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Biography

William McCollin 1816-1885

William McCollin was a boilermaker by trade and stands out as the ancestor we probably know most about - exclusively from written records. William married Ann Winter, from Goxhill in Lincolnshire, 10 October 1839 in Holy Trinity Church, Hull and his address was recorded at Hales Entry, Mytongate, in Hull the same year. According to the Sheahan History of Hull, William McCollin, and his partner, William Fowler, had established the Vulcan Iron Works in Scott Street, Hull, in 1843. In the 1851 Census William McCollin and his wife, Ann, were living at 21 Caroline Street, Worship Street, Hull although after this William and Ann lived for many years in Leonard Street (No. 115 in 1861 and No. 48 in 1867 onwards). They had five children: Henry, Donald, Mary, William Henry and Ann and William was undoubtedly a self-made man; he bequeathed an estate worth nearly £10,000, split four ways between his three surviving children, Donald, William Henry and Ann Smith, and the sons of his already deceased daughter, Mary.

Mary had married Frederick Larard (1846-1918), a jeweller, on 28 December 1871, by licence, in York. They produced their first child, William McCollin Larard, during the first 3 months of 1872 in Hull, and a second son, Frederick Arthur, in late 1879. Mary's husband was elected to Hull Council in 1875. Mary died on 13 April 1881, at 10 Brunswick Terrace Hull, of complications during a further pregnancy. Their son Frederick Arthur Larard (1879-1936), went on to set up Larard and Taylor, Estate Agents in 1896, which in 1907, became FA Larard and Sons, now the largest of its type in Hull. Frederick remarried on 15 Sept 1881, fathered a further eight children, became an Alderman and was twice Mayor of Hull in 1904 and 1905. He founded the Hull Tramways, led the vote to keep the telephone system independent, and was posthumously made a Freeman of the City.

Insights can be gained into William's character and the couple's Victorian lifestyle from various sources. William's brother, Henry, left a portrait of William (probably commissioned by William) in his will. Census returns show house servants living with the family from 1851 onwards. In the 1881 Census, when William and Ann were both aged 64, they had their grandchildren (i.e. Donald's children), Henrietta A. (then aged 14), and William H. (aged 12), staying with them. Tragically, Henrietta was to die two years later of consumption (according to 'A Glossary of Old Medical Terms' - a medical term formerly applied to pulmonary tuberculosis). In 1883 one servant, Betsy Rice, was convicted of stealing a sealskin coat worth £20. In the proceedings Ann McCollin was described as being frail and by the 1891 Census Ann was described as having been blind for eight years. Ann had her grand-daughter, Anne M. (aged 17; born Grimsby - presumably Annie Maud, one of Donald's daughters), living with her in 1891 along with two servants girls, Anne Tipham (aged 21) and Dolly Ligge (aged 18).

The Burgess Roll of 1854-5 describes William as having an iron foundry in Scott Street. White’s Directory of 1859 records Fowler & McCollin as ‘engineers, millwrights, boilermakers, iron founders, agricultural implement makers and general smiths’ with the Vulcan Iron works in Scott Street and the Navigation Iron Works on Railway Dock Side. The Sheahan History of 1863 in addition recorded The Vulcan Foundry in Church Street and stated that the proprietors, Messrs Fowler and Mc. Collin 'manufacture all kinds of land and marine engines and boilers, mill and agricultural implements, hydraulic presses, thrashing machines, &c, as well as their Patent Pan Tile Machine'. The business was evidently successful and continued to expand with a tender for the demolition of some old buildings and the construction of a new foundry, pattern store, business office and stables, etc, for Fowler & McCollin Vulcan Iron Works and Wilcolmlee being advertised in The Hull Times in 1865.  By 1867-8 they had (work)shops in Scott Street as well as in Railway Dock Side. The Hull City Council Records Office (KHRO) has a letter from Fowler & McCollin dated April 2^nd, 1867 in response to a complaint from the Board of Health about the smoke coming from the works in Scott Street. By 1871 F&M also had a warehouse in Wincolmlee, a Shed and Yard in Swann Street, and they owned the Hull registered ship 'Whimper' (43.38 ton, built in Sandwich, Kent in 1848). According to the 1851 Census the partners Fowler & McCollin employed 20 men altogether although this had increased to nearly 200 by the 1871 Census. Later, they also acquired works in Beverley and Cottingham, a steamer ‘Fawn’ being launched at the Vulcan Iron Works in Beverley in 1883. However, business was badly affected by the closure of the fish dock, where the company had trade from smackowners. According to the Hull Times, meetings of creditors were called in 1884. By that time the works at Beverley had been sold off and the creditors decided that the business still had potential and that they should not force a sale.

