High back Caistor Windsor rocking chair with curved notched crest rail, turned stiles, 7 spindles both above and below the cross rail with bobbin and ring turnings, scroll arms, turned underarm supports with 4 short spindles, straight seat sides, 2 ring legs with vase feet, H stretcher with bobbin and 2 ring turning WS 39

High back Caistor Windsor rocking chair with curved notched crest rail WS 39

I have seen many Caistor chairs made by John Shadford but this one has to be the very best condition of them all; I was lucky enough to win this at a Cambridgeshire auction for a modest amount even though the auctioneers had given it correct attribution and description. On collection I inquired as to its provenance and was told that it come via a retired local antique dealer who was letting go some of his private collection. Pause for a moment and study this picture: you will never see a better Caistor rocker.

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

High back Caistor chair with curved notched crest rail, turned stiles, 7 spindles both above and below the cross rail with bobbin and ring turnings, scroll arms, turned underarm supports with 4 short spindles, straight seat sides, 3 ring legs with vase feet, H stretcher with 4 bobbin turning WS 35

Caistor chair - John Shadford workshop WS 35

This chair belongs to Margaret and Keith Mottram. They kindly allowed me to include it on this site.  I think this one started life as a rocker and some adjustment has been made: the underarm support turnings and low arms are typical of a rocker but it is the right height for a conventional chair.  Now look closely at the leg turnings: they vary. If this one had the rocking stays removed it would become very low and frankly uncomfortable. Perhaps this one got returned to Caistor to have a conventional undercarriage put on and it didn't get a matched set of legs. This chair has been in this Lincolnshire family a long time.

Baptised at Caistor on 2nd April 1828 to parents Richard and Frances Shadford, John was the middle of three and was born deaf. His eldest sister was Mary Anne (baptised 2nd January 1826) and the youngest was Frances Rosamond (baptised 25th July 1836) His parents were married at Claxby near Normanby on 6th September 1825 so the first child was born 4 months after the wedding. In the marriage register Richard signs his name in a bold hand and is described as a singleman of Caistor; Frances’s maiden name was Quickfall and the witnesses were her parents William and Anne Quickfall. Oddly the record of Richard’s birth has not been found yet but it is assumed that he was one of many children of the parents Thomas Abey and Jane Shadford from Nettleton. There are other families of Shadfords in this part of Lincolnshire mostly connected with farming.  Richard is recorded throughout the 1830s by the Land tax records, noted as a joiner and paying his dues on a self-owned garden, house and workshop. John’s grandparents, the Quickfalls, were famers near Caistor and both his sisters married farmers (to become Rickells and Grantham in name). All this goes to show that the young John grew up in a comfortable background and used to his father's wood working business.

At the age of 12 John would have witnessed the funeral at Nettleton of his father in 1840. No will or cause of death has been found. However this did not mean that the family became impoverished as the Rate Book for Caistor in 1844 notes that the widow Shadford was collecting rent from 4 properties. Intriguingly the rateable value of the house and shop she was renting to William Shirley was identical in amount to which the Shadford family was living in for the 1840 assessment. Perhaps , after the death of Richard, the remaining Shadford family moved to a small house and rented their former house and workshop to the young Windsor chairmaker from Grantham. It was about this time when John was 16 years old that he became an apprentice to their tenant, William Shirley.

There was another injection of wealth into the family as on 27th Jan 1846: there happens the death of his grandfather, the farmer William Quickfall, whose will makes fascinating reading . He was obviously a well-to-do man as he leaves his farm and premises at Tealby to his brother Samuel at South Kelsey. His remaining estate was still valued at over three thousand pounds and this was divided between his three daughters. John’s mother receiving five hundred pounds cash along with a further three hundred pounds secured by title deeds of property in Caistor as well as a share in the household goods etc.

From here the life of John Shadford may well have become obscured by the passing of time but for the fact that he made entries into a note book which is now in the Lincolnshire Archives and the public can view copies of it on request . In the history of English vernacular chairmaking this book is unique as no other record has been found by any other maker showing designs or drawings . Although the book originally had entries by someone else, the empty pages were used by John to draw chairs and furniture as well as to make notes on the collection of rent from his properties. In 1859 he wrote the words for his business card, saying that he had been apprenticed to William Shirley for over 14 years and was now setting up his own business of chairmaking from the premises vacated by Shirley. The outline of the famous spindle-backed Caistor chair is drawn 5 times.

