Family Tree of William Charles JOSEPH

 

Born into a rapidly industrialising England in 1780, William Charles Jousiffe grew up during a time of sweeping change. By the early 19th century, he had established himself in the demanding profession of iron founding — a craft at the heart of Britain’s Industrial Revolution. Each day for William would begin early, often before sunrise, in the smoky heart of London, where foundries clanged with the constant rhythm of human labour and fire.

 

A typical morning saw William visiting his foundry, a bustling, soot-streaked building filled with the acrid smell of molten metal and coal. As a master founderer, his responsibilities stretched from overseeing the workmen to ensuring the quality of every casting. He would check the furnaces, where iron ore was melted at blistering temperatures, and supervise the pouring of the glowing liquid into intricate molds, producing everything from machine parts to iron railings and street furniture.

 

William's midday was filled with meetings — with merchants ordering goods, architects requesting decorative ironwork for London's expanding streets, and perhaps even city officials commissioning iron structures for public use. His ability to bridge the technical with the commercial made him a valuable figure, someone respected not just for his craftsmanship but also for his business sense.

In the afternoon, he often walked through the foundry floor, exchanging words with apprentices and senior craftsmen alike. Safety was a constant concern: an accidental spill of molten iron could maim or kill. William, seasoned by decades in the trade, enforced discipline and skill among his men.

 

Despite the intensity of his work, family remained central to William’s life. Having married twice — first to Hannah Davis, with whom he had three children, and later to Elizabeth Need, with whom he had three more — his evenings, when possible, were spent with his growing family. At home, away from the grime and roar of the foundry, William might have enjoyed a modest supper, a pipe, and conversation about the day's labors, the future of the industry, or the prospects of his sons following in his footsteps.

 

By the time of his death in 1851, at the age of 71, William Charles Jousiffe had witnessed London transform through iron and industry. Buried in Middlesex, he left behind not just a family, but a legacy forged in fire — one emblematic of a nation rising on the strength of its iron and its people