| AdminHistory | The company was formed in 1825 to supply gas to Birmingham and the surrounding areas, which included Smethwick and West Bromwich. By 1829, the company had built the largest gas works in the country, at that time, at Swan Village and a set of offices in the Old Square, Birmingham.
By 1830, the company was large enough to enter into a contract with one of its rivals, the Birmingham Gas-Light & Coke Company, not to solicit each other's customers. By 1832, the company were producing over 27 million cubic feet of gas, shared the lighting of Birmingham with the Birmingham Gas Lighting Company and at the request of the Street Commissioners, the company began lighting Duddeston and Nechells.
By the end of the 1840s the company had expanded their supply area, supplying Bilston (later sold to the Bilston Gas Company), Wednesbury, Oldbury, Darlaston, Handsworth, Harborne, Aston, Rowley Regis, Sutton Coldfield, Walsall, Dudley Port, Great Bridge and Tipton. There was also an expansion in the company plant, with new works being opened at Adderley.
In 1855, the company issued new shares and expanded further in the Black Country area and Birmingham, as a new works in Saltley was built in 1858. Gas production continued to rise and in 1864, Yardley, Solihull and Northfield began to be supplied.
In 1875, along with the Birmingham Gas-Light and Coke Company, the Company was taken into municipal ownership under the terms of the parliamentary act of that year. The minutes are sequenced randomly. |