Tomkinson-Dauglish Album

A collection of letters from eighteenth and nineteenth century political, literary and clerical figures, including Robert Browning, George Crabbe, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, W. E. Gladstone and John Ruskin, together with autographs, signatures, drawings and other items. The collection was made by Michael Tomkinson. A manuscript note by Tomkinson on page 55 reads: 'Many of the autographs in this book were collected by Mr S. Sharpe's brother - W.L. Sharpe' [referring to Samuel Sharpe (scholar and Egyptologist)]. The volume contains 56 pages.

Michael Tomkinson (1841-1921) was Mayor of Kidderminster and Sheriff of Worcestershire. He was also a member of the Council and Court of Governors of the University of Birmingham.

He was born on 29 May 1841 in Kidderminster, and was the elder son of Michael Tomkinson, (1810-1886), a draper and his wife, Sarah, daughter of James Grigg of Blakebrook, Kidderminster. He was educated at Bridgens Hall School, Bridgnorth, and King Charles I's Grammar School, Kidderminster. He started work at the age of fourteen as a clerk in a local hand-loom carpet factory and was later employed in Schoolbred's drapery and soft furnishing shop in Tottenham Court Road, London. He returned to Kidderminster where he was employed by a carpet, rug, and yarn merchant.

In 1869 Tomkinson went into partnership with William Adam (1828?1898) in Kidderminster, founding the business which was to transform the manufacture of Axminster carpeting and make it a familiar object in middle-class homes. Tomkinson and Adam produced a variety of handmade carpets and rugs but their speciality was chenille Axminsters, woven by a process which had been patented by Adam's former employer, James Templeton of Glasgow. The firm established an international reputation by displaying its products at exhibitions in Europe and the USA, and by 1876 some 800 people were employed.

On 13 September 1871 Tomkinson married Ann Porritt (1850?1920), daughter of Matthew Porritt Stonehouse of Wakefield, worsted spinner. They lived in Kidderminster, for the last forty years of their married life at Franche Hall. There were twelve surviving children, the two eldest sons, Herbert and Gerald, becoming partners in the firm.

Tomkinson took a major new initiative in 1878 when he visited the USA and purchased the United Kingdom rights to Halcyon Skinner's spool Axminster power-loom, which wove a pile fabric imitating the luxurious hand-tufted Axminster carpets. Five other British firms were granted licences by Tomkinson and Adam and together they formed the Royal Axminster Manufacturers' Association which successfully maintained prices, permitting comfortable profit margins, until 1893. Tomkinson became its chairman, retaining the position for over forty years. The firm achieved a leading position through licensing of Adam's power-loom, patended in 1880-1882. Prices and profit levels were protected by the formation of the Axminster Manufacturers' Association. The expiry of Skinner's patent and the perfection of alternative power-loom in the 1890s led to increased competition and a significant reduction in chenille and spool Axminster prices. Demand grew, and the manufacture of Axminster carpeting became the largest sector of the carpet industry, and the firm of Tomkinson and Adam continued to expand. The firm employed 1300 people by 1907 and it ranked as the fourth largest firm in the industry.

Tomkinson was prominent in local government. He sat on Worcestershire county council from its formation, became an alderman in 1892, and was a long-standing chairman of the finance committee. A member of Kidderminster borough council for thirty-five years, he also held office as mayor seven times between 1887 and 1913. As chairman of the library committee, he was mainly responsible for raising funds to build the borough library. He was a JP, and also served as a deputy lieutenant and high sheriff for Worcestershire.

A number of other good causes in Kidderminster attracted Tomkinson's time and energy. He was for many years chairman of the Kidderminster board of guardians, as well as treasurer of the Workmen's Club, a governor of the grammar school, and a trustee of Kidderminster Infirmary and Children's Hospital. In 1916 he was made an honorary freeman of the borough. An Anglican and a churchwarden, Tomkinson collected rare books and manuscripts, and he acquired a national reputation as a collector of Japanese ivories and lacquer work. This interest was reflected in A Japanese Collection, published in 1898; he was also an active member of the Japan Society. He enjoyed fishing and shooting on his country estate at Chilton, Cleobury Mortimer, and was a keen gardener, creating a notable rose garden at Franche Hall.

Tomkinson died at Franche Hall on 28 June 1921 after a brief illness. The funeral was held at Wolverley church, Worcestershire, where he was buried on 2 July 1921.

Source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/48347 Accessed June 2020