Here is a copy of an article written by Percy Trollope Jan1979.

John Wallis Titt

Was born at Chitterne on May 14th 1841, and was the secondson of Joh n W Titt,
farmer of Chitterne, whose wife was a Miss Wallis.

On the farm at Chitterne, where John Wallis Titt remaineduntil twent y-five
years of age, was an old four armed windmill used formilling purpose s. Mt Titt
often spoke of being called upon to rise with the wind atany time du ring the
night to do duty at the windmill, and there is no doubtthat the expe rience
gained with this wind engine prompted him in later years tomanufactu re at
Woodcock Works a more modern type of 'Wind Engine' forpumping purpos es.

Upon leaving Chitterne he was for some time with Messrs.Wallis and S tevens, of
Basingstoke, and subsequently represented Messrs. Brown &May, of Dev izes, from
where he came in 1872 to Warminster and established anagricultural e ngineering
business in Portway in 1867, manufacturing hay and strawelevators, a nd dealing
in some of the earliest mowing and reaping machines.

In 1876 Mr Titt having bought a site in Woodcock,established the pre sent works
and in the same year secured a contract from the War Officeto suppl y water to
the mobilisation of Militia camped at Lamb Down andYarnborough Castl e, the
water being forced by steam pumps from the river nearCodford.

In 1884 Mr. Titt made a contract with the late Sir EdmundFane to sup ply the
Boyton Estate with water, and it was in connection withthis work tha t the
first set of pumps were made at Woodcock Works. At aboutthe same tim e the
manufacture of wind engines was commenced, a large numberof which ha ve been
fixed for water supplies to towns, willages, estates, andupon many o f the
Railways in all parts of the Kingdom, and most foriegncountries, inc luding
Siberia, Southern Italy, and in the Market Place ofKhartoum.

Mt Titt retired from the business in 1903, owing to illhealth. He re mained an
invalid, but was able to get out until October 1909. He,however, gra dually
weakened, and although for the last three months he had tokeep to hi s bed, his
memory was good until just before his death. He died May5th, 1910, a ged 69.
Throughout his long illness he never complained, andhappily seemed f ree from
pain.
The funeral took place at St. John's Church, where theinterment too k place.
The arrangements were carried out by the firm, under thedirection o f Mr
William Spencer, and Mr Henry Titt (the latter having beenin the fir m's employ
for the period of thirty years), assisted by Mr WilliamBaverstock, M r George
Grace and Mr H Whatley.

A tribute was given by the Rev. J.W.R. Broklebank at thefollowing Su nday
evening service: "Mr Titt was pre-eminently a man of thetimes, gifte d to
devise cunning works and a gifted mechanical engineer."

-----------------

A letter from Mr G W Frost, managing director of John WallsTitt & C o Ltd
(1995) if response to my interest in the company.

Joh Wallis Titt was born in Chitterne, a small villageoutside of War minster,
some time in the early 1940's. His mother was one of theChitterne Wa llis' -
hence his middle name - and there must have been some tieup with WAL LIS &
STEVENS, traction engine manufacturers at Basingstoke,because he di d his
apprenticeship with them, and in those days that would havebeen quit e a long
way to travel!

He started his company in Warminster in 1867, originally asa part ti me agent
for a company called BROWN & MAY of Devizes. He built a newpremise s at
Woodcock Works in 1874. His principle enterprise was as acontract ow ner of
steam tackle and there are some interesting correspondencein the loc al papers of that period with regard to problemsof steam tackle on b ridges and
opposition from horse owners, and he seemed to be in thefore front o f 'new'
thinking.

The company grew and had its own foundry in the 1890's andmade a nam e for
themselves in producing windmills. We have a catalogue ofhis windmil ls an the 1900's which showed that they wereexported all over the wo rld. he had either 8 or 9 childrenand died in 1910(?) and is burie d at St John's Church,Boreham Road, Warminster.

The Company, which was very strong, went down after the 1stworld war , and
resurrected itself (due to better management) up to andafter the sec ond world war. When it had 30 years ofuninterrupted growth. Its mai n line then was themanufacture of hay elevators and the sale of trac otrs andfarm machinery to replace horse mechanisation. The original tractors and combines came across in crates from theStates durin g the second world war and were assembled onsite.

