I’ve spent the last week taking a deep dive into the history of steel production and why it had a bearing on Fred’s decision to move to Middlesbrough. In his long letter of Saturday 13th of November 1881 Fred starts to paint Jane a picture of the town. I’m struck with the contrast between the… Continue reading From City of Steel to Ironopolis
Month: November 2021
Trouble at the steel mill
I’m publishing this post 140 years to the day that Fred, 22 years old, boarded a train from Sheffield to Middlesborough, and left behind everything he’d ever known. There’s a letter from Fred dated July 1881 on Brown Baley & Dixon company paper that has been stamped “In Liquidation”. This is the part of the… Continue reading Trouble at the steel mill
My Darling Janie 