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The Future

The third book in the trilogy is progressing well. Called Chance Reflections, already over 500,000 words (yes, half a million) have been written, so it will be a very large book, possibly nine volumes presented in a slipcase.

 

This third volume will detail the entire history of Chance Brothers from its inception in 1822, through the Victorian era when it became the largest glassworks in the UK, the two world wars where significant technological advances were made, the takeover by Pilkington Brothers in 1953, the gradual decline until closure in 1981.

It is a huge undertaking and while the majority of the history was originally written by J F Chance in 1919 (updated for 1924: supposedly the 100th anniversary), virtually nothing exists from then until today. Until the archives (around 30 cu.m in volume) were finally brought back to the Midlands and carefully archived, a serious study of the latter years was not really possible.

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Please Note: The founding of the firm is now positively identified as November 1822. Surprisingly, even the foremost expert on Chance Brothers, the late James Frederick Chance, erroneously used 1824, but this proves to be the year in which the lease was purchased.

 

 

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