There are still a number of Titt relations in Warminster,and the gra ndson of
Mr John Wallis Titt died during the last 10 years - hisrelations sti ll have
shares in the company.

If I can be of any further help, please telephone me on01144 1373 46 3 594

G W Frost Managing Director

History of Wiltshire Volumes 4
----------------------------

PAGE 192-95 RE J.W. TITT [In a section on AgriculturalEngineers]

Machines in agriculture were first introduced in England inthe 18t h century..
A lease dated May 1808 on the three lives of Thomas PeplerReeves an d his
sons Thomas and Horatio (aged 2) shows that he was than ablacksmith,
occupying a messuage of about 1 acre, part of a tenementknown as Har t's and
Deanly. (A house called Daeslye stood until recently onthe Westbur y side
of the works.)
Little is known of the business between that date and 1830.But a
catalogue of 1859 claims that the firm had been celebratedfor corn d rills
for 30 years, and as ploughmakers for 40 years. At anyrate T.P.Reev es was
mainly a blacksmith and his eldest son Thomas learned thesame trade , and at
one time settled as Westbury where he is mentioned in 1830.But b y that
time at least the third son, Robert (born c. 1810) wasalready workin g at
Bratton. The earliest surviving ledger of Thomas Pr., R.,and J., Re eves
(1847) has an account with J.T. Flower's, executors,showing a tota l debit balance of L215 in that year.
A further reference shows that this total is composed ofannual sum s going
back to work done in 1828. (Reeves's Farm and Flower'sBarn are close
together near Bartton church; perhaps there was a familyconnexion to
account for the long debt.)
The ledgers of the late forties show that the youngest son,john (bor n c.
1815) was then active in the business, mostly on theblacksmithing si de,
whilst Robert seems to have concentrated on woodworking.Their wor k was
still principally in simple implements, both manufactureand maintena nce,
and general smith's work. But in 1848 they were alsoexhibiting imple ments
at the Royal Agricultural Show at York, where they a silvermedal, s o that
it is impossible to suppose that they had merely localsignificance.
In 1848 Thomas Pepler Reeves died, and the business wasvalued bot h then
and in 1855 when his eldest son Thomas left thepartnership, to whic h he
belonged for only a short time. This valuation shows anUpper Yard , a paint
shop, a saw-pit shed, and other buildings; 5 bellows, 4sledges, and 6
anvils. Besides, there was the proper engineer'sequipment, 5 vices , 4
lathes, 2 drilling machines, 'stocks dyes and taps', &c.,and a steam -engine
valued at L110 to drive the blower for the foundry andother machiner y. The
annual wages bill in 1847 was about L100, and the partner'sprofits L 150.
In January 1850, the assets were valued at L863. Fiftyyears later t he
freehold alone was worth more than L1,800 and the capitalwas more th an L10,000.
During the intermediate years the firm became widely knownas maker s of
agricultural implements. Their catalogues show a wideningrange, many
medals gained at shows and exhibitions, and testimonialsform all par ts of
England. They also started work as agents for other firms:they sol d churns
for Hathaway of Chippenham (see above), and steam-enginesfor Brow n & May of
Devizes (see below). The were even the local undertakers(and contin ued to
be so in 1952). Much detail of their later work is to befound in on e of
the catalogues of J.W. Titt of Warminster (see below). Hehad seve n models
of the ploughs, with very rigid specifications, a sign oflarge-scale
manufacture. There were also land-pressers, corn-sowingmachinery o f all
sorts, drills for...[page 194 goes on with details of R & JReeve s & Son.
John Wallis Titt is mentioned again near the end of thispage-
Their products included a chaff-cutter which was mentionedat Warmins ter
Fair in 1875 Further details are given in John WallisTitt's Catalog ue of
c.1890. This shows chaff-cutters of an elaborate designcombining th ree or
four operations, a patent automatic lamb creep, a cheesepress, and o ther
implements.
The last proprietor of the firm appears to have beenWilliam Carson T oone,
grandson of the founder, who emigrated to Canada in c.1906. He sol d the
business to Gray & Turner who operated for about sixyears...
[page 195] The Warminster district was inclosed in themiddle of th e 19th
century, and mechanization increased. Engines for steamploughs wer e made
in Wiltshire by Brown & May of Devizes. The ploughs ran oncables mo ved by
one or two stationary steam -engines. John Wallis Titt,who had been
trained by Brown & May, was sent to Warminster as theiragent in 1870 . He
set up his office at Portway, and for four years continuedmerely a s their
employee. However, in 1874 he advertised that he had set upon his ow n,
representing various firms. The 'Implement and MachineryDepot' appe ars to
have been successful in those years of agriculturalprosperity, for i n 1875
we find him moving to Woodcock, a disused sandpit some wayeast of th e town
and near to the railway, where he built himself a factoryfor agricul tural
implements. He continued his agency besides, he acted asrepresentat ive for
Fowler's of Leeds, and as a steam-ploughing contractor. Hemade wire
fencing for the Inclosure Commissioners and later onprivate account.
Round the turn of the century his main business was themanufacture o f hay
and corn elevators and water-supplies. The elevator, likeReeves's , was in
advance of its time and continued substantially unchangeduntil the
nineteen-twenties. The water-supply work led tospecialization in the
boring of artesian wells, pipe and pump work and then windpumps. He
obtained contracts first in the county, then also in Italy,British w est
Africa and elsewhere. At the peak of this activity some150 men were
employed, some of them constantly travelling (like Haden'smen) to fi t up
equipment. After John Wallis Titt's death in 1910,business decline d for
some time. In 1929 only 25 men were employed. But sincethe trade h as
revived under the management of Mr. G.T. Frost in in 1952about 60 me n were
working there on the agricultural and waterworks side.

