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I came across this entry in a copy of 'The Statist' from 1887 and was surprised to see that that the firm of S. Blanckensee & Son had an establishment in Madrid.

The private firm of S. Blanckensee And Son, wholesale manufacturing jewellers and goldsmiths, is formed into a limited liability company, with a capital of £120,000, and £8,000 "A" or Preference Shares of £10 each are now offered to the public. The shares bear a preferential dividend of 10 percent., with a participation in the surplus profits under certain contingencies set out in the prospectus. The firm has been in existence for sixty years, and is now represented to be one of the largest in the trade, with establishments at London, Birmingham, and Madrid. The certificate of Messrs. Chadwicks, Boardman and Co., the well known firm of chartered accountants, is given with the prospectus; also a valuation of the stock by Mr. E. J. Watherston, jeweller and goldsmith, of Pall Mall, and intending investors will naturally turn to the statements made respecting profits in the past and the results of the stock valuation.

Does anyone know any details their Madrid connection? John Culme's 'Directory of Gold & Silversmiths' makes mention of their factory and warehouse at 17, Calle Espox-y, Mina, Madrid, and notes that it closed in 1888, and that 'the workmen were sent back to the Birmingham factory' which seems to imply that the workforce were British.

I'm curious to know more.

Trev.

Nearly a year later, some more evidence comes to light in this evasive snippet found in a period trade journal:

Birmingham working-men evidently do not properly appreciate the sunny skies and other much-talked-of advantages of living in Spain, several of them, who were lately sent there to a branch establishment of one of the Birmingham houses, having returned, one after another, after an absence of a few months at most, although they were under terms of agreement for some three or four years, and were threatened with all kinds of penalties if they did not fulfil them. There is evidently something about the land of cigarettes, black-eyed damsels and cheap wines that does not agree with the Birmingham workman. One of them condescended to explain that "You could get nothing to drink in that beastly place." This is another tribute of affection that the working-man pays to his publican. Another could not exist without the Aston Villa football matches on Saturday ; the bull fights did not compensate him, so he returns to his native soil, and I suppose will attend the next " Cup Tie " if he pawns his waistcoat to pay the entrance fee. Well, the British workman is an enigma. I almost wish that I was a poet, that I might dedicate a few lines to his most extraordinary taste and foresight. I have often heard an employer utter a few lines extempore upon the subject in a most expressive and forcible manner, and what was lacking in rhyme and metre was adequately compensated for by very strong adjectives. I am really afraid that I could not do anything better than that. I might destroy the sense for sake of the rhyme, so will leave the matter as it stands.

Source: Watchmaker, Jeweller and Silversmith - 1st May 1888

Trev.

S. Blanckensee & Son Ltd. - London, Birmingham, and Madrid - 1887

"The chief manufactory is at 14 and 15, Frederick Street, Birmingham, and there is a branch establishment at 35, Ely Place, Holborn, and a
manufactory and warehouse at 17, Calle Espox-y-Mina, Madrid."

Trev.

I hear, upon good authority, that the Spanish branch of Messrs. Blanckensee & Son is closed - at any rate, as far as manufacturing is concerned, the workmen having all been sent back to the Birmingham branch in Frederick Street.

Source: The Watchmaker, Jeweller and Silversmith - 1st June 1888

Trev.