In addition to their properties in Wells, the Tudway family were major landowners and invested outside of the city, including in Wookey, Dulcote (including the paper mill), Dinder and Croscombe villages. Francis H. Dickinson also gave financial aid to establish the Somerset and Bath Pauper Lunatic Asylum in Horrington in the 1840s, whose buildings have now been converted for residential use. Archdeacon William Brymer built the village school at Charlton Mackrell, which remains in use today.
Bristol Avon valley played a significant part in the transatlantic traffic in enslaved Africans. The industry originally supplied brass for home markets, but because brass was highly prized in West Africa it grew as transatlantic trade expanded during the 18th century. Goods exported to West Africa were traded for people who were then transported across the Atlantic to be enslaved workers on sugar plantations in Brazil and the Caribbean.
Map of Lands in Wells, Dinder and Croscrombe 1829 held at SHC DD/TD/58/5/5 South West Heritage Trust
Bristol Brass
Dog collar, made of brass in the 18th century and inscribed J.P. Tudway. The collar is on display at the Wells & Mendip Museum.
Unusually a local brass industry in the Bristol Avon valley played a significant part in the transatlantic traffic in enslaved Africans. The industry originally supplied brass for home markets, but because brass was highly prized in West Africa it grew as transatlantic trade expanded during the 18th century. The industry also went into decline with the repeal of slavery in the early 19th century.
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, commonly 70% copper and 30% zinc, known as ‘Alpha Brass’. The brass industry developed in the Bristol area during the 18th century using copper ore from Cornwall and zinc ore from the Mendip Hills. It was smelted in foundries in the Bristol area fuelled by locally mined coal, and processed locally in brass mills. Alpha Brass is malleable at room temperature and was cold worked into hollow-ware items or rolled into sheets. In the brass mills skilled workers used water powered trip hammers fashion the products.
Brass was exported from Bristol to the West Coast of Africa, where it was highly regarded by Indigenous people who cast it into functional and cultural objects. The majority of the well-known Bronzes from the Kingdom of Benin, now part of Southern Nigeria, are made of brass. Also made in the area for export to West Africa were ‘Manillas’, bracelet shaped objects used as local currency. Typically they were an alloy of copper and lead, hardened by the addition of arsenic. Goods exported to West Africa were traded for people who were then transported across the Atlantic to be enslaved workers on sugar plantations in Brazil and the Caribbean.
One such brass mill was Saltford Brass Mill. It used the power of the Bristol Avon river to process brass into hollow-ware items or roll it into sheets. The mill is now run by the Saltford Brass Mill Project, a charity which preserves and maintains the building, and promotes learning about the history of the local brass industry. For further information on the Saltford Brass Mill and the Bristol brass industry see their website: https://brassmill.com/
Wells & Mendip Museum has many items of made of brass including shackles and a dog collar which have connections with the Tudway family, and which may well have been made locally.
Related Talks & Resources
Talks and Resources connected to Beyond the City Centre
These talks reveal the findings of historical research that connects Beyond the City Centre to transatlantic slavery and considers the enduring legacies that exist today.
People and families connected to Beyond the City Centre
Beyond the City Centre has a complex history involving individuals and families who were involved in the transatlantic slave trade. It’s important to acknowledge their role and remember the enslaved people impacted by their actions.
The Tudway family were important politicians and significant landowners in Wells, as well as owners of enslaved Africans on their plantation in Antigua.
