The lady builder of Newark: A profile of Emily Blagg

This article, written by Karen Winyard, is one in a series commissioned by The Acorns Project.

Supported by Arts Council England’s Cultural Recovery Fund, The Acorns Project seeks to improve access to culture across Newark and Sherwood.

These articles form part of the Voices Of Newark and Sherwood strand of the project and have been written by local writers to tell the stories of notable local figures.

You can hear more about Voices of Newark and Sherwood and The Acorns Project at facebook.com/theacornsproject

When Emily Stevens made Newark her home in 1883, nobody could have guessed the impact she would have on the town.

Emily, a labourer’s daughter, grew up in Altrincham, Cheshire, with her brother and sisters.

She came to Newark, aged 20, and began working for Cooper’s clothing factory.

After 20 years with the firm, Emily decided to strike out on her own ­— but not as a dressmaker.

In 1903 Emily invested in brickworks at Dinnington Colliery in Yorkshire and on Clay Lane in Newark.

Her ambition was to become a property developer and over the next decade she built many houses in the town, notably developing The Park and Lime Grove.

She married William Blagg, a local butcher, in 1906.

Marriage did not lessen Emily’s ambitions and, as Mrs Blagg, she continued to grow her building enterprises.

Both her career and marriage were unconventional.

Although William Blagg’s address in 1907 was Emily’s home, 2 The Park, by 1911 the couple were living separately.

William had returned to his mother’s house on Stodman Street while Emily remained at 2 The Park with her companion, Marion Bednall. William died in 1919.

Emily’s building projects were not limited to housing.

She built Newark’s first cinema, the Kinema on Baldertongate, which opened in 1913.

Six years later, Emily purchased the Chauntry estate, which included the historic Chauntry house and adjoining deer park.

Her plans to demolish the house and build a second cinema and more houses on the site dismayed those who wanted to preserve the building as a museum.

Emily refused to bow to pressure from the town council and pursued her dream project, controlling every aspect of the build and working on site throughout.

Newark’s Palace Theatre opened in 1920, but it was no longer owned by Emily Blagg. Both Palace Theatre and the Kinema had been sold to a Sheffield syndicate.

Emily continued to make her way successfully in a man’s world.

In 1921 she registered Blagg and Johnson Ltd, the sheet metal works company she formed in partnership with Frank Mihill Johnson; followed by the Newark Brick Company in 1925.

Johnson remained with the company for six months, but then left Newark, taking the firm’s working capital with him.

It was to take many years for Emily to restore the business’s fortunes; but she succeeded and on her death in 1935 her estate was valued at over £7,000.

Johnson died in 1929, leaving only £96.

Emily Blagg had the courage and determination to live life on her own terms.

Throughout her career she demonstrated a strong sense of community spirit. Many of the houses she built were affordable homes intended for her workers. In 1914 Emily provided free entertainment for children at the Kinema.

But her most prized legacy was surely the Palace Theatre, the beautiful and stylish building she had poured her heart and soul into and which continues to give pleasure and entertainment to people today.

Newark can be very proud of its ‘lady builder’.