpool), Matlock and Malvern.
He had more than 30 horses, which were always dressed in full harness, and were his pride and joy since he had bred many of them himself. He also had two favourite trotting ponies, having had an oil painting done of one of them.
Coal Pit Operations
He operated steam and jenny pits, and outcrop seams of local coal. Some of the locations of these seams: the Mounts, Old Park, Fiery Holes and Moxley. He sold coal both wholesale and retail.
Haulage and Furniture Removal
He operated a haulage business as well as a furniture removal business. His son William was operating this business in 1901. There is a listing of a Poxon furniture business located at 21 & 22 the High Street, Wednesbury in the early 1900s.
S. R. Poxon - Furniture Emporium
20 & 21, Lower High Street, Wednesbury
Mr. Poxon's business occupied a prominent position in Lower High Street and carried a comprehensive stock of household furniture and furnishings, the widest selection available in the town. The business was founded in the late 1890s and had large show windows and showrooms.
The staff included extremely experienced upholsterers, cabinet makers, and repairers who worked under Mr. Poxon's personal supervision. A good stock of floor coverings, carpets, and linos were available, all at very reasonable prices.
Mr. Poxon also stocked wringers, mail carts, pianos, and antique furniture. He purchased second-hand furniture and had an exchange scheme for any kind of furniture. |
I have yet to research this but I would guess that this business belonged to Job's brother Richard Poxon (or a cousin?) and that he would work with his brother in helping with deliveries etc. from his carting business.
Farming
He farmed over 150 acres in Wednesbury, as well as the Whisty and where the Moorlands Estate, West Bromwich is now. In the 1891 census he is listed as a farmer and living on the Walsall Road at number 29 - near the Whisty land he farmed.
After his death the business he started was carried on by his sons Richard and Job under the name Poxon Bros. The partnership was dissolved in 1939. Richard would have then been in his early 70s and Job in his late 60s.
THE LONDON GAZETTE, 22 SEPTEMBER, 1939
Page 6451
NOTICE is hereby given that the Partnership heretofore subsisting between Richard Poxon and Francis Job Poxon carrying on business as Farmers and Contractors at 44 Walsall Street, Wednesbury and Moorlands Farm, West Bromwich under the style or firm of POXON BROTHERS has been dissolved by mutual consent as from the 29th September, 1938.—Dated 14th September, 1939.
RICHARD POXON and F. J. POXON |
Cart Maker
He had a well dug in the grounds of his house at 44 Walsall Street, Wednesbury, for use by the family and also for his animals and the yard in general. He had his own Blacksmiths, Wheelwright and Carpenters shops because he made all his own carts at that address.
Sanitation Works
When Wednesbury Borough Council came into existence in 1886, it had to cope with the problem of lack of sanitation in the town. Epidemics were the blight of the industrial age that no-one could safely ignore, least of all in the growing town of Wednesbury. Cholera, typhus, typhoid, diphtheria and smallpox, were all regular scourges, and few families escaped. Even before people understood the causes of disease, certain factors were becoming clear; there was more disease and poor health in towns, especially in the poorest areas.
Many of the poorer cottages were built around courts or long alleys with no paving, as a result, with the comings and goings of everyday life, filth was trodden into the ground from the refuse near the dwellings. In 1892, scared by a possible outbreak of cholera, the Sanitary Committee decided to engage a Job Poxon as a new night soil contractor, and enforce householders, "to put out their poo". He operated the night-soil contract and other cleaning contracts in Wednesbury. He also developed his own rubbish tip, which was eventually taken over by the town council.
 Brakes
He ran 'brakes' pulled by horses to local beauty spots such as Kinver Edge, Cannock Chase and Bridgnorth. He had special umbrellas fixed on these horse drawn vehicles that were used for pleasure trips so that inclement weather would not spoil the day out. He was a trendseter for the era of vehicle coach trips that became popular in the 1930s.
No picture of his 'brakes have come to light yet, but they were probably similar to the one on the right.
He may even have developed the trade as far as the one below... who knows!
He was an inventor. He put his mind to making things he worked with more productive or safer to use.
Some of the items he had developed were as follows:-
- Special stocks to shoe his horses and to prevent accidents to his workmen
- He designed his own style of 'thripples' on his hay wagons to carry more hay
- He had specially designed furniture wagons (with his insignia of a cock painted on the sides). The tops of the wagons were hoisted off the base vehicles and held aloft in the van-shed until the next time they were needed, and this allowed the base to be used for other purposes.
- He had developed his own bone-meal crusher
- He developed curved domed tops for his rubbish carts to prevent rubbish blowing away and to help hide the smell.
- For his hayrick roofs he made counterbalanced weights, using millstones, to ensure that the hay was always covered.
- He also adapted his tricycle - making it 'all weather' by adding an umbrella.
This information on Job Poxon (1837 - 1912) was gleaned from a 'Black Country Bugle Article' Information provided by Job's great granddaughter Kathleen M. Pritchard of Wednesbury and searches of local history sites.
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