In 1836, when he was 36, he married Harriot Hansen, a farmer's daughter 43 years old, who had had a daughter a few years before but had since died, so there was no more children and hence no heirs. John died at the age of 62 in 1890, one year after William Shirley, and in his will he leaves all his possessions to his beloved wife.

ⓒ William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

Lincolnshire Caistor lath back high back Windsor armchair with curved crest rail, 5 laths turned stiles, turned underarm supports morticed into saucer arms, straight seat sides, 2 ring leg turnings with vase-shaped feet H stretcher with 4 bobbin turning WS 31

Lincolnshire Caistor lath back high back Windsor armchair WS 31

If it is agreed that WS 30 was made in Caistor then take a good look at this one - compare the legs and stretchers , study those two back turnings, contrast the underarm supports: this surely came from the same workshop.

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

Lincolnshire Caistor lath back high back Windsor armchair with curved crest rail, 5 laths, turned stiles, turned underarm supports morticed into saucer arms, straight seat sides, 3 ring leg turnings with vase-shaped feet H stretcher WS 30

Lincolnshire Caistor lath back high back Windsor armchair WS 30

This is just a wonderfully designed and made chair - I sit on it every day to have my meals. I bought this one several years ago from an antique shop in Coningsby (now closed) because of the similarities with the Caistor chair: compare this chair with WS 28 and WS 31. The similarities in the turnings run across all three chairs in slightly different combinations: I think you will agree that they all came from Caistor.

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

High back Lincolnshire Caistor chair with curved notched crest rail, turned stiles, 7 spindles both above and below the cross rail with bobbin and ring turnings, scroll arms, turned underarm supports with 4 short spindles, straight seat sides, 2 ring legs with vase feet, H stretcher with 4 bobbin turning WS 28

High back Lincolnshire Caistor chair with curved notched crest rail WS 28

Probably the most easily recognised of all Lincolnshire-made chairs: this one is often referred to as a Caistor Chair as it was made by John Shadford of Caistor. The most remarkable thing about him was that he was born deaf, but it did not stop him setting up his own business in his late twenties and producing these chairs. I have seen a good number of them, usual as rockers or short legged variety, but this one is of standard seat height. You will have noted all the distinctive spindle turnings at the back: these would have taken longer to make than the conventional bow back windsors but there is no steam bending involved. There is an inherent weakness in these chairs though: where the armrest meets the back turned stile is only glued and they do have a tendency to come loose. John Shadford was apprenticed to William Shirley junior who had learnt chairmaking skills from his father (William Shirley senior) in Grantham.

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair stamped SHIRLEY GRANTHAM with 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs with H stretcher and additional rear stretcher WS 84

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair stamped SHIRLEY GRANTHAM with 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs with H stretcher and additional rear stretcher WS 84

This chair was probably made in the workshop of William Shirley senior before he moved to Birmingham in the early 1840s at about the same time that Willian Shirley junior moved to Caistor. Chairs stamped SHIRLEY GRANTHAM are uncommon.

© William Sergeant

Lincolnshire bow back spindle back Windsor armchair stamped T SIMPSON BOSTON with 8 long spindles 6 short, crook underarm support, bell shaped seat with fantail and two angled spindles, ring and cove leg turnings with 1 lower ring x 4 with crinoline stretcher WS 130

Lincolnshire bow back spindle back Windsor armchair stamped T SIMPSON BOSTON with 8 long spindles 6 short, crook underarm support, bell shaped seat with fantail and two angled spindles, ring and cove leg turnings with 1 lower ring x 4 with crinoline stretcher WS 130

There are several outstanding features that make a Lincolnshire chair easily recognisable from a Thames Valley chair, one of which is that a Lincolnshire chair never has two spindles angled upwards from a fantail from the back of the seat. Well this chair completely disproves the rule!

Thank you to Mitch Mitchell for allowing me to record his chair here. I was allowed to make a brief inspection of this chair before photographing it and I am completely satisfied that it was made in Boston; the legs, spindles, bows and seat are exactly as you would expect so I have no doubt that it was made in the county. A further very rare feature in a Lincolnshire chair is the scribe line round the back bow: this feature is common in Nottinghamshire but almost never found in Lincolnshire.

