Fred Verity

 ( 1847 Births ) 

Joshua Marland "Fred" Verity (11 April 1847 – 5 February 1897) was an English engineer, inventor, iron founder, Metalsmith, manufacturer and retailer of ironmongery in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. With his brother Edwin, and later with his sons, he ran foundries, a workshop in Hunslet, and a large store in Leeds city centre, under the name of Verity Brothers, then Fred Verity & Sons. With Edwin he registered patents for new or improved fittings and gadgets, and produced and sold cast iron products of his era, such as , , Fireplace mantel, and rollers, baths, mangles and other household goods, besides brass fittings. The Verity Brothers won medals at exhibitions for the design of some of their products.

Fred Verity's second eldest brother was Charles Henry Verity, who, according to the South Yorkshire Times and Mexborough and Swinton Times, completed his apprenticeship as an engineer at Manchester. He joined his father in railway and viaduct construction, then constructed the wagon building and repairing sheds in White Lee Road, Mexborough, purchased land, and built the wheel works. To read the source, see: Death of C.H.V. .jpg, Death of C.H.V. .jpg, Death of C.H.V. .jpg, Death of C.H.V. .jpg, Death of C.H.V. .jpg, Death of C.H.V. .jpg, and Death of C.H.V. .jpg. For over thirty years, he was "owner of the Swinton Wagon and Railway Wheel works" according to the Sheffield Independent, See press cutting Report of death of Charles Henry Verity .JPG and "principal in the firm of Verity & Son, wheel, tire (sic), and axle manufacturers at Swinton" as reported by the Bridlington and Quay Gazette. See Press cutting: Report of death of Charles Henry Verity .JPG One of Verity's half brothers was a solicitor practising in Doncaster, but he died young.

Harriet Verity died on 8 May 1847, less than a month after her fourth child, Joshua Marland, known as "Fred" was born. Verity was born in Wakefield on 11 April 1847, and baptised on 11 May 1847 at Lake Lock, York. His father Charles Verity remarried and had more children after Fred Verity's mother Harriet died, so that Fred Verity was one of twelve siblings: four full siblings and eight half-siblings. Verity and his full brother Edwin were initially cared for in Woolley, West Yorkshire by his unmarried uncle James Rogers, who was a shoemaker and farmer, and his elderly, widowed aunt Elizabeth Bennet. By the age of 13 years, Verity was attending school and being brought up by another uncle, railway porter Joseph Bell, and his aunt Elizabeth Bell, in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

By 1881 Verity and his brother Edwin were living at 25 Brunswick Place, Leeds, and at the respective ages of 23 and 26 were master ironmongers. On 12 June 1872, at Kirk Bramwith, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, Verity married Mary Heptinstall, daughter of farmer John Heptinstall of Braithwaite Hall, and they had five children. Two of his children, John Heptinstall Verity and Ernest Albert Verity, were alumni of Leeds Grammar School. Fred Verity's nephew, via his brother, Ironmongery Edwin Verity, was the sound engineer and inventor Claude Hamilton Verity. In 1891, Verity was living with his wife, four of his children and a groom, in a house named "Bel Vue" in Horsforth, Leeds. At that time he was describing himself as an employer and iron merchant, and his son John Heptinstall Verity, aged 17, was an ironmonger's assistant. His last address was "West Hill", Chapeltown, Leeds. Verity died at the age of 49 years on 5 February 1897, and was buried at Lawnswood Cemetery, Leeds, on 9 February 1897. He left £14,368 14s 9d (). His wife Mary died on 1 January 1930, and was also buried at Lawnswood Cemetery.