BRYAN AND HOWDEN

 

John Bryan and Gidley Howden were almost the earliest developers identified by Morden College who took up a site at Morden Wharf. They had a works on Bankside and wanted to expand. At Bankside they made coal gas manufacturing apparatus - one of many companies in the iron trade who were then taking advantage of the rapidly expanding gas industry. A third partner in the business, who probably provided the finance, was a Charles Holcombe.

 John Bryan had been responsible for the building and setting up of a number of gas works throughout southern England – with varying degrees of financial success and subsequent recriminations from local people.[1]  In this he was typical of several operators in this trade.  Of about 23 gas companies in the old SEGAS area John  Bryan is known to have been responsible for about ten of them. Further afield he was responsible for gas works at Farnham and at Winchester. In particular he was associated with early gas works in coastal towns like Hastings and Worthing. At  Worthing gas works article following an 1833 proposal from John Bryan to light the town with gas he was asked to visit the town, then undertook and contracted to build a works. The works ran late and Bryan was told his contract was broken and a dispute ensured.

In 1837 Bryan and Howden took a ninety nine year lease on a plot, previously used to grow osier, to the north of Great Pitts.  On the Morden College estate plans their site is shown marked Anything they built needed to be approved by George Smith.  Problems soon began to arise.

In 1839 Morden College discovered that they were unable to obtain insurance on the site because of the 'extremely hazardous business' being carried out there. This was tar distilling and it was reported that the premises 'consists of three brick buildings - one a cooperage, another for the boiler and rectifying plant, and another for the tar still'.  By this time coal tar from the gas industry was available at knock down prices and the flourishing shipbuilding industries of the lower Thames provided a ready market for weather proofing products. Throughout the area many entrepreneurs were experimenting with cheap coal tar in the hope of making a saleable product from it.

Complaints began to made about the nature of Bryan and Howden's work from several quarters and it appeared that  'oily matter was running about'. The partnership was in financial trouble and Charles Holcombe wrote to Morden College to say that he no longer had any connection with the partnership.

In 1841 Morden College offered the site to other potential tenants. One offer came from Holcombe himself fand another from an Arthur Hills of Battersea

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[1] cf  Marjorie J.Morris, Worthing by GasLight. Sussex Industrial History, 1983. Additonal Info. on Bryan by Brian Sturt.