W.FLATHER, clockmaker, Halifax. When?

[charlotteCH]

Hi Dave

Thanks for that lead.

  Of course the clock may now have been new when Jonas bought it.  There is someone here who has know how about dating as Aghadowey suggested and that would be a good place to start. The old adverts might give a clue as to the prices back then... thasta's a new and interesting thought to me. 

charlotte

[Robmagson]

I see this is an old post but I just wanted to say that we own a Flather long case clock.  Inside scrawled in pencil it says 'Came into family in 1845 not new then' I know it belonged to my great grandfather born in 1868 and assumed it belonged to his father too.  There is another one in Halifax museum.  My family lived in Sowerby Bridge.

[Tittensor ONS]

Another source of info would be newspapers.  Findmypast has started to index British newspapers 1710-1950 (http://www.findmypast.co.uk/search/newspapers).  There are none for Halifax (yet) but some for Sheffield and Leeds.  A quick search of the index for 1810-30 finds William Flather clockmaker in 1828 in a Leeds paper.  You might find advertisements, obituaries etc as the index progresses.

Regards,

Paul

Tittensor One-Name study homepage: www.tittensor.com

[charlotteCH]

Paul, thanks for that.

It would be intriguing to learn how much the clock had cost in say mid 1820s at the earliest when it was probably bought by my ancestor.  he was a Chelsea pensioner with a pension of 2/6 per day.

Typical FH situation... ask one question and come up with more to research

Thanks again

charlotte

[dave the tyke]

As I said in my earlier post there are clockmaker adverts on the 'weaver to web' site I remember seeing a picture of a long case clock.

 http://calderdale.gov.uk/wtw/index.html

but you would need to search through the directories to find them because a search engine can't find a name within an advert. You can use the advanced search to narrow down where you are looking and you can search directories and newspapers for the correct time period.

Dave

[Sunlaws]

Hi

A William FLATHER clock was auctioned in December 2010. The info accompanying the listing

http://www.bamfords-auctions.co.uk/buying/auctions/ThreeDay-Antiques-and-Fine-Art-Sale--December-2010/lot-1602-A-Victorian-mahogany-longcase-clock/

says that between 1829 and 1856 the clocks were marked Wm Flather & Son, so if there is no mention of the son yours is pre-1829.

The auction price was £350, but Jonas probably paid less than that   

Regards,
Lesley

[charlotteCH]

Lesley, That link gives  interesting info... thank you for digging that out .

Jonas'clockis better looking than that in terms of the case and spandrells. 

I really appreciate your help.

charlotte

[Tittensor ONS]

Hi Charlotte, another thought, you may be able to find a list of 19C clockmakers which might identify some more leads.  I have found useful info on some cabinet maker ancestors in books.

The Company of Watchmakers (http://www.clockmakers.org/horology/how-old-is-my-clock/) web site says that they have no provincial records but "There are however an increasing number of published lists of English provincial clockmakers, county by county and town by town, which are generally available and can be consulted in many public libraries. A selection is listed in the bibliography given here".

Regards,

Paul

Tittensor One-Name Study homepage: www.tittensor.com