Brickyard Strikes 1886-1896

Chronology of the Bridgwater Brickyard Strikes 1886 – 1896, as described in contemporary newspaper reports.

This article was composed to give greater context to the lives of brickyard workers who lived through it, and especially to compliment biographies of those buried in the Wembdon Road Cemetery, including Stephen Lee Duddridge 1845-1919.

The Bridgwater brickyard owners all knew each other, so they were able to form unofficial coalitions to regulate wages and working conditions.
Occasionally the owners would decide that they needed to reduce the already meagre wages even further, and the desperate workers would attempt to strike. The men called this action a ‘lock out’ as the owners shut their premises while the men would not agree to their conditions, but the owners called this a ‘strike’. In 1886, the strike lasted 8 or 9 weeks and the workers achieved little.

1886 Strike

Bridgwater Mercury 24 Feb 1886
• In early 1886, brickyard labourer’s wages were reduced from two shillings and sixpence (2/6d) a day, to two shillings and threepence (2/3d). To inflame relations even further, the notice of this reduction was posted at the end of day, as the men were leaving, the reduction was to take effect the very next day.
• A strike committee had been formed to help the strikers financially. Workers from other yards and other donors in Bridgwater contributed to a fund, which paid the strikers a sum worth about three days’ pay.

Bridgwater Mercury 12 May 1886
• This strike involved yards owned by three owners– Browne and Co., Symons and Co. and Messrs Major. A part of the problem was that the owners, Major in particular, had drastically reduced the price of a certain type of perforated brick, in an attempt to undercut a new competitor. Major in particular complained that strikers had entered his yard and intimidated the men who were still working, and he took out summonses against several individuals.
• A group of Bridgwater businessmen, led by the Reverend Scoles, negotiated with the brickyard owners, and proposed an agreement which included a return to former rates of pay for the other types of brick and tile. At least, this was what the workers had understood, but it seems it was complicated, and afterwards the men’s pay packets were not what they expected. This became a festering disagreement and sense of injustice which set the scene for a string of further strikes over the next few years.
• At the height of the strike, it was estimated that between 600 and 700 men were involved.

Bristol Mercury 13 May 1886
• The brickyard workers returned to work,’ the masters having made certain concessions, as a result of which very nearly the same amount of wages will be payable as here to for’.

1889 Strike

By 1889 the pay rates still were not returned to their former levels as had been promised, and this, added to the problem of short time working, led to another strike. In early March (or possibly late February) the brickyard workers presented the yard owners with a demand for a return to the 2/6d rate which had been paid up to early 1886, and a demand for an increase of 10% on piece work. These demands were met with outrage by the owners, who claimed that the current trading situation would not support paying this increase.

The opinion of a Bridgwater merchant and supporter of the owners – Mr Bounsell
Mr J. A. Bounsall (Castle Street) in a letter to the Bridgwater Mercury 13 March 1889, said that the labourers could work very long days to earn extra money so they could earn a lot more than 2/3d a day, and the workers should understand the difficult trading situation. Bounsall was not a brickyard owner but a merchant and ship owner, renting a house in Castle Street, and clearly on the side of the brickyard owners . This letter provoked a flood of angry replies from brickyard workers.

The opinion of the striking workers
Several workers sent letters to the Bridgwater Mercury 20 March 1889 explaining that the opportunity to work long days only applied to 4 summer months when there is a lot of daylight, and did not allow for some having to walk a long distance to get to work. Also Mr Bounsall took no account of the fact that many of the labourers did not always get a full week’s work, sometimes only getting 4 days’ work in a week.

Bridgwater Mercury 20 March 1889
Report of an important meeting of brickyard workmen.
The following situation was described at that time:-

• 500 – 600 brickyard workers were idle.
• Strike of 3 weeks exhausts the funds of the club or friendly society. The Duke of Monmouth was the headquarters of the club.
• Not only was the pay still only 2/3d a day, but many men only get four or five days’ work week, giving a weekly pay of 9s or 11s 3d.
• The labourers had to push a wheelbarrow for the equivalent distance of 11 miles a day, and provide their own spade, all on 9s a week. Even farm labourers now earnt more money.
• Expenses of a man who earned 9s a week, or even 11s, with 7 or 8 children: – If 1 and halfpence was apportioned to each child per meal, such wages would only provide them with bread. 9s a week was scarcely enough to provide a family with rent and bread. The men generally paid into a club to help with expenses but with such low wages, the contributions could not always be afforded. If they applied to the Board of Guardians, they were asked questions such as ‘why are you not in a club?’
• The oldest man in the room stepped forward with a calculation. A third of brick workers had on average four children. The money for their week’s work represented a halfpennyworth of cheese and a pennyworth of bread per meal for each of them, including the parents, for six working days of the week, but nothing for Sundays.

