James Astley Hall

10 July 1793 to 2 June 1867

HAL00080

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Newcastle under Lyme

1793

James Astley Hall, son of Robert and Catherine (nee Eldershaw) Hall (HAL00070), was born on 10 July 1793 and baptised on 21 July 1793 at the Anglican Church of St Giles, Newcastle under Lyme (St Giles, Newcastle under Lyme Parish Records).

1817

James Hall was a hat manufacturer, and merchant in the iron market

The most notable industry in Newcastle during the 17th and 18th centuries was the making of felt hats. As early as 1570 a hatter, Richard Norton, is met with and another in 1612, John Riggs. The existence of hatters presupposes that of feltmakers, of whom, in the 17th century, there was a considerable number as may be gathered from parish register entries. Late in the century the trade encountered difficulties because 'servants and others of inferior quality' had ceased to wear felt hats; at that time (1699) it was stated that there were numerous master hat-makers in the town who each employed nine or ten journeymen and many other persons, i.e. feltmakers, in producing the materials for hat making. Despite temporary setbacks the hat industry continued to flourish. At a borough election in 1734 out of 436 burgesses on the roll 159 were described as hatters. In the late 18th century the number of hat manufacturers totalled 27, while in 1822 out of 1,000 householders in the borough, 307 were described as hat manufacturer, feltmaker, or hatter. In the early 19th century machinery was introduced, in particular a carding machine and a blowing machine for the separation of short and coarse hairs from the wool or nap. The latter was the invention of James Astley Hall, a native of Newcastle and one of the chief hat manufacturers. Although in 1844 the chief manufacture of the town was still described as that of hats which were prepared for the finishers in London, the growing popularity of the silk hat for the upper and middle classes and of the cloth cap for industrial workers brought about a decline in the demand for felt hats. By 1850 the number of hat manufacturers in Newcastle had fallen to nine and 40 years later there were only two. By the early 20th century the local manufacture of hats had ceased. The fact that in 1836 there were three straw-hat makers and in 1851 twelve may indicate an attempt to establish an alternative, though short-lived, headgear industry of a very different kind. (A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 8. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1963, Newcastle-under-Lyme: Economic history and social life and Anon. Hist. Sketch Newcastle, 10; Newcastle Register of Electors, 1840 and 1845 (copies at Inst. of Hist. Research, London)).

1818

He was a freeman and Mayor of Newcastle under Lyme.

Freemen 1734=1829
Date admitted	Type	Name	Bapt/born	Description	Father	Admitted	Occupation	Comments
25 Sep 1758	FB	HALL, Edward
12 Feb 1734	FB	HALL, Elisha
15 May 1820	Gratis	HALL, George		Grocer				High Constable
05 Jan 1768	FB	HALL, James		Feltmaker	Robert
09 Jun 1818	FB	HALL, James Astley		Hat manufacturer	Robert		Hat manufacturer
26 Mar 1734	FB	HALL, Jeremiah
00 00 1674/5	FB	HALL, John
16 Jun 1790	FB	HALL, John		Feltmaker	Thomas		Feltmaker
26 Mar 1734	FB	HALL, Joseph
00 00 1715/6	App	HALL, Joseph
00 00 1662/3	App	HALL, Joseph
26 Mar 1734	FB	HALL, Leasura
07 Mar 1657	Gratis	HALL, Mr.		Clergyman
14 Nov 1654	Gratis	HALL, Mr. Raphe		Minister				for life only
16 Dec 1746	FB	HALL, Richard
15 Jun 1790	FB	HALL, Robert		Shoemaker	William, dcd.		Feltmaker
26 May 1790	FB	HALL, Robert		Hatter	James, dcd.		Hatter
25 Sep 1731	App	HALL, Robert
29 Apr 1760	FB	HALL, Thomas			Thomas
00 00 1639/40	App	HALL, Thomas
18 Apr 1734	FB	HALL, Thomas
00 00 1721/2	?	HALL, Thomas
09 Nov 1768	FB	HALL, William		Feltmaker	Robert

In the nineteenth century, James Astley Hall was one of the chief hat manufacturers and merchants in Newcastle-under-Lyme, operating a prominent manufacturing and retail network centred around Bath Street, Ironmarket, and Fogg Street. Hall was a central figure in the town's signature industry, inventing the blowing machine to mechanise production, before following his commercial success into local politics as a Justice of the Peace and Borough Mayor.

