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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Yorkshire (West Riding) => Topic started by: charlotteCH on Tuesday 02 February 10 05:35 GMT (UK)
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Has anyone any knowledge of when William[?] FLATHER was making & selling clocks in Halifax [long case clocks in particular]?
Any onfo about him& his clockmaking would be of interest. I'm not interested in his family but am trying to put a time frame around one of his clocks.
Any help much appreciated and thank you.
charlotte
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Hi Charlotte
There is a reference to a Wm FLATHER Watchmaker 18 Church St Sheffield in the 1837 White's Directory for Sheffield Yorkshire.
Karenlee
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Also found this in the Pigot's 1822 Compendium Directory
Watch and Clock Makers
FLATHER William Kingscross Lane
1857 White's History, Gazeteer and Directory or Derbyshire and Sheffield
FLATHER William Watchmaker & Co 30 Scotland Street Sheffield
The earliest I can see him in any Directory is 1816-1817 Commercial Directory for Halifax Yorkshire, address KingscrossL Lane
Karenlee
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Karenlee, That is great stuff....and it looks as if he could have been in Halifax between 1816-1837.
Our family has a long case clock with W.Flather Halifax on its face and those dates fit with my Jonas having bought it c.1825 which is what we belive its provenance to be. It's been handed down thru 6 generations so far.
Thanks for looking it up. ;D
charlotte
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Seem to be 2 William Flathers making clocks in Halifax according to Watchmakers & Clockmakers of the World (Vol.2) by Briam Loomes:
Flather, William I (Halifax) b.1786 d.1856 Clocks
Flather, William II (Halifax), son of William I, b.1810 d.1879
Also a Robert Flather in Halifax making clocks in 1850.
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Thanks agahdowey for that info. Maybe the two younger Flathers were sons of Wm Senior
The line up of those dates together with Karenlee's info allows the clock to have been bought between say 1825 & 1840.
Thank you both again,
charlotte
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From the style of the case (if original) and the dial, etc. it should be possible to date the clock. Is it a grandfather? have the inside plates of the works been checked to marks (often date and initials inscribed when cleaned, etc.)?
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yes, I'm aware of the ways to date it by the style of the case, the painted face and the works...It's a longcase[grandfather]
charlotte
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Hi Charlotte,
I've seen adverts for clockmakers whilst browsing Halifax directories on 'from weaver to webb'. Unfortunately I can't be specific as to which directory or what was the name of the clockmaker, but if you have the time you could get lucky and get an early print for Wm Flather or son's clocks.
You will need to search each directory, the search engine probably won't find 'Flather' embedded in an advert.
Dave
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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. ;D
charlotte
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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.
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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
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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 ;D
Thanks again
charlotte
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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
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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
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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
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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