Thomas Chaplin
Active: 1839 - 1891
Function: Statuary and mason, marble and stone masons, marble &, stone merchant
Policy: Listed as a 'Marble and Stone Mason', and as a manufacturer of 'Chimney Pieces in English and Italian Marble, Tablets, Monuments, Tombs, &c. in a great variety of all kinds of Masonary Work' [summary].
Also listed as owning an Ironmongery Warehouse, selling Builders' Ironmongery.
History or description: Founded as a 'statuary and mason' business at 27 Bath Row, Birmingham in about 1839 by Thomas Chaplin.[1] He was born in 1807 in Birmingham, and was the son of James Chaplin, stonemason. Thomas's son, James William Chaplin (born c.1835 in Birmingham) also became a stonemason and worked with his father from about 1871 (the known details are given in the record for Thomas Chaplin and Son). Thomas described his occupation as Marble, Stone Merchant in 1881 and as a retired builder and contractor in 1891. He put the business up for sale in 1890 and moved to Knowle.[2] Thomas Chaplin died there on 12 January 1893 leaving effects valued at £480 8s. 1d.
[1] See Robson's Birmingham and Sheffield directory, published by William Robson and Co., London, 1839, p. 5. Chaplin also described the firm as 'statuary and mason' in Pigot & Co's Royal National and Commercial Directory and Topography etc., 1842, published by J. Pigot & Co, London, on pp. 22 and 110 of the section for Birmingham. Both directories available at http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/index.asp (accessed 15 October 2012).
[2] Based on advertisements in the Birmingham Post of 24 May 1890 and 10 September 1890, submitted to the project by Mike Jee.
This entry includes information submitted by Anna Chaplin Opstelten, the Dutch mother of two male descendants of the Chaplin family.
Locations
Address 349 Bristol Road Edgbaston Birmingham | View on map
1861
Living at this address
Address Park Road King's Norton Birmingham | View on map
1871 (Circa)
Living at this address, house name 'Ellerslie'
Address Station Road Acock's Green Birmingham | View on map
1881
Address 3 Milverton Villas Village Street Knowle | View on map
1891
Probably living at this address when he died on 12 January 1893
Business located at 36 Bath Row and Bristol Road Birmingham | View on map
1841 (Presumed) - 1853 (Presumed)
Business located at 37 and 38 Bath Row Birmingham | View on map
1852 (Presumed) - 1853 (Presumed)
Listed as the address for Chaplin's 'Ironmongery Warehouse' [summary].
Business located at 12 Bristol Road Birmingham | View on map
1861 (Presumed) - 1866 (Presumed)
Business located at 78 Spring Street Birmingham | View on map
1866 (Presumed)
Institutional and Business Connections
Also traded as Thomas Chaplin & Son Works
1871 (Circa) - 1892 (Circa)
Thomas Chaplin worked with his son James William Chaplin (born c.1835 in Birmingham). In 1880-81, James William was declared bankrupt.
Descriptions of Business or Institution
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841
'Stone Mason'
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
'Stonemason Master employing 14 men' also his sons George Henry (born c.1831 in Birmingham) 'General Merchants App' and James W. (born c.1835 in Birmingham) 'Stone Mason'
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
'Stone Mason emp[loyin]g 10 men'
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
'Stone Mason employing 12 men & 2 boys'
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
'Marble, Stone Merchant'
Listed in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Living on his own mean [overwritten Ret[ired]] late Builder & Contractor'
Listed under Stone Masons Slater's General and Classified Directory of Birmingham, and its vicinities for 1852-3. Containing Alphabetical lists of the Merchants, Manufacturuers, Trades and Inhabitants in General. Part 3, Trades A-S Slater's Trade Directories
1852 - 1853
Listed under 'Stone Masons' as marble masons.
Listed under Stone Masons Slater's General and Classified Directory of Birmingham, and its vicinities for 1852-3. Containing Alphabetical lists of the Merchants, Manufacturuers, Trades and Inhabitants in General. Part 4, Trades T-Z Slater's Trade Directories
1852 - 1853
Listed as a 'Marble and Stone Mason'.
Listed under Stone Masons Corporation General and Trades Directory of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, 1861 Corporation Directories
1861
Listed under 'Marble and Stone Masons' and as 'Marble Chimney Piece Makers'.
Listed under Stone Masons Morris & Co. Commercial Directory and Gazetter of Warwickshire with Birmingham, 1866 Morris & Co. Directories
1866
Sources
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841
2004
HO107 piece 1147 folio 7/7 page 6
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851
2004
HO107 piece 2052 folio 349 page 18
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1861
2004
RG09 piece 2122 folio 112 page 15
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1871
2004
Class: RG10; Piece: 3078; Folio: 81; Page: 15; GSU roll: 838891
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1881
2004
RG11 piece 3083 folio 81 page 2
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
RG12 piece 2465 folio 14 page 21
Corporation General and Trades Directory of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, 1861 Corporation Directories
1861
p. 487.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Thomas Chaplin
Probate Date: 10 May 1893
Death Date: 12 Jan 1893
Death Place: Warwickshire, England
Registry: Birmingham, England
List of Birmingham area stonemasons, 1815-1973
2012
unpaginated, records entries between 1849 and 1872
Slater's General and Classified Directory of Birmingham, and its vicinities for 1852-3. Containing Alphabetical lists of the Merchants, Manufacturuers, Trades and Inhabitants in General. Part 4, Trades T-Z Slater's Trade Directories
1852
p. 76 of the 'Advertisements'.
Citing this record
'Thomas Chaplin', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/organization.php?id=msib4_1211894097, accessed 28 May 2022]