Bridgwater Mercury 20 March 1889.
Action by the police
Another feature of this strike was that the police began following the striking workers around, intending to prevent any intimidation or disorder. The striking workers began to assemble on the bridge each day, to talk about their situation and share news. On Saturday 16 March 1889 about 250 workers had gathered on the bridge and decided to march to the Pawlett Brickyard of Browne and Co. Superintendent Vowles and several other policemen passed the marchers in a brake , with the intention of reaching the brickyard before the men. The marchers only intended to ask the Pawlett men what their intentions were, and after being told that they intended to come out on strike the following Monday, the marchers returned peaceably to Bridgwater without even entering the brickyard. The constant attendance by the police was irritating to the strikers, who felt that they were not trusted.

Bridgwater Mercury 3 April 1889
The opinion of one of the brickyard owners – Symons
Clifford Symons, managing director of Colthurst Symons, sent a letter to the Mercury on 3rd April 1889. He refuted all the wage figures quoted by the workmen, saying that for the last four months, every able bodied man in his yard had earned not less than 13s 6d a week, and to that was earned in 5 hours daily. Men who earned 22 to 25 shillings a week were not in the yard more than 8 hours a day on average. He also made the ominous comment that they had enough clay stockpiled to keep the company working until Christmas without any more being dug. Symons went on to say that no manufacturer in Bridgwater could afford to pay more than 2s 3d a day.
Someone writing in the Mercury commented that there were such different claims about pay that it was hard for the public to know who or what to believe. The owners refused to open their books to verify their claims, so arbitration was impossible.

Bridgwater Mercury 10 April 1889
Negotiations fail due to the owners not cooperating
The Mayor, John Waddon, attempted with others to negotiate a settlement, but the yard owners felt no need to give in and the workers were starved back to work. On Monday 8th of April 1889, a crowded meeting of the workers at the headquarters of their club in the Duke of Monmouth, a decision was taken to return to work at the previously offered rate of pay. Nothing had been gained except loss of income for the workers and their families. However, there was an increasing understanding that unionisation was the way forward.

1890 Strike, or partial lock out, the union gets involved.

The Bridgwater Mercury has not been digitised after 1889, so the following articles are from other newspapers in the region.
It is clear that some unions had already begun to get involved with the Bridgwater brickyard workers.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 18 June 1890.
• Reported that large numbers of brickyard workers had lately joined the General Labourers Union . Notice had been served on one of the largest Bridgwater employers that unless they discharge the remaining non-union men in their employ, the rest of the men will turn out. ‘It is understood that the employers will prefer to close their works.’

West Somerset Free Press 26 July 1890.
• In July the union (this time referred to as the Dockers’ Union, but the same organisation as the General Labourers) had written to brickyard owners H. and J. Major, that unless they stopped helping Colthurst Symons in locking their men out because they refused to work with non-union men, the union would call Major’s men out on strike.

Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser 27 August 1890.
• ‘An agreement on the part of the employers of brickyard labourers in Bridgwater has been arrived at, as the result of a conference between representatives of the employers and the employed, to give their men an increase of ten percent wages to commence this week, and this determination has, in all probability, averted a strike. The whole of the brickyard labourers in Bridgwater have now joined the General Labourers Union, and the formation of a branch at Burnham, Highbridge and Dunball is contemplated.’

1894 and 1895

• The British Brick Society reported that there had been two very small but successful strikes in Bridgwater in 1894 and 1895, but so far no contemporary newspaper accounts have been found.

1896 Strike

West Somerset Free Press 6 June 1896
• Late May 1896 negotiations between brickyard owner H. J. Major and local union leader Mr Frampton and union headquarters representative Mr Ben Tillett failed.
• The opinion of the owner H. Major was that “as the competition continued to become more serious and difficult to meet there could be no possibility of an increase in the cost of
manufacturing being conceded.”
• Mr Tillett wrote that “the miserable pittance doled out to the men was not enough to keep them and their families”
• Mr Major replied “the wages books of the various firms would refute any assumption of that character.”

