As far as William Jnr was concerned, bankruptcy receiving orders were issued against him in the London Gazette of 7 April 1891 and reported in the Birmingham Daily Post on 8 April 1891. A report on a creditors' meeting held on 27 April 1891 in Wolverhampton was also published in this paper the following day, as well as the Coventry Herald and Free Press on 1 May 1891.
Bankruptcy & Patents
Both William Snr and William Jnr were involved in bankruptcy proceedings at different times.
The circumstances of the London Gazette entry in 1868 are unknown - sufficient to say that William Snr was having money problems at that time.
Interestingly, William's occupation is recorded not only as a Key Maker (as in the 1871 Census), but also Hosier.
Grace's Guide to British Industrial History has the following reference to William Snr ...
'1886 Bankrupt. Great Brick-kiln Street and Church-street, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. Brass and Iron Founder, and Bicycle Manufacturer'
Between 1874 & 1886 National Archives show property dealings involving William in relation to 109/110 & 111 Brickkiln Street. These 'Deeds and Other papers relating to property in Wolverhampton' include both Mortgage and Conveyance transactions.
1874 - William acquired 109/110 Brickkiln St and took out mortgages on properties
1878 - William acquired 111 Brickkiln St and took out mortgage on property
1880 - William took out additional mortgage on 109/110 Brickkiln St
1886 - William sold 109/110 Brickkiln St - he was represented by a trustee in his bankruptcy. Was he selling these properties to secure funds to help pay off his
creditors following the bankruptcy? And was the bankruptcy itself linked to the running of the Hart Cycle Company, or maybe to property dealings which
had not gone well?
We know, however, that in 1889 the Hart Cycle Company was operating from Great Brickkiln St (see articles on previous page) - it would appear that this was from 111 Great Brickkiln St, being the property he still owned (though the business could have operated from premises owned by others). Either way, it would appear that the Hart Cycle Company operations were not adversely affected by William's bankruptcy.
When William Jnr was reported bankrupt the local (Wolverhampton) paper soon issued a statement that the proceedings did not apply to William Edward Snr !
Again, Hart Cycles still appeared to do well following William Jnr's bankruptcy.
Abstracts of Patent Specifications published in 'The Engineer' on 10 Jun 1881 included that shown above.
Grace's Guide History
of William Bown
Patents
Back to Hart Cycle Company ..
In 1893 William Snr and William Jnr jointly lodged a patent for spring attachments to cycle wheels in the U.S.
In 1899 WE Jnr took out further patents in the U.K.
It was a William Bown who took the Hart Cycle Co. and William Jnr to court in
1891, presumably involving patents. William Bown had quite a few patents to his
name and also had taken a number of people/companies to court for infringing
his patents prior to 1891.