The business operated out of interconnected properties in the heart of the town. In April 1833, a conveyance of hatter's shops in Bath Street was granted from the Duke of Sutherland to James Astley Hall and Henry Hall. The workshops and retail points expanded across Bath Street, Ironmarket (the trade hub), and Fogg Street, integrating manufacturing facilities with commercial merchant storefronts.

Hall left a permanent mark on the trade by introducing early 19th-century mechanisation to Newcastle. He invented the blowing machine, an innovative apparatus designed to separate short, coarse hairs from wool or fur nap. Combined with carding machines, this greatly improved the efficiency and quality of local felt production.

Like most local contemporary factories, Hall's business specialised in the production of felt hat bodies. These raw felt structures were formed and treated locally before being shipped down to finishers in London to be trimmed, lined, and prepared for high-end retail.

During the peak of the trade in the 1820s, hatting employed up to a third of Newcastle's working population. However, by the mid nineteenth century, Hall's business had to contend with severe structural declines in the felt industry. The upper and middle classes increasingly favoured the newly fashionable silk top hat, while industrial workers shifted toward cloth caps, slowly eroding the demand for traditional felt hats and leading to the eventual extinction of the town's trade by the early 20th century.

1822

James Astley Hall married Ann Lee at St Mary, Newington, Surrey on 30 September 1822 (St Mary, Newington Parish Records).

1824

James and Ann’s son, Henry Hall (HAL00080A) was baptised on 13 October 1824 but died aged only 3 days.

1825

Partnerships dissolved … January 19 – Robert Hall and James Astley Hall, Newcastle, Staffordshire, hat manufacturers (Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, 31 January 1825).

1829

In the Court of the King’s Bench … The King against James Astley Hall, as Bailiff, elected 3^rd October 1826 (Staffordshire Advertiser, 13 June 1829). He was appointed as a bailiff in 1826 and the case was likely to have related to the validity of the appointment.

1833

Deeds relating to land and premises in Bath Street, Salters Lane and Lower Street, Newcastle under Lyme. Includes a conveyance by lease and release of hatter's shops in Bath Street, Duke of Sutherland to James Astley Hall and Henry Hall, 16 Apr 1833 … (Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service: Staffordshire County Record Office, D4452/1/27/1/2)

Hat shop in Newcastle under Lyme, circa 1910

1836

The freehold of the building in the occupation of James Adtley Hall, as a hatter’s shop, was on the market for sale (Staffordshire Advertiser, 30 January 1836).

1845

The provisional committee for the registration of the Leicester, Asby-de-la-Zouch, Burton on Trent and Stafford junction Railway included James Astley Hall (Sun, 25 June 1845).

1847

The Orme Scheme was set up in 1847 for the erection of new Orme School on the site of the old workhouse on Keele Road. The trustees included James Astley Hall, hat manufacturer. In 1866 William Mellard, ironmonger, John Broomhall, tailor and draper and Henry Hall, timber merchants became trustees in place of Frederick Crewe, James Astley Hall, and Liddle Elliot. (Staffordshire Advertiser, 3 May 1913). The Orme Boys' School in Newcastle-under-Lyme merged with the grammar school in 1872 to become the Boys' Middle School on Higherland, and its educational lineage today continues through modern institutions like The Orme Academy and Newcastle-under-Lyme School. A new Orme School was later founded in 1928, as Wolstanton County Grammar School, a replacement for The Orme Middle School, which closed in 1927.