That just leaves the extra spindles for a back support : well, perhaps this one was made as an experiment to see what was the extra expense and whether or not it made the chair more stable. It's certainly the only armchair that I have ever seen from the East Midlands with this configuration. If you look at the side chair in WS 118 you will see something similar but that chair was made in Nottinghamshire. Perhaps journeymen who had experience in Thames Valley workshops made both chairs.

© William Sergeant 2020

Nottinghamshire bow back Windsor side chair stamped Nicholson Rockley with 6 long spindles, bell-shaped seat with fantail and 2 spindles at an angle, with ring and cove leg turnings with 1 lower ring x 4 WS 118

Nottinghamshire bow back Windsor side chair stamped Nicholson Rockley with 6 long spindles, bell-shaped seat with fantail and 2 spindles at an angle, with ring and cove leg turnings with 1 lower ring x 4 WS 118

The wonderful thing about collecting chairs is finding something special! I remember having a conversation with a dealer about memorizing the designs of chairs in Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990) and then searching for something out of the ordinary.  He was very dismissive and likened me to a train spotter for ticking off the pictures. He completely missed the point: the fun of the search! Anyway, I know this is not a Lincolnshire chair but its very existence is worth recording here because if you look in Cotton's book there are many pictures of the superb Windsor chairs that were made in Rockley, in Nottinghamshire, but there is no mention or picture of a side chair. They were thought not to exist. Well feast your eyes on this: the ironic thing is that this chair spent several years in an antique shop in Newark and I must have walked past it many times. There was nothing about it to suggest to me that it was a local chair and I never even stopped to inspect it. Side chairs with a fantail seat and 2 angled spindles joined into the hoop are a standard design in the Thames Valley and, as far as I am aware, this is the only East Midlands side chair featuring this design and construction method. 

Only when a fellow collector told me that it was stamped with the maker's name did I inspect it closely. 

Nottinghamshire bow back Windsor side chair stamped Nicholson Rockley  WS 117

Imagine my surprise when I saw Nicholson Rockley. Because it had been unsold for so long I think the shop owner was really pleased to let me have it at a very much reduced rate. The lesson for me and anyone else reading this is simple: never ever walk past a chair without inspecting it thoroughly for signs of who made it.

PS there is one other armchair from Lincolnshire recorded with a fantail and 2 angled spindles which will be posted tomorrow (update: now to be found here).

© William Sergeant 2020

3 Lincolnshire bow back spindle back Windsor armchair by Taylor, Marsh and Hubbard with 8, 9 and 9 long spindles, 6, 8 and 6 short, turned underarm x 2 crook underarm x 1 straight seat sides x 2 bell shaped seat x 1, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher x 3 darts x 2 WS 114

3 Lincolnshire bow back spindle back Windsor armchairs by Taylor, Marsh and Hubbard with 8, 9 and 9 long spindles, 6, 8 and 6 short, turned underarm x 2 crook underarm x 1 straight seat sides x 2 bell shaped seat x 1, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher x 3 darts x 2 WS 114

These three chairs are all signed by their maker: left, Taylor of Grantham; middle, Marsh of Sleaford; right, Hubbard of Grantham. They just go to show how popular these spindle back chairs were in Lincolnshire. There are many similarities, namely: all have ring and cove front leg turnings and plain back legs, they are made out of ash except two outside ones which have elm for their seats.

© William Sergeant 2020

A spinning wheel special - stamped James Peebles, Wright at Kilburney Bridge 1833

Spinning Wheel IAMES * PEEBLES * WRIGHT * AT * KILBURNEY * BRIDGE  *** 1833 *

By way of variety, William suggested a spinning wheel. Chair turners were often also spinning wheel makers. So were wheelwrights. One maker who kindly dated his wheels was James Peebles, Wright at Kilburney Bridge. The modern spelling is Kilbirnie.

The Scotland census for 1841 reveals:

"Name: James Peebles Age: 75 Estimated birth year: abt 1766 Gender: Male Where born: Ayrshire, Scotland Civil Parish: Kilbirnie County: Ayrshire Address: Kilbirnie Bridge St Occupation: Wheelwright Parish Number: 596."

Also present in the household were Margaret Peebles age 74 and Eliza Peebles age 50, occupation Linen yarn reeler.

James Peebles, son of John Peebles and Margarat (sic) Allan was baptised 26 June 1765 at Kilbirnie, Ayr, Scotland. Elizabeth was baptised at Kilbirnie, Ayr, Scotland on 13 September 1789, daughter of John Peebles and Margarat (sic) Orr. The date of the marriage is uncertain. There were other children including at least a William, a James and a Margaret.

