Sarah Hayes | Coffin Works | Home of Newman Brothers Museum

Author: sarahhayes

Bio: Newman Brothers at The Coffin Works is a new visitor attraction located on the edge of the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. This time-capsule building and its contents tells the story of Newman Brothers, Birmingham’s last coffin-furniture factory who operated from their Fleet Street premises for over 100 years until 1998 when workers lay down their equipment, and walked out of the building for the very last time, leaving everything, including personal belongings behind.

Author Posts:

A Census update

January 31, 2023 | BCT, Birmingham History, Coffin Works | Sarah Hayes | 0

It’s been a year since we published our blog on the previously unknown Newman Brothers’ workforce we discovered as a result of the publication of the 1921 census. We were...
A family found and a mystery solved (well, nearly)

October 13, 2022 | Coffin Works, Newman Brothers | Sarah Hayes | 0

Newman Brothers was established in 1882 by two brothers, Alfred and Edwin Newman. Edwin, born in 1856, was four years older than Alfred. The brothers entered into partnership as...
Food for Thought – A Special Day of the Dead Celebration

August 31, 2022 | Coffin Works, Events | Sarah Hayes | 0

You’re invited to Food for Thought – A Special Day of the Dead Celebration with an exclusively cooked dinner followed by cake and drinks. Take a guided tour of our Stamp Room,...
Coffin Works receives Culture Recovery Continuity Funding!

November 19, 2021 | BCT, Coffin Works, Newman Brothers | Sarah Hayes | 0

The Coffin Works to receive £33,750 from third round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund! The Coffin Works is among 925 recipients to benefit from the latest round of...
The Coffin Works to receive £25,935 grant!

April 2, 2021 | Coffin Works, Uncategorized | Sarah Hayes | 0

The Coffin Works, among more than 2,700 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund. The Coffin Works in...
The Quarter Workshop is Returning!

March 25, 2021 | Coffin Works, Events, Uncategorized | Sarah Hayes | 0

2021 marks the Quarterworkshop’s seventh year at the Coffin Works! For Owner and jeweller, Victoria Delaney, this year is extra-special as she is expecting her own precious...
International Women’s Day at Newman Brothers

March 8, 2021 | Birmingham History, British History and Tradition, Coffin Works, Newman Brothers, Uncategorized, Volunteer Stories | Sarah Hayes | 0

Newman Brothers has a proud history of loyal and highly skilled workers, many of them women, who worked through wars, industrial changes and had to fight to prove they were...
Funeral Poverty

February 4, 2021 | Coffin Works, Newman Brothers, Uncategorized | Sarah Hayes | 0

Laura Joyce, partner on our Arts Council funded ‘Dead Fashionable’ project, reflects on some of its teachings in the wake of Covid-19. One of the reasons that...
Remembering Colin Meager: friend and colleague

January 20, 2021 | Coffin Works, Newman Brothers, Volunteer Stories | Sarah Hayes | 1

It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of Colin Meager, a friend and volunteer of Birmingham Conservation Trust and the Coffin Works. Our sincere thoughts are with...
The Coffin Works Museum receives lifeline grant from Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund

October 17, 2020 | Birmingham History, Coffin Works, Uncategorized | Sarah Hayes | 0

The Coffin Works has been awarded £53,500 as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to...