HEATH, John Joseph (1807-1882) — Birmingham
Engraver, lithographer & printer; label printer. Engraved Plan of Birmingham, 1837, for J. A. Guest’s edition of William Hutton, ‘The history of Birmingham’, and possibly earlier editions.
A Londoner by birth, Heath was born 7 Oct 1807 and baptised John Joseph Heath at St. George, Hanover Square, 1 Nov 1807, the son of John and Mary Heath. Working in Birmingham by 1828, he married Jane Walker (1811-1889) there, the daughter of a shoemaker, 28 Jun 1830 at St. Peter & St. Paul, Aston. He was employing seven men and six boys in 1851, when resident in Vyse Street with his wife and three children. One of his employees was named as Daniel Grantham in a court case in 1860. In 1861, the comparable figures were six men and nine boys, and the various children were no longer living at home. There were ten men and six boys in 1871, Heath and his wife resident with a widowed daughter and five grandchildren. A partnership with Edmund English, as ‘Heath & English’, was dissolved by mutual consent 4 May 1877, Heath continuing alone. He was still working in 1881, at the age of seventy-three, employing nine men and seven boys, and living with his wife and two grand-children. He died at his home 13 May 1882 and was buried at Key Hill cemetery. Probate on a personal estate of £4,087.17s.11d was granted to his widow and other executors 21 Jul 1882. A grandson, John Alfred Heath (1863-1949), appears to have taken over the business before emigrating to Canada.
6 Great Charles Street, Birmingham — 1828-1829
68 Great Charles Street, Birmingham — 1832-1879
— and 67 Great Charles Street, Birmingham — 1878-1879
— 102 New John Street West, Birmingham (home) — 1841-1850
— 125 Vyse Street, Birmingham (home) — 1851
— 105 Vyse Street, Birmingham (home) — 1855-1871
— 101 (Heath House) Soho Hill, Handsworth (home) — 1872-1882
BBTI. BNA. BNF. Census 1841-1881. LG.