KHRO holds records of a court case in 1863 in which the defendant, Thomas Bainbridge, was charged with the theft of an iron spittoon, worth 1 shilling, from Fowler & McCollin's works in Scott Street. William, acting on information received, caught Thomas leaving the yard with the spittoon under his coat and PC Leonard Dodsworth happened to be on hand to make the arrest. The records don't show what Thomas's sentence was. Also in 1863, The Hull Times reported a small fire that occurred at about 10 o’clock in the evening in the turning room at the works, probably due to a spark falling from a thrashing engine. The Jarratt Street and Parliament Street fire hose were called but the fire was put out before they arrived.

William was again called to give evidence seven years later - this time at the inquest of Edward Watson Atkinson, who died when he fell off a horse outside the works in Scott Street. William describes how he was in the gateway to the works in Scott Street at lunchtime that day in 1870, when George Boynton brought a mare along to see if he wanted to buy it. Edward Atkinson offered to ride it and trotted it a couple of hundred yards up Scott Street. On returning, Edward fell off it for no discernable reason as far as either George or William could see. According to William, blood which "oozed" out of Edward's ears - he died shortly afterwards.

Boilers were prone to explode if not operated properly and several accounts of inquests held by KHRO record the deaths of operators. In those days inquests seem to have been held the day after the event usually in a place near to where the death occurred (often the local public house). These records contains hand-written affadavits made by William McCollin in which he provides evidence for the worthiness of his boilers. One particularly tragic case involved an explosion at William McCann's works in 1866 that lead to the deaths of three boys, George Kelby, William Carr and Frederick Harpham aged 14 - 17. William had inspected the boiler seven or eight years previously and had said it was too thin. In a judgement that would not be accepted by todays Health and Safety Inspectorate, the jury decided that the boys came to their deaths "accidentally casually and by misfortune".

Three years later in 1869 George Dove, engine driver and fireman, aged 31, died in another boiler explosion, this time at Hodge's Yard, a seed-crushing mill on Holderness Road, Hull. James Sykes, foreman at the yard, stated "shortly before 8 o'clock last night an explosion took place of the boiler connected with the engine which deceased was driving... I do not know whether the engine (?) boiler was high or low pressure, although I have driven the engine for about 3 years." William stated "I made the boiler 13 years ago (20 hp engine). I think it has exploded because it has been short of water". He went on "I prefer a good labourer to many mechanics [who get very conceited] to drive an engine." He thought it had been measured by William Henry and it was said that the boiler had been repaired three times by William Tarbotton of 100 Witham. (i.e., McCollin and Tarbotton)

The Public Records Office holds part records of proceedings taken by William McCollin against his partner, William Fowler, in the High Court, Chancery Division in 1877. These records show the handwritten ledgers of Frederick Larard, receiver (who also happened to be William McCollin's son-in-law, having married Mary in 1871), showing a total of 745 incomings and outgoings separately for each partner for a one year period from February 1877. These are amazingly detailed accounts which will be of use to genealogists with Hull connections. These have been transcribed onto a MS Excel spreadsheet, click here to download. 

William died of heart disease at the age of 69 in 1885 and was buried in the old part of Spring Bank Cemetery, Hull. His grave inscription read:

"Weep not if thou loved me well

I am happier than the weeper"

His wife, Ann, died aged 75 in 1892 was interned in the same plot

Addresses:

21 Caroline Street 1851

115 Leonard Street 1861

48 Leonard Street 1867, 1881

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Page last updated 22/3/06

Thanks go to Paul McCollin for providing copies of the adverts (from Kelly's) and Mark Larard for info about the Larard family. Thanks also to John Freeman for further information about the history of the Vulcan Iron Works.

Duncan McCollin