The Cradley Heath Liberal Club

History

A large amount of research has been done on our club and the land it currently stands upon and some very interesting information has been discovered through old documents and archives.

The original club stood on a piece of land which was owned by a chain manufacturer named Jesse Clee up until his death on 9th January 1898. Upon his death the land was inherited by his eldest son, Joseph Clee, and as he had no use for the land he decided to put the land on the market.

Joseph Clee held the land until 16th April 1902 when it was finally sold to a Sidney Benjamin Wheway, a chain manufacturer from Walsall at a cost of £775.

The land was described on the Sales Indenture as;-

"...........that piece of land situate at the corner of Chapel Street and Bank Street, Cradley Heath, aroresaid and formally in the occupation of the said Jesse Clee and now of the said Joseph Clee and which said piece of land has a frontage of one hundred and fifty feet to Chapel Street aforesaid and one hundred and thirty two feet to Bank Street aforesaid and one hundred and seventeen feet to Party Road at the side and was formally stated to contain one thousand eight hundred and twelve square yards but contains by recent admeasurement two thousand one hundred and twelve square yards............." The map to the right is a copy of the original drawn up in 1902 by A.H.Sidaway, Surveyor, Cradley Heath. (Chapel Street is now Foxoak Street).
	Sometime between 1903 and 1930 Sidney Wheway sold the land to Joseph, Charles and Bertram Holt trading as Holt and Willetts Engineers of Cradley Heath. On 3rd October 1932 the land was purchased by Francis Harold Grove a button manufacturer from Halesowen. He only owned the land for a short period as on the 7th December 1932 the land was purchased from him for a sum of £740 by a local syndicate namely;- Benjamin Millward - Cradley Heath - Manufacturing Engineer, John Bridgewater - Sutton Coldfield - Retired Builder, David Matthew Chapman - Cradley Heath - Retired Goods Agent, John Shaw - Cradley Heath - Iron and Steel Merchant, Joseph James Nutting - Cradley Heath - Boot and Shoe Maker, Frederick Ernest Weston - Cradley Heath - Dairyman, Albert Case - Cradley Heath - Manufacturer, William Hall Henn - Cradley Heath - Jeweller, George Hackett - Cradley Heath - Law Clerk, William Henry Hackett - Cradley Heath - Coal Agent, Nelson Woodhouse - Cradley Heath - Manufacturer, George Harold Totney - Cradley Heath - Secretary, William Edward Grainger - Cradley Heath - Retired, Harry Harbach - Cradley Heath - Anchorsmith, William Poole - Cradley Heath - Anchorsmith, David Roberts - Cradley Heath - Builder and Contractor, James Bradley - Cradley Heath - Smith. The present Club was built sometime after the puchase of the land by the above men and was opened by Sir Archibald Sinclair on Tuesday 24th July 1934. Archibald Sinclair was the Liberal leader from 1935 to 1945.
The signatures and Seals of the purchasers
On 1st July 1964 the land opposite the Club formally 12, 13 and 14 Bank Street, was purchased from Ishmael Bennett of the High Street, Cradley Heath for £1964 to be used as the carpark for the Club.

My thanks go to Mr Ken Naylor (Treasurer) for supplying the documentation for this page.

For information about the building of this site and technical information please contact Webmaster