So James Peebles was about 68 years old when he made the spinning wheel above. He is listed as a wheelwright in Kilbirnie, Ayrshire in Pigot & Co.'s New Commercial Directory of Scotland, for 1825-6 

Another James Peebles, Wright spinning wheel was sold at Great Western Auctions in March 2020.

Postscript: 

From the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald - Saturday 21 September 1861

"KILBIRNIE-EXHIBITION, The Horticultural and Agricultural Society here, held their annual exhibition in the Parish School-room, on Saturday, 14th September. The The judges were Mr Tod, Annanhill, Kilmarnock; Wm. Orr, merchant, Beith ; Thomas Caldwell, Coldstream _Mill; James Peebles, Wright, Glenhead, Lochwinnoch ; Wm. Armour, Kilimaurs ; and John Leese, Beith."

There follows an entire column of prize winners, so the duty was onerous. It's 4.4 miles from Glenhead to Kilbirnie. This James Peebles, Wright, is quite possibly the son of our spinning wheel maker.

Julian Parker ©2020

Lincolnshire comb back Windsor side chair, probably John Wilson, with curved crest rail, turned stiles, 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher WS 119

Lincolnshire comb back Windsor side chair, probably John Wilson, with curved crest rail, turned stiles, 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings with 1 lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher WS 119

I happened across the middle of these three chairs in a local shop and while the dealer had correctly identified it as a Grantham side chair, there was no mention of the maker. However, although there was no maker's stamp or mark on it, I was sure it was by one of two Grantham makers. I took it along to fellow collector Brian Gray to compare it with his signed chairs: the one on the left is stamped Wilson and the right hand one stamped Taylor. We were left in no doubt that the similarity to the Wilson chair won the day. This is Lincolnshire vernacular furniture at its best!

© William Sergeant 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair, stamped TAYLOR GRANTHAM, with 4 long spindles, splat with vase and teardrop piercing, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings with lower ring, plain back legs and H stretcher WS 81

Lincolnshire hoop back Windsor side chair, stamped TAYLOR GRANTHAM, with 4 long spindles, splat with vase and teardrop piercing, straight seat sides, ring and cove front leg turnings with lower ring, plain back legs and H stretcher WS 81

A well-balanced Lincolnshire Windsor side chair from the collection of Brian Gray. This a good quality splat back side chair with a bold stamp of Taylor of Grantham on the upper rear of the seat. A beautifully crafted chair, elegantly designed and well made. Pre 1809.

© William Sergeant 2020

Unusual Lincolnshire scroll back Windsor armchair stamped Taylor, bar back, pierced cross rail, turned lower rail, straight seat sides, ring & cove front leg turnings with lower ring, plain back, H stretcher, shaped underarms, sawn and scrolled back uprights WS 82

Unusual Lincolnshire scroll back Windsor armchair stamped Taylor, bar back, pierced cross rail, turned lower rail, straight seat sides, ring & cove front leg turnings with lower ring, plain back, H stretcher, shaped underarms, sawn and scrolled back uprights WS 82

Windsor armchair signed TAYLOR GRANTHAM from the fine collection of Brian Gray. This an enigma as it has many features that you would not associate with an East Midlands chair. This is the only chair of this pattern that has ever been recorded and is unusual for two reasons. Firstly, it has very few turned components: more like a chair that a cabinet maker would produce, and secondly the design is what I would expect to be produced in the Thames Valley region. It demonstrates that there are probably other design of chairs that were produced by the Lincolnshire chair makers and as yet undiscovered and unrecorded.

© William Sergeant 2015 and 2019

Lincolnshire Windsor hoop back side chair with 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove turned front legs with lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher WS 147

Lincolnshire Windsor hoop back side chair with 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, ring and cove turned front legs with lower ring, plain back legs, H stretcher WS 147

The first spindle back side chair to be recorded; faintly stamped at the upper rear of the seat TAYLOR GRANTHAM. Made entirely out of ash and from the same farmhouse as WS 146. It's hardly surprising that one of this pattern by this maker would eventually turn up as all the Grantham makers appear to have made this design and figure NE41 at p. 121 of Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990) is the same but with a back splat.