The Will of John Wallis Titt

JOHN WALLIS TITT RockVilla, Warminster 1903

Extract:
Executors - Alec John Buckridge Titt, Edward Solomon Hareof 6 St. St ephens Ave., Bristol, accountant and WallisGeorge John Titt.
Bequests-.
Emily Eliza Titt, my wife - L50
Edward Hare - L50
M wife to have the use of all my household goods andfurniture and al l other articles of domestic use orornament. After her death said e ffects to sink into theresidue of my estate. Also my wines and spir its andconsumable stores and also all my poultry absolute.
AU real Estate (subject to the mortgages thereon) and mypersonal est ate not before mentioned to be converted tomoney and invested. Th e net income to be paid to my wife.
After the death of my wife the money to be held in trust.Eight nint h parts for my eight children - Alec JohnBuckridge Titt, Florence El iza Cross, Herbert Wallis Titt,Edith Emiline Parrott, Amy Louise Tit t, Ethel Kate Titt,Wallis George John Titt, Harold Edgar Titt, in eq ualshares with benefit of survivorship between them in theevent o f the death of any or either of them in my lifetimewithout leaving i ssue living at my death.
The remaining ninth part in trust for my two grandchildrenDorothy He len Cross and Frederick William Wallis Crosschildren of my daughte r Helen Cross in equal shares withbenefit of survivorship between th em.
After the death of my wife the income to be used for themaintainenc e of my two grandchildren herein mentioned. Ifeither should die bef ore the age of 21 years their shareto be shared between my eight ch ildren, equally.
Money already advanced to the following to be deducted fromhis or he r share. Alec John Buckridge Titt L400, EdithEmiline Parrott L75 . Wallis George John Titt L75. MyTrustees may invest any money o n trust. Also may lendmoney to Alec John Buclcridge Titt and Herber t Wallis Titton note of hand or other security.
I have lately sold and transferred my business of theWoodcock Ironwo rks and the assets thereof to my sons Alecand Herbert Titt for the s um of L5OOO to be paid in mannermentioned in an Indenture of Assignm ent and Covenant datedthe 12th September 1903.
Also by Indenture of Lease dated 12th September 1903demised to the s aid Alec Titt and Herbert Titt certainfreehold property situated a t Warminster for the term of21 years at the rent and consideration t herein mentioned.

1904 CODICIL- Revokes the appointment of Edward SolomonHare and th e payment of L50.
Appoint my son-in-law Thomas Handy Cross ofNorton Bavan t instead.
Harold Edgar Titt account to the trustees forL75.

1907 CODICIL- I appoint Alec John Buckeridge Titt, HerbertWallis Tit t and Thomas HandyCross as managing Trustees ofmy estate in accordan ce with the provision of the TrusteeAct 1906.

Feb. 1915

PEDI birth