Central Somerset Gazette 27 June 1896
• Ben Tillett arrived in Bridgwater, was met at the station by a crowd of brickyard workers and a band. A procession of over 1000 people formed and paraded through the town.
• The parade was followed by a crowded meeting at the town hall and Mr Tillett gave a rousing address. While a few men may have returned to work, 800 men and boys are still out on strike after nearly 4 weeks. Not just the workers but the owners and the whole economy of the town was suffering, so a settlement must be reached quickly.

Chard and Ilminster News 4 July 1896
• Feelings were now running high and 100 police reinforcements were called for. The council argued about paying for them.

Gloucester Journal 4 July 1896 and West Somerset Free Press 11 July 1896

• Eight hundred men came out on strike a month ago, and on Tuesday a conference between the masters and the men resulted in the masters declining to discuss the men’s claim for increased wages.
• Then the men adopted a system of organised picketing, and on Wednesday prevented loaded wagons from progressing through the streets.
• On Thursday evening a 108 strong detachment of the Gloucester Regiment arrived in Bridgwater to assist the authorities in quelling disturbances arising out of the brickyard strike. Each man had 20 rounds of ammunition, with 80 rounds each in reserve. The soldiers had a hostile reception and were ‘hooted’ at. When the soldiers arrived, the angry crowd upset two of the wagons and smashed the contents.
• Soldiers and police remained inside the town hall in readiness to quiet any disturbance.
• At 11pm there was a meeting of the strikers on the Cornhill. Union representative Mr Orbell addressed the meeting and advised the men to go home quietly without causing any disturbance. However, when the meeting was over, a large and angry crowd returned to the High Street.
• At 1am some of the windows of the town hall were smashed. The mayor then appeared in the doorway and read the Riot Act. The military and police were ordered outside to clear the crowd.
• The police formed two lines across the road with their truncheons drawn. The soldiers were behind them, with bayonets fixed. At the command, the two lines moved in opposite directions ‘at the double’, the police using their truncheons ‘somewhat freely’, and the soldiers using the butt end of their rifles to strike anyone in their way.
• The street was cleared quickly, although a young woman reporter was injured (allegedly knocked senseless by a police truncheon), which caused some anger. The rest of that night was quiet.

West Somerset Free Press 11 July 1896 and Bristol Times and Mirror 7 July 1896
• Two days after the reading of the Riot Act, there was a meeting at the Recreation Ground, at which the strikers voted to continue their strike. Boys had not been allowed to vote as they were receiving more in strike pay than they actually earned.
• 279 voted to continue
150 voted to return to work
Majority in favour of continuing to strike 129
• Union representative Mr Orbell offered to negotiate with the owners, but they again refused negotiate.
• After the meeting the men paraded through the town headed by a band. As the procession approached the town hall the police and soldiers were ordered inside, and the parade continued without any disturbance.
• The strike pay had not been received that week, but Mr Tillett sent a telegram from head office to say that the pay would be sent at once.

Western Gazette 17 July 1896
• Ben Tillett had appealed to other labour organisations for financial support for the strikers, but this was not forthcoming, and so the strike pay ran out. The HQ of the union had been sending about £420 a week to pay the strikers, but when this stopped the strike had to end.
• Disappointed by this and unable to continue without financial assistance, the men voted to return to work, and their local leaders advised all the men to return to work on the 15th of July 1896.
• The owners took a punitive approach to men they considered had been involved in obstruction, damage or intimidation. They would not re-employ these men and they were taken to court where charges were pressed. This caused a good deal of disappointment, some of the men stood out against going back to work if their mates were not taken on as well. This caused considerable friction between men working and those still trying to support their friends, and at one yard fighting broke out.
• The prosecutions continued, with three men being fined for intimidation.

West Somerset Free Press 25 July 1896
• More prosecutions followed, 28 men were charged with obstructing the highway by stopping wagons loaded with bricks. Mr F.W. Bishop, representing the men, approached the magistrates and said that he had advised all the men to plead guilty, and they had all expressed remorse for actions committed in the heat of the moment. Mr Bishop asked the magistrates to consider that now the strike had finished, the cases could be withdrawn with then men bound over to keep the peace. This was agreed to.
• Practically all the men had returned to work under the same terms as before. The military and extra police were no longer needed and they left Bridgwater, after a stay of nearly three weeks.

Clare Spicer and Jill Trethewey 15/03/2025

References

For more information about the 1896 strike, see Roger Evans’s ‘Book of Bridgwater’ published by Halsgrove, 2012, and for a vivid and partisan account by Brian Smedley, see here.
British Newspaper Archive – digital images of all the newspapers referred to.
https://britishbricksoc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/BBS_101_2006_July.pdf