ABSTRACT
In 1754 William Isaac Cookson died, without a son to follow his trade, the Elswick refinery passed into other hands and although Walkers, Fishwick set up their works at Elswick, they were on a different site and the earlier refinery seems by then to have fallen into disuse. Although members of the Cookson and James families were active on Tyneside earlier, the palm for being the first of the subsequent constituents of associated lead manufacturers Ltd to be formed must go to Walkers, Fishwick & Co. It also seems probable that this was the first lead manufacturing company of any significance in the area. While lead rolling had existed for well over a century, it was probably a new undertaking for Tyneside and clearly was uncommon in the rest of the country. The works remained small, employing 25 men and 33 women in 1842, and, uniquely on Tyneside, concentrated production entirely on red and white lead.
