[82564] Sheffield : Central Library - Mapping Sheffield - 1771

Central Library, Surrey Street, Sheffield.

Mapping Sheffield.

1 October 2019 - 24 December 2019.

The Fairbank Collection.

A Correct Plan of the Town of Sheffield in the County of York.

Drawn by Wm Fairbank 1771.

Detail.

 

"It was during the century between 1750 and 1850 that the modern England, with whose features we are familiar, came into being"; and with modern England, modern Sheffield.

 

The activities of the Fairbanks cover this vital period almost exactly; the earliest plan in the collection is dated 1739, and the latest, 1850. The first William Fairbank (c1688-1759) was a

schoolmaster, of the Quaker faith, who undertook surveying and legal work; only a few examples of his plans, dated from 1739-49 remain. They show stretches of pasture where Silver Street runs down to West Bar. His son William (c1730-1801) made a large percentage of the existing plans; and it is clear from many other sources of local information that he did more work even than can be inferred from the collection. His two sons, William (c1771-1846) and Josiah (1778-1844) carried on the business for some time as W & J Fairbank. Prior to 1833 the partnership was dissolved, and about that year Josiah took his son William Fairbank Fairbank (1805-1848) into partnership.

 

They worked as Josiah Fairbank & Son until the death of Josiah in 1844; and on the death of the son four years later, the firm was wound up. Parts of their records were bought by clients; the remainder, which forms the present collection, was bought by Marcus Smith of Sheffield, a surveyor. His widow, Sarah Smith, presented the collection to her nephew Alfred Smith Denton of Raisen Hall, and after his death it passed to his son Arthur Smith Denton, from whom it was purchased by Mr RD Bennett.

 

The Fairbanks were mainly employed in the surveying of estates and townships in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and of property in the town of Sheffield; but their work extended at times to the counties of Nottingham, Stafford and Lincoln, and even further afield. The second William Fairbank was a surveyor of considerable standing; his quiet and steady industry is amply illustrated by the numerous examples of his work remaining in the collection. He was the surveyor of many turnpike roads, mostly in Derbyshire; and several important Yorkshire and Derbyshire roads were undertaken by his son and grandson. The spread of railways offered them further opportunities; the plans for many lines, some of which were carried out and others abandoned, are the work of Josiah Fairbank and his son William Fairbank Fairbank. In the nervous and hurried atmosphere of the early years of the

nineteenth century, these two energetic surveyors undertook more work than they could easily encompass; and the excitement and sudden collapse of the railway boom of the 1840’s was clearly the cause of their ill-health and comparatively early deaths.

 

If they had no other cause for local celebrity, the Fairbanks would always be remembered for the sake of their three beautiful and indispensable maps of Sheffield: The Town of Sheffield, 1771, by William Fairbank; The Parish of Sheffield, 1795, by W Fairbank & Son; and The Town of Sheffield, 1808, by W & J Fairbank.

Done