In 1850 Robert Blackett Charlton, the son of Edward Charlton and Elizabeth Blackett set up a brass foundry in the centre of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The brass foundry was developed by his son of the same name and over the years the company, trading as R. Blackett Charlton Ltd., established a worldwide reputation as a manufacturer of pipes and other engineering products. It moved to a site in Walker, east of Newcastle, in 1901. The company became a part of the Chieftain Group in 1991, which itself has been part of Redhall Group plc since 2008. R. Blackett Charlton Ltd. continued to trade under its own name but sadly, due to a downturn in the oil and gas industry, orders dried up and the site was mothballed in 2016 and then sold, and the main building has now been demolished. For an extremely informative article on the history of the business by Charlie MacCallum please click here.
Robert Blackett Charlton the younger was the 2nd cousin of William Charlton Blackett (see Blacketts and music.)