1850

Hall Henry, timber merchant and saw mills, Bagnall Street.

Hall James Astley, hat manufacturer, manufactory, Bath Street; warehouses, Iron Market and Fogg Street.

(Kelly’s Directory, 1850 to 1851)

1851

1851 Census – Lion Hotel, Builth, Breconshire, Wales

James Astley Hall, hatter of Newcastle under Lyme was a visitor, staying at the hotel.

1856

Deaths. Hall, May 24, after a short illness, at the house of her sister, Miss Lee, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Ann, beloved wife of James Astley Hall Esq of Newcastle under Lye, Staffordshire. (Staffordshire Sentinel, 31 May 1856, Wolverhampton Chronicle, 28 May 1856). On the 24^th ult, at the residence of her sister, Miss Lee, Denmark Hill, Surrey, Ann, wife of James Astley Hall Esq, Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, in her 4st year (Arias’s Birmingham Gazette, 2 June 1856).

1861

1861 Census – Ashfield House, Liverpool Street, Newcastle under Lyme

James Astley Hall, hat manufacturer, 67

Catherine Hall, 54, his sister

Two servants

Hall became a highly regarded local magistrate as a JP and served as Mayor of the Borough. In 1861, he personally funded and presented a new four-faced clock to the town, which was installed in the newly constructed clock tower of the Newcastle-under-Lyme Guildhall, where his dedicatory inscription can still be seen today.

James Hall donated the Guildhall clock.

The dignified, red brick and stone Guildhall in the High Street has presided over the busy market-place for more than 200 years and provides a fitting expression of the growth of Newcastle. In the 12th century, when Newcastle was beginning to establish itself as an important trading centre, the High Street would have been one big marketplace, covered with stalls on market days. The market prospered, and in 1235 the King recognised its importance by granting the townsmen the right to form a Guild, which quickly became the real authority in the town. Later, craft guilds came into existence, and these included journeymen and apprentices as well as employers. Members of craft guilds were skilled practitioners of a variety of trades, and by the 14th century they had taken control of local government, ousting the guild merchants. In the 16th century the guilds were gradually superseded by a new administration which continued to call its meeting place a Guildhall rather than a Town Hall. This building eventually became unsuitable and the present Guildhall was built on an adjacent site shortly after 1713. The clock tower was added later, as the inscription over the portico proclaims: This clock was presented to the town by James Astley Hall, J.P., Esq., MDCCCLXI (1861). In the rapidly expanding borough this building, too, became obsolete, and local government was transferred to the much larger and elaborate Municipal Hall following its completion in 1890. (Neville Malkin 14th May 1975).

During Charter Week in 1935, the clock tower (built in 1861, and containing a clock given by a James Astley Hall, a mayor of that time), being illuminated by coloured flood lighting (Staffordshire Sentinel, 16 September 1935).

1863

James Astley Hall was the creditor in the sum of £15 15s 6d in the bankruptcy of Thomas King (Northampton Mercury, 31 May 1862).

1867

James Astley Hall died on 2 June 1867 and his death was registered in the second quarter of 1897 at Newcastle under Lyme (GRO, Staffordshire Vol 6B Page 44, Record of the Great Western Railway Shareholders). He was buried on 8 June 1867 (St George, Newcastle under Lyme Parish Records). Hall James Astley. Effects under £6,000. 4 July. The Will of James Astley Hall late of Newcastle under Lyne in the County of Stafford Hat Manufacturer deceased who died 2 June 1867 at Newcastle under Lyme aforesaid was proved at Lichfield by the oath of Henry Hall of Newcastle under Lyme aforesaid Timber Merchant the brother one of the Executors. (Probate Records)

Deaths. On the 2^nd inst, at Ashfield House, Liverpool Road, Newcastle, James Astley Hall Esq, aged 73 years (Staffordshire Sentinel, 8 June 1867).