James T. Chance JP MA DL
(1814-1902)

Died aged c. 88

Chance Brothers and Company was a glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassmaking technology. The Chance family originated in Bromsgrove in Worcestershire as farmers and craftsmen, before setting up business in Smethwick in 1822. Situated between Birmingham and the Black Country in the agglomeration of the Midlands industrial heartland, they took advantage of the skilled workers, canals and many advances that were taking place in the industrial West Midlands at the time. Throughout its almost two centuries of history many changes affected the company which, now privatised, continues to function as Chance Glass Limited, a specialised industrial glass manufacturer in Malvern, Worcestershire at one of its small subsidiary factories. The social and economic impact of the company on the region is the subject of a project sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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Commemorated on 1 plaque

James T. Chance M.A. J.P. D.L. For fifty years a partner in the firm of Chance Brothers & Co at the Glass Works Smethwick and at the Akali Works Oldbury. He purchased the land for the Park, laid it out and endowed it and on September 7th 1895 opened it a gift to the public for ever. He also made the roads on the east and west boundaries.

Memorial to James Chance - West Smethwick Park, Smethwick, United Kingdom where they purchased the land for the park (1895)