William Henshaw of Stockport (1805-1854)

[RobinRedBreast]

Hello there,
William Henshaw was one of my 4x Great Grandfather's. He Married Elizabeth Griffiths in 1835, at Stockport Parish Church. His Father was a Henry Henshaw. William was a Blacksmith.
 Sometime in 1836, he set up "The Stockport Lurry Works", with his brother Thomas, who was a Wheelwright. The company was very well known in England at the time, and also even abroad.
Anyway, William was a member of something called the Oddfellowes Society. Stockport Heritage Museum, have a Pocket Watch that was presented to William in 1838, by that Society. I found out yesterday, after visiting my Mum's Cousin, that there is quite a lot of writing on the back of the Watch, from a photograph she had taken. It says:
"Presented by the King William IV Lodge, no. 736, of the IOFMU, to William Henshaw, Prov G M, for his gratuitous and worthy services, September 22nd, 1838".
I have found out that this lodge was established at Bramhall, in 1833, and was part of the society's Handforth District. Also William would have been Provincial Grand Master (Presiding Officer) of the district.
But can anyone please tell me what the "IOFMU" on the back of the Watch stands for?

Thank you very much.

[groom]

From Google it is likely to be:

"Independent Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity",

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Order_of_Odd_Fellows
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Order_of_Oddfellows_Manchester_Unity

[RobinRedBreast]

From Google it is likely to be:

"Independent Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity",

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Order_of_Odd_Fellows
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Order_of_Oddfellows_Manchester_Unity

Thank you.

[Colin Henshaw]

Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Manchester Unity confirmed.

William was the brother off my great great grandfather Thomas Henshaw, and together they founded and ran the Stockport Lurry Company.

Thomas Henshaw, and his son, my great grandfather Henry Henshaw are buried in St Thomas's Church, off Wellington Road South (the A6) in Stockport.

[RobinRedBreast]

I've been trying to rack my brains to remember where I found out that Lodge no.736 of the Oddfellows Society was formed in 1833 at Bramhall. I think it came from the Stockport Heritage Library, but not too sure. 

[Colin Henshaw]

I think William's Pocket Watch is in the possession of Stockport Public Library. I have an image of it, revealing it to be a beautiful watch, with the coat of arms of the Odd Fellows Institute on the face. It is the old kind of watch that came with its own key to wind it up. There was an image posted on the internet, from where I was able to download it. The link was http://HTTP://WWW.GMMG.ORG.UK/OUR-CONNECTED-HISTORY/ITEM/POCKET-WATCH/ but it no longer opens up.

However I copied the information that came with it. It seems it was manufactured by Nathaniel Dumville. I tried to post an image of it here but it refused to allow the .jpeg image I created. If there is anyway I can contact you I can send you my original image.

"Nathaniel Dumville
circa 1838
Silver pocket watch and key presented to local blacksmith, William Henshaw, for his service to the Oddfellows Society in 1838.
The watch is a beautiful example of local craftmanship created by watchmaker Nathaniel Dumville. The Dumville’s were a family of watch and clockmakers. Nathaniel Dumville was based on Lower Hillgate in Stockport. Near the site of his shop there is a small alley way called Dumville Brow.
The recipient, William Henshaw, came from Cheadle Hulme, Stockport. William came from a family of blacksmiths and wheelwrights. Around 1836, William and his brother Thomas founded The Stockport Lurry Works on Wellington Road South, Heaton Norris, Stockport.
The Oddfellows Society have been a friendship club for over 200 years. They provide advice, benefits and support for those in need."

I have traced down the descendants of William Henshaw and Elizabeth Griffiths, through his son James Henshaw and his wife Sarah Potter, and his daughter Nelly Henshaw and her husband Herbert Newsome, and his daughter Maria Henshaw and Samuel Pennington. It seems he had about eight children, one of whom George Owen Henshaw we mentioned before, who was in the army and died at sea off South Africa.

[RobinRedBreast]

Thanks Colin,

I just re-discovered the link to the Watch here, via the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20140417021005/http://www.gmmg.org.uk/our-connected-history/item/pocket-watch/

https://web.archive.org/web/20140417110236/http://www.gmmg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Pocket-Watch-web.jpg

 

[Colin Henshaw]

Many thanks for the links. I've saved them for future reference.

[Ray T]

Have you managed to tie down exactly where the Stockport Lurry Works was located? I appreciate you say Wellington Road South, Heaton Norris but there lies the problem.

Wellington Roads North and South (built in 1824/1826) meet where they crosso the River Mersey - the old boundary between Lancashire and Cheshire. Heaton Norris (Lancashire) is north of the river whereas Stockport (Cheshire) is south of the river so the Lurry Works must have been located on WRN, HN or WRS, S and can’t be WRS, HN.

I suspect that the watch will now probably be located at Staircase House in the Market Place.