The Deep-Rock Baby Bottle …...... another story by Tony Goulding

This is one of those little stories which are initiated by a find in “The Old Curiosity Shop” otherwise the Oxfam premises on Wilbraham Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester.

This bottle was part of a recent donation and immediately piqued my interest. 

Fortunately, the name H. W. Capenhurst of Birmingham, The Sole Proprietor, was embossed on the bottom of the bottle.

With it being an unusual surname, I was able to speedily locate the relevant entry on the 1921 census which revealed that Harold William Capenhurst was a Mineral Water Manufacturer living at 774, Washwood Heath Road, Aston, Birmingham with his factory 684, Washwood Heath Road. In 1921 he was recorded as a widower residing with his 25-year-old daughter, Doris Mary. 

 Further research revealed he was born in Birmingham on 9th June 1870 and was christened at St. Martin in the Bull Ring Church, Birmingham on 12th December 1870. 

His parents were William Capenhurst, an ironmonger and his wife Hannah (née Arton). As a young man Harold William assisted in his father’s business. His father died on 25th October 1893 leaving an estate of £534-14s-7d (= £57,500 today). 

With his share of the inheritance Harold William, who had just recently married Sarah (née Nicholls) in the September quarter of 1892, began trading as an outdoor beer retailer at, according to the 1901 census, 37, Tilton Road, Aston, Birmingham. 

By the following census, in 1911, he had set up in his Mineral Water Manufacturing business.  Harold William remained at Washwood Heath Road until his death on 4th April 1942.

St. Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham

His wife, Sarah, passed away in the December quarter of 1920, shortly after which in the September quarter of 1921 his only child, Doris Mary, married a Customs and Excise Officer, William Arnold Hewitt.

 All of which is quite interesting but what would be fascinating to know is how a “pop” bottle from a local producer in Birmingham ended up in a rubbish tip in Chorlton-cum-Hardy! 

This we will surely never know.

Pictures: - Bottle from the collection of Tony Goulding. St. Martin in the Bull Ring Church from Wikipedia

By Sunil060902 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8931102