Daniel Causer was born 1848 in Worcester, baptised 17/11/1848 in St Elphin, Warrington (church records).
His father was a succesful taylor. It is reported, that he left, in 1861, £1,500 when he died.

Above: 1877 from Birmingham Archives. Below: 5 January 1879, from The Rio News.	Above: 20 June 1879 from The London Gazette.

With Francis Hopkins and Thomas Browett, Daniel established late 1870s a company of merchants at Charlotte St. in Birmingahm. Daniel lived then in Sutton Coldfield, a town about 11 km northeast of Birmingham city centre bordering the areas of Little Aston and Erdington. Hopkins lived in Aston, Browett in Birmingham. For locations see the map of Birmingham and surroundings (from map of Warwickshire, 1895).

The company engaged in the trade with Brazil. Daniel must have been sent out to set up shop.
In 1876 his son Daniel E. Causer was born, in Niterói, the town across the bay from Rio de Janeiro. This son most likely was from a Brazilian mother.
Daniel must have been succesful. This is documented by a small advertisement January 1879 in the english language newspaper of Rio de Janeiro, "The Rio News". They are "General Hardware Merchants", Birmingham.

In 1879, Browett left the company while a Hopkins was added (see advertisement at right). The name of the company was changed into "Hopkins, Causer & Hopkins" (see below). This company name would stay in spite of later changes in the partnerships.

How long Daniel stayed in Brazil has not been documented (yet). Having returned to England he must have acquired a house to live in. He likely needed a house maid, too.

Sara was born in Hereford (18510224). Her father James Vaughan was "silk dryer".

Daniel and Sara married in 1882, both being older than 30 years (18820822). As of 1884 they live at Wood End House at Kingsbury road in Erdington, NE of Birmingham (see map). A far descendant writes in the blog Manors and Halls of greater Birmingham (page 3, post of Jan. 26, 2020; retrieved 20200801):
My family lived there for about 30 years from 1884 to 1918 when my Great, Great Grandfather died and his widow moved out. They were living in the house definitely in 1901. .... I have a lot more information about Pype Hall/ Wood End House, photos too! The name was Daniel Causer and his wife was Sara, he was the director of the Birmingham based business Hopkins Causer and Hopkins.
The house had six gable topped sections of differing width of each two stories with an attick. Ivy grew on the facade (see photo of central part with front door).

The Warwickshire census of 1891 (available as a separate file) informs us about the composition of his family (at Wood End House). It is:
1. no house or street name given.   1.1. Daniel Causer, head of household, age 42, merchant (general export), born in Birmingham.  1.2. Sara P Causer, wife, age 40, born in Hereford.  Then follow the children all born in Erdington, where Wood End House is.  1.3. Charles, age 7, scholar.  1.4. William J., age 5, scholar.  1.5. Margaret S., age 4 (born in 1887, somewhere Jan-Mar; see 18870200).  1.6. Alice P., age 2.  1.7. John, age 1.  Furthermore there are 1.8. Emma J Grubb, age 23, governess, and 1.9. Jane Cooper, age 29, servant.
Interestingly, his son Daniel E. is not mentioned. He is with his grandfather at 2. Moor End Lane.   2.1. Daniel Causer, head, age 68, taylor, born Worcester.  2.2. Daniel E., grandson, age 15, scholar, born Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.   And there is 2.3. Jane Luty, age 35, servant.

Young Daniel was in 1891 at his grandfather's; was this "by accident", or was he there permanently? If the latter, why? There is an age gap between young Daniel and his brother Charles of some 7-8 years. Daniel E(dward) most likely was a son born from a Brazilian mother near Rio de Janeiro (see above, 1876).

The company   Hopkins, Causer & Hopkins

This company became from the start active in trade with Brazil. In 1879, a warehouse was established in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian archives contain, from 1879 on, Brazilian newspapers with several advertisements explaining what all can be bought at Hopkins, Causer & Hopkins.

