Noah Hingley

According to an obituary of one of his sons: "Noah Hingley was proud to acknowledge that he was born a poor man, and sprang from the ranks of the working-classes, he and his father before him having plied the craft of chain-making in a small factory on the banks of the Stour.

"[2] In his own obituary, written in a local paper, it was stated that he attended a school in Reddal Hill until the death of his mother and that he commenced business before the age of 20, travelling with a packhorse selling nails made at the family forge.

[5][6] His first wife died in 1832[1] and in the following year he married Anne Linton Wittington[7] In November 1833, his name appeared in a case to be heard at the Court for Relief of Insolvent Debtors, in Lancaster.

In addition to being an industrialist and employer, Noah Hingley was a philanthropist supporting education, religion and poor relief in his locality.

[17][18] He died on 21 October 1877 at Hatherton Lodge in Cradley[19] and was buried at St John the Baptist Church, Halesowen.

According to Dudley chronicler, C. F. G. Clark: "The death of this good old gentleman, in 1877, drew the tears of sincere regret from thousands of the working classes of this neighbourhood; and the public funeral, which was accorded to his remains, witnessed one of the largest gatherings of respectably dressed, sorrowful men, women, and children, that ever assembled on any occasion to pay their last mark of regard to real departed worth.