A Fine Provincial Clockmaker
Although the clockmaking industry of the 17th and 18th centuries was centred around the City of London, under the auspices of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, many of the finest pieces were made further afield in the provinces. Lancashire and Yorkshire were particularly well blessed with fine and innovative makers, indeed John Harrison of Longitude fame was a Yorkshireman. In the North families tended to work together in business and often the number of clockmakers in one family would run to double figures. Such a family were the Barlow’s of Lancashire. They had a tradition of fine clockmaking producing wonderful clocks, none more so than Benjamin Barlow of both Oldham and Ashton-under-Lyne. The family were descended from the famous clockmaker Edward Barlow, who for some reason changed his name from Booth, and who would’ve been the great grandfather of Benjamin. Edward was the inventor in 1676 of, amongst other things, the rack used to count off the hours when striking and which became the standard on most clocks and is still used in clockmaking today and which also allowed for repeating mechanisms in clocks and watches.
Benjamin Barlow was born on July the 14th 1736, the son of Edward, clockmaker of Oldham, and his wife Anne. He eventually became one of nine children, having four brothers and four sisters. He married Betty Ogden, at St. Michael’s Church, Ashton Under Lyne on October 29th 1761. Betty had been christened at the same church on July 28th 1734 and was buried there after her death on March 28th 1788, aged 54.
The Barlow family were well established in Oldham at this time with Benjamin’s father also being a well known businessman in the town as well as a clockmaker. He encouraged his sons to join the family trade and apprenticed Benjamin himself.
Longcase clocks are known to have been signed by Benjamin Barlow at both Oldham or Ashton, as the example shown here. There are a number of possible reasons for this change. The two towns are separated by just a few miles and as Betty came from Ashton, indeed their first two children were christened at St. Michaels church, they may’ve lived there after their marriage although it’s known that in 1766 they were living in Oldham, a move probably forced upon them by the roots of the family clockmaking business being well established in the town. Perhaps after his wife died Benjamin moved back from Oldham and lived in Ashton to work closer alongside his brother William whom he apprenticed in 1762. It could also be possible that Benjamin and William had to move away and work in Aston simply because there was not enough business for them in Oldham alongside Edward, John and other local clockmakers.
This then raises the question as to who purchased these clocks in the mid-eighteenth century? A clock would probably have cost about £4 in 1770, a lot of money for the times. The population of Oldham was approximately six thousand and many of these lived in poverty. It would only be titled gentlemen, landowners, farmers and professional families who could afford to own such an instrument outright, as they could be viewed upon as more likely to need to know the time so as to organise their lives. During these times Oldham was most definitely a rural community with the local gentry dominating the local society.
So in order that the less affluent could afford to purchase such an expensive item clock clubs were established within the townships. These clubs were an early form of hire purchase with the members paying in an equal weekly payment until the funds were sufficient to buy a clock. The member at the top of the list received the clock and subsequently dropped out of the club and was replaced by someone else, this would now carry forward with the last person to join taking the position at the bottom of the list to receive his clock.
Benjamin was probably very similar to his father and would have also been a well respected gentleman within the town. And as was the case with his father, Benjamin was made a constable of the borough of Oldham and acted as deputy to John Marlow, shoemaker, when mayor.
Interestingly in 1771, as well as being a clockmaker, he took possession of the Nagg’s Head Inn and ran this ale house for a period of ten years when in April 1781 ..’it is noted that the Nagg’s Head Inn is to be let’. Perhaps it became too much to run alongside a booming clock business. Interestingly another Oldham clockmaker, John Banks, took on the tenancy of the Inn before the famous Oldham clockmaker Johnathan Lees, who died in 1788, took it over. The Nagg’s Head therefore had three landlords in a row all of whom were clockmakers.
Benjamin died at Cowhill on March the 25th, 1788.
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The following article is from The Oldham Chronicle January 16th 1904, and is headed:
OLDHAM CLOCKMAKERS. INTERESTING PAPER BY MR. S. ANDREW
At the monthly meeting of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society at Manchester, on the old clock- makers of Oldham and the surrounding districts: What year Edward Barlow came to Oldham is not known, but his great grandson, George Barlow, formerly of Greenhill, and at one time Mayor of Oldham, writing to "Notes and Queries" vol.6, says "my great grandfather Edward Barlow, was a clockmaker about 50 years, say from 1726 to 1776, and I believe him to have been grandson of the inventor".
