The later businesses would claim to have begun in 1849, but all the reliable evidence we find points to an 1854 beginning. In that year Goodby & Chatwin, a partnership of Samuel Goodby and Thomas Chatwin, was making lathes our of their shop at 91 Hill Street in Birmingham. Their main product, though, seems to have been die stocks for hand-threading screws. They exhibited their die-stocks at the 1855 Paris Exposition. By late 1856 it was announced that the partnership of Goodby, Chatwin & Taylor—the new partner being Charles Taylor—was dissolved. Goodby had been a coppersmith before joining the partnership and it appears that he returned to that business. The previous business of manufacturing die stocks and lathes was continued by the new partnership of Chatwin & Taylor. That partnership continued until 1861 when it dissolved.

Thomas Chatwin continued making die stocks under his own name, and was the exclusive maker of the design that Chatwin and Taylor had patented in 1858. Taylor, meanwhile, continued making lathes and die stocks under the Charles Taylor banner.

Taylor died in 1895 but the business continued on without him. Sometime between 1907 and 1912 the name changed to Charles Taylor (Birmingham), Ltd.. At some point after that the name changed to Charles Taylor & Co.; more research is needed to determine the timing of the name changes. Under the last name the business continued into the 1970s.

Information Sources

• 1849 Birmingham: History and General Directory has five listings on page 262 for a Charles Taylor—a commercial traveller, an attorney's clerk, a pearl button manufacturer, a grocer and a japanner. There is no Thomas Chatwin listed, but there is a "Chatwin John & Sons, manufacturer of florentine, silk, metal, pearl, &c, buttons, 83, Great Charles st". Samuel Goodby is listed as a brazier and coppersmith, and is listed under the categories of "Tea Urn and Kettle Manufacturers" and "Coppersmiths".
• 1851-06-20 The London Gazette lists legal proceedings, including a bankruptcy "bearing date the 4th day of August 1846, awarded and issued forth against Charles Taylor, of Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, Brush Manufacturer..." There were a handful of men of the same name in Birmingham at that time so this may well be a different person than our Charles Taylor.
• 1852 The Visitor's Hand Book Through the Manufactories of Birmingham has no listing for Charles Taylor, or anyone with the surnames Chatwin or Goodby.
• April 1853 The Practical Mechanic's Journal lists patents recorded March 7 (1853). "576. Thomas T. Chatwin, Birmingham, and Robert McLeish, same place—Improvements in rollers, rods, or poles, for window blinds, curtains, maps, and such like purposes."
• 1854 Post Office Directory of Birmingham, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Staffordshire lists at 91 Hill street in Birmingham, "Goodby & Chatwin, stock & die, & turning lathe & screw plate manufacturers & machinists".
• 1855 Catalogue officiel publié par ordre de la Commission Impériale (the catalog of the 1855 Paris Exposition) lists "Goodby & Chatwin, à Birmingham (Warwick). A.—Poulies à vis." The literal translation of "Poulies à vis" is "Screw pulleys" and does not appear to be a phrase common in French at the time; it was presumably some garbled English-to-French translation of "Screw stock".
• 1855 L'entente Cordiale; a Self-interpreting Guide to Paris lists British exhibitors at the Paris Exposition, including "Section 6. Apparatus and Mechanical Contrivances used in Workshops. ... 536 Goodby and Chatwin, Hill-street, Birmingham."
• 1856-10-18 The Economist lists partnerships dissolved, including "Goodby, Chatwin and Taylor, Birmingham, tool makers".
• 1858 patent number 1318 granted to Thomas Chatwin and Charles Taylor of Birmingham, for "Improvement in screw stocks."
• February 1861 The Innkeeper and Traveller lists "Dissolutions of Partnership", including "Chatwin, T., and C. Taylor, stock die and tool makers, Birmingham".
• 1872 The Commercial Directory and Shippers' Guide lists under Birmingham Engineers and Machinists, "CHATWIN THOMAS, patentee & sole manufacturer of the direct-action screw, guide-screw, stock and every description of screwing tackle, ratchet braces, tube cutter, screw tools, &c., Victoria works, Berkley street". Listed under the same heading is "Taylor Charles, Little Charles street". Listed under Birmingham Lathe Maker is "TAYLOR CHARLES, New Edmund street". Listed under "Electro-Plate Manufacturers" is "Goodby S. and Sons, Guildford st., Lozells".
• 1878 E. R. Kelly's Post Office Directory of Birmingham lists "Taylor Charles, manufacturer of every description of turning lathes & general machinery, screw cutting, shafting, pulleys, & patentee & sole maker of gas tube cutters, Lathe & tool works, 2 New Edmund street. See advert."
• 1885-12-25 English Mechanic and World of Science, advertising section. "Skates, carefully hollow ground, reducing risk of falls, 1s. per pair.—Charles Taylor, Edmund-street, Birmingham."
• 1896-07-14 The London Gazette has an Legal notice regarding the estate of Charles Tayloe, "Birmingham Lathe and Machine Tool Maker deceased who died on the 20th day of October 1895..."
• 1924-07-17 American Machinist. "The new members of the council of British Machine Tool Trades Association include... L. G. Taylor, of Charles Taylor (Birmingham), Ltd., who takes the place of W. L. Taylor."
• 1977 issue of Tooling (v. 31 page 53). "... A new leaflet is now available, giving the complete range of Taylor Capstan Lathe Toolholders which [are] available for with Colchester Lathes Capstan Equipment. To obtain the leaflet, write to or telephone:-Charles Taylor (Birmingham) Limited, Bartholomew Street, Birmingham B5 5QN."
• 2017 book Alfred Herbert Ltd and the British Machine Tool Industry, by Roger Lloyd-Jones, in a discussion of lathe innovations of 1903. "In Birmingham, Charles Taylor marketed a new capstan lathe for light working on steel and brass tubes in 1903, delivering lower costs compared to ordinary lathes." In 1915: "In March the Birmingham firm of Charles Taylor & Co. was operating 'every department' at full capacity 'with no sign of abatement'. They were also expanding their plant to increase the manufacture of chucks, which were in short supply with the curtailment of supplies from Germany." In 1936, "Charles Taylor Ltd. was fully engaged on standard machine tools, and it was not feasible to quote for special types. Nevertheless, they too remained committed to fulfilling foreign orders to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden."
• Catalog listing for undated trade catalog from Charles Taylor (Birmingham), Ltd., makers of "Lathes (capstan Lathes, Metal Spinning Lathes, Plugging Lathes), Bending Machines, Cutting-off Machines, Sawing Machines, Machine Vices, Chucks, Cock Boring Machines, Milling Machines, Linishers...)"
• The National Archives has a listing for records relating to Charles Taylor (Birmingham) Ltd., lathe makers. The records cover roughly 1860 to 1889 and are held by Library of Birmingham, Archives, Heritage and Photography Service, Centenary Square, Birmingham. The Library of Birmingham online records show that they have 0.98 cubic meters of material, including photograph albums,