The success of the company must have allowed Daniel to improve his living standards in Erdington. He moved to Wood End House in 1884 (see above at Wood End). Most likely he bought the house (but that still has to be documented).

In 1895, HCH started to import the Alfa-Laval separators for the dairy indstry. They imported almost 90% of these available then in Brazil.

From the website novomilenio, Stories and Legends of Santos - 1913: "A branch was established in 1906 in São João del Rei, Mato Grosso (some 300 km NW of Rio de Janeiro), by mr. Carlos Causer. He was in 1908 appointed as English vice consul in that city, a position he still holds today."[1913]

Advertisement on 13/03/1910 on p.4 in the newspaper "O Reporter" of São João del Rei.

The trade was aparently successful. The HCH company is listed in the "Trade Directory of South America for the Promotion of American Export Trade (1914)" in all the relevant categories, clearly in the hope americans can take a share, too.
The image of a name plate is shown on the internet along with a text in portugese on these matters. Various street addresses in São João del Rei are given, the last one for 1916 until 1930, when the activities ended and the outfit was declared bankrupt. This name plate resides in the Museo Municipal Tomé Portes in São João del-Rei.

From novomilenio mentioned above: Em Birmingham, os brasileiros se entendem geralmente com o sr. Daniel E. Causer, que nasceu em Niterói, e também com o sr. William J. Causer, que viveu durante muitos anos no Rio de Janeiro e em Minas Gerais. A firma ocupa um dos primeiros lugares como especialista em aparelhos para laticínios e como importadora de gado de raças puras, sem contudo deixar de se ocupar do seu antigo negócio de ferragens e outros artigos.

"Until 1908, little importance was attached, in Minas Gerais, to the importation of breeding cattle, of pure breeds; that year, however, under the chairmanship of dr. João Pinheiro, the import of European cattle received a great impulse, the State government imported about 2,000 heads of purebred breeds, followed by a new shipment in 1910. These contracts for the introduction of purebred cattle were entrusted to Messrs. Hopkins, Causer & Hopkins, who performed them to the satisfaction of all interested parties."

After Daniel had died, in 1916, the company was continued by sons Daniel E., Charles/Carlos, and William J. Causer. 

From  "Wileman's Brazilian Review", Rio de Janeiro, 28 January 1919, p.80.  Note that the company name is unchanged but that the partners were Daniel E., Charles, and William J. Causer.

Daniel E. did the Birmingham part.  Charles was active (becoming english vice-consul) in São João del Rei.  William J. lived for many years in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro and in Minas Gerais (see text in Portugese above).

With time the economy must have changed. We learn that the São João del Rei post was declared bankrupt in 1930. Then, in 1941, the building at 48 St. Paul's Squaer is derelict. This building was later demolished. Only historic small objects remain of the company.

Uncovering the right family connections

Daniel Causer, together with his sons, must have have made good money. Daniel and family could afford to live in a large house in Erdington. And they owned a vacation house on the Welsh westcoast (about 200 km from Erdington).

The only Daniel Causer initially known (in relation with the genealogical research) was the father of Margaret Sara Causer, who, in 1910, married Frank Wilkinson Argyle. The newspaper Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard (see clip) writes that Daniel Causer [is] from Wood End House, Erdington, and Cader View, Towyn, Wales. So this Daniel lived in Wood End House in Erdington, in the late 19th century 3 miles outside Birmingham (on Wood End House see Manors and Halls of greater Birmingham, page 1, the post of July 25, 2018). This newspaper item was the starting point of the research.
The mentioned "Cader View" was, as it turns out, the summer residence on the Welsh west coast. Since there are other residents in Cader View up to 1891, the Causers had access to Cader View only from that time on. From Cader view in Towyn (newer spelling: Cadair View in Tywyn) they must have had a good view of Cadair Idris, the elongated mountain with several peaks of some 800 m above sea level.

The last years of Daniel and Sarah

Daniel died in 1916 (19160618).
His sons carried on with the company "Hopkins, Causer & Hopkins".
Sarah died sometime later.

Back to the family tree page of Daniel Causer (the younger).