Nailers of the Forest of Dean, Robinsons in Littledean (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Saturday, June 28, 2014, 01:38 (3803 days ago) @ ChrisL

Hi Chris, no problem, happy to help.

I presume you've probably already found this reference to your ancestors ?
The British History website is always worth a look as this shows !

"Littledean was the home of ironworking and metal trades by the mid 13th century, when four itinerant forges fuelled by timber or charcoal were operating there. Henry of Dean felled a grove before 1282 to provide charcoal and among the forges at work in Littledean at that time was one belonging to a sharesmith. Nailmaking had been established by 1327, when a nailer was one of the wealthier inhabitants, and became the most important trade in Littledean. Seventeen nailers listed in 1608 included men of some wealth, notably members of the Robinson family whose descendants were in the trade until the 19th century. Among the craftsmen of the parish in 1608 were also two pinners."

"In the later 18th century many poor inhabitants continued to depend on nailmaking and mining for a livelihood. Although several nailmakers such as Philip Robinson (d. 1809), who took over his uncle's business in 1776 and acquired some coalworks, prospered, the trade was mostly in the hands of poor labourers working individually. In 1851 it gave employment to 28 parishioners but in the later 19th century it was gradually abandoned and by the First World War had virtually ceased."

From: 'Littledean', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St. Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp. 159-173. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=23258
Date accessed: 28 June 2014.

It's interesting to read that these nailmakers are considered to be "poor labourers", which fits-in with the posts further down this thread and their brushes with the law. I must confess this biased metalworker had been thinking they were skilled workers so would have held a reasonable status in life !. I should have known better, rather reminds me of London's silk weavers who had once been highly paid and respected, yet within a few years after 1861 found themselves out of work due to mass-produced French imports. I guess in earlier generations the Dean nailers were better off before they too had to compete with more competition with the factory age.

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From this site's PRs, ref the above;

The uncle ?

Record_ID: 127516
Entry_Number:
Year: 1776
Month: Feb
Day: 24
Surname: ROBINSON
Forenames: Philip
Residence:
Age_at_death:
Officiating_Minister: Benj[amin] Webb Min[iste]r
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P110 IN 1/3
Page_No: 74
Parish_Chapel: Littledean
Soundex: R152

Phillip the nailer ?;

Record_ID: 166005
Entry_Number:
Year: 1745
Month: Feb
Day: 24
Parents_Surname: ROBINSON
Child_Forenames: Phillip
Fathers_Forenames: John
Mothers_Forenames: Jane
Mothers_Surname:
Residence:
Occupation:
Officiating_Minister: Whetham Hill minister
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes: Old style date 1744/45
Register_Reference: P 110 IN 1/3
Page_Number: 18
Parish_Chapel: Littledean
Soundex: R152

Record_ID: 185086
Entry_Number:
Year: 1791
Month: Jun
Day: 24
Parents_Surname: ROBINSON
Child_Forenames: Philip
Fathers_Forenames: Philip
Mothers_Forenames: Ann
Mothers_Surname:
Residence:
Occupation:
Officiating_Minister: Wm Fryer Minister
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P110 IN 1/4
Page_Number: 4
Parish_Chapel: Littledean
Soundex: R152

Record_ID: 326972
Entry_Number:
Year: 1809
Month: Jun
Day: 18
Surname: ROBINSON
Forenames: Phillip
Residence:
Age_at_death: 64
Officiating_Minister: Hanbury Davies Curate
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P110 IN 1/4
Page_No: 11
Parish_Chapel: Littledean
Soundex: R152

(Age fits the 1745 baptism above) The PRs show several earlier Philip Robinsons in Littledean).