George Worrall

George Worrall (my grandfather), and his brother, Thomas, began a partnership where George made the keys and Thomas the locks. (Thomas, their father, had died about the same time as their Uncle Thomas). The partnership finished when George's wife died in 1897 leaving him with seven children, including a baby of four months. George then became a Journeyman Locksmith. By 1901 he had remarried and had another child and was living at 4 John Street, Willenhall.

When Thomas died, circa 1927, he willed everything to his widow, Elizabeth, and on her death the sons inherited the factory and the daughters the residue.

My intention was to research my mother's family, the Worralls and when undertaking the research I found on the 1841 Census that John and Mary Worrall were living in King Street, Willenhall, and manufacturing locks, I felt I needed to know more about my ancestors and their relations and their involvement in the lock industry as it was then. In 1851, as I mentioned earlier, living and working for John Worrall was his grandson John who was an errand boy. Which of John Worrall's sons his father was, I haven't discovered; maybe John and Mary Worrall had a fifth son who had died.

However, John, the grandson of John Worrall junior, was of the fourth generation, and he and his sons eventually founded their own lock making business. John Worrall and his wife, Phoebe, had a large family who were: John, Elizabeth, David, George, Mary, Samuel, Arthur, Harry and William. In 1891 they were living in the Crescent, Willenhall. It was in 1895 that John Worrall founded their lockmaking business, John Worrall & Sons. They bought premises from a Charles Hartill, who had been a producer of padlocks. Sometime between 1895 and 1901 John Worrall, the father, died, leaving his sons to carry on with the business. In 1901 Phoebe, John's widow was living with the younger children at number 9 The Crescent. David was living at numbers 7 and 8 with his wife and daughter. He was described as an employer working at home. John living at number 11 with his wife and four children was described as an employee. 

In the 1904 Kelly's Directory for Staffordshire John Worrall & Sons were listed as manufacturers of Rim and Dead locks. This business became successful, but only one of John Worrall's descendants remained in the business. She was one of his daughters who married an employee, who became part of the Management. Their locks were sold around the world: they had agents in South Africa. This was the last of the lockmaking factories in Willenhall bearing the name "Worrall" and it finally closed in July 2003.

Willenhall Market Place in the early 1900s.

I should mention here that Alexander Pitt, who wasn't a descendant of the Worralls, had a niece, Gladys, who married Ernie Worrall, son of Thomas Worrall, and nephew of my Grandfather. With the invention of machinery, the larger businesses continued to grow until the 20th Century when the little backyard businesses gradually declined. However, the statistics show how, in the early years, they prospered in Willenhall. In 1770 there were 134 Lock Makers in Wolverhampton, 8 in Bilston and 148 in Willenhall. This ratio changed by 1855 when there were 110 in Wolverhampton, only 1 in Bilston and 340 in Willenhall.

The 1851 White's Directory of Staffordshire, describes Willenhall as follows:

"WILLENHALL is a populous village and township, with a railway station and a canal wharf, on the turnpike midway between Wolverhampton and Walsall; being three miles from each of those towns. .... It is an improving place, and since the year 1801, its population has increased from 3143 to upwards of 10,000 souls; as we find its inhabitants numbered 5834 in 1831, and 8695 in 1841. They are mostly employed in the manufacture of locks, keys, bolts, latches, chafing, dishes, gridirons, currycombs, &c."

It is said that "more locks, of all kinds, are made here than in any other town of the same size in England or Europe."

As an instance of the ingenuity of the locksmiths here, the following fact is related by the Rev. T. Unett:- "In 1776, James Lee, of Willenhall, aged 63, shewed me a padlock, with its key, made by himself, that was not the weight of a silver twopence. He at the same time shewed me a lock that was not the weight of a silver penny; he was making the key to it - all of iron. He said he would be bound to make a dozen locks, with their keys that should not exceed the weight of a silver sixpence."

Special thanks to my husband Alec Jennings for his patience and help with my family research, and Bill Pace for the information provided about lock makers.