The Postcard
A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted using a ½d. stamp in Catford, London S.E. on Thursday the 21st. December 1905 to:
Mr. & Mrs. Scarfe,
'Newlyn',
Palmers Green Villas,
Palmers Green,
London N.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"60, Hurstbourne Road,
Forest Hill.
Wishing you a Merry Xmas
and a Happy New Year."
James Hinks
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, the 21st. December 1905 was not a good day for James Hinks, because he died on that day.
James Hinks, who was born circa 1816, was an oil lamp manufacturer in Birmingham, and the founder of the company James Hinks & Son.
James Hinks - The Early Years
James Hinks was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire, the son of Jonathan Hinks, a wool comber. He was the younger brother of John Hinks, a well-known and successful steel pen manufacturer.
James left home when he was 16 and tried his hand at a range of occupations, including wood turning and japanning, brush making, die sinking, medal making, cotton reel manufacture and pub landlord before turning his mind to perfecting the design of oil lamps.
James Hinks' Career
By 1858, in partnership with James Syson Nibbs, he was manufacturing an improved oil lamp at the Crystal Lamp Works on the corner of Great Hampton Street and Hockley Street, Birmingham. The partnership with Nibbs was dissolved in July 1858, although the lamps continued to be marketed by James under the Nibbs and Hinks name until December 1858.
James' son, Joseph, worked for his father from the age of 17, and by 1861 he was recorded as a manufacturer in the same terms as his father.
By 1862 the business was called James Hinks and Son. A patent was granted to James Hinks in 1863 for "improvements in lamps", and there were subsequent design improvements. The Patent Duplex Lamp, marketed from 1864, used two wicks instead of the usual one, and gave out twice the light.
The great selling point of Hinks lamps was that they did not need frequent trimming, or give off nasty smoke or smells.
The company was first incorporated in 1873. James retired as Managing Director and became Chairman in about 1897–98, when Joseph took over.
The firm had bases in London and Birmingham. Important customers included railway companies, which used oil lamps to light stations, trains and signals.
With an eye to the domestic market, Hinks' lamps were also decorative, and borrowing from the designs of European china and table decorations, their lamps were also a byword for domestic beauty - so much so that there is still a flourishing market for antique Hinks' lamps.
They also developed specialist lamps and hurricane lanterns for India which was one of their most lucrative markets. Hinks' lamps were state-of-the-art until the early 20th. century when electric lighting became the norm.
James Hinks' Other Interests
James had interests outside of business. For a time he was president of Aston Villa Football Club, and he regularly attended matches at the Wellington Road ground at Perry Barr.
He was also a well known "courser" (someone who races greyhounds); some of his dogs were very well known in their time.
James Hinks' Personal Life and Death
James married Elizabeth Benton (1816–1896) in Birmingham in 1839. They had six children, although three died in infancy. Two daughters and a son, Joseph, survived. James retired in 1898 at the age of 83 and handed over the reins to Joseph.
James died in Edgbaston, and was laid to rest in Key Hill Cemetery, Birmingham. His estate was valued at over £80,000 (about £8m in today's money), and in addition to his family, James' will made generous bequests to local hospitals, charities and his domestic staff.