So which one of the Taylors made this one - Cotton lists James, John, John junior, Joseph and William in the back of his book - it could be any of them? However recent research has discovered another unrecorded Taylor by the name of Roger. Let me explain: while browsing through some old paper advertisements I came across one seeking a Journeyman Windsor chair maker who would have constant employ and wages according to his merit by applying to Mr Roger Taylor, Windsor chairmaker of Grantham. This was in the Stamford Mercury in July 1800. Further investigation has revealed that on 7th Jan 1782 there was the marriage of Roger Taylor to Sophia Smith and later that year, on 15th October, there was registered the birth of their first child John. He was followed by William in March 1785 and James in July 1787.  I have Robert Williams to thank for informing me that a William Taylor was apprenticed to William Allison, joiner , of Grantham on the 6th December 1799 for the sum of £21 for 7 years. This means that there is a strong possibility that in the 1780s or 1790s Windsor chairs were being made in Grantham by Roger Taylor and that the three chairmakers mentioned by Cotton all were the children or grandchildren of Roger.

I quickly found out that Roger died and was buried in Grantham one year after he put the advertisement in the paper, in Oct 1801. This means that his eldest son John would have been only 17 years old at the time of his death and not even finished his apprenticeship, if he was doing one. So who would have run the business of chairmaking? Well the answer lies in an advertisement that appeared in the Stamford Mercury in June 1802 the year after the death of Roger: his wife Sophia placed an advertisement saying that she is to continue the business and asking for journeymen to apply for work making chairs for her.  The advertisement was signed by Mrs S. Taylor, Windsor and Fancy Chair-manufacturer. 

Another advertisement by by Mrs S. Taylor, Windsor and Fancy Chair-manufacturer, appeared in the Stamford Mercury in February 1809. It was advertising for an apprentice to start immediately at Windsor and fancy chair-manufacturer and after the time served the young man would be entitled to become a Freeman of the borough of Grantham.

On a final note, I would like you to ponder on this: the burial register notes that Roger was 38 at the time of his death which means that if he had done an apprenticeship it would have been in the late 1770s, which really places him at the very beginning of the Grantham Windsor chair making tradition Who taught him and where did he learn his skills?

Click on this link to see me give a talk to the Regional Furniture Society conference in London, March 2019, about the Taylors of Grantham.

© William Sergeant 2014 and 2020

Lincolnshire low bow back Windsor armchair with 3 x quatrefoil pierced splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarm supports, straight seat sides, ring and cove front legs, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 113

Lincolnshire low bow back Windsor armchair with 3 x quatrefoil pierced splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarm supports, straight seat sides, ring and cove front legs, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 113

This chair was brought to a talk that I gave about chairmaking in Caistor by a local resident. It was in excellent original condition, just in need of a good dust and wax. The seat is of elm and the rest of yew except for the two back legs which were ash. The ring and cove front leg turnings and plain back legs would point towards it being made in Lincolnshire and the shape of the seat is typical of Grantham. The crinoline stretcher and the crook underarm supports suggest a date of of early 1800s. The quatrefoil piercings on the splat are similar to chairs shown in Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990) at Plate 12 on p. 110 made by John Amos and William Taylor of Westgate, Grantham at figure NE 28 on p. 118.

I am sorry about the carpet but it was the best I could do in Caistor Town Hall. Just take a moment to study this chair as it is probably nearly 200 years old and of a type that rarely appears on the market.

Further chairs with quatrefoil pierced splats may be seen in yesterday's post, WS 184 and also this post. 

© William Sergeant 2013 and 2020

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair stamped TAYLORS with quatrefoil and fleur de lys splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, bell shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 194

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair stamped TAYLORS with quatrefoil and fleur de lys splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, bell shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 194

A long time ago, a fellow collector of Lincolnshire Windsor chairs had mentioned to me that he had a couple of stamped Taylor chairs in his collection. I had never seen them and wasn't overly interested as I have my own chairs signed by the same maker. However, on a recent visit to his house, I noticed this chair above - I knew that it was made by William Taylor who signed his chairs TAYLORS. I commented that this must be a new addition, whereon he replied that he had told me about it years ago. I had misinterpreted what he had said; I thought he meant Taylor not TAYLORS! The difference is subtle but so important.

I know that William Taylor signed chairs from his workshop as he states the same in an advert in the Stamford Mercury- WS 166 here - and that his signed chairs are very rare. My research has revealed that he left the security of his mother's workshop in December 1811 to set up his own business; at the same time he took on the apprentice William Shirley senior who was halfway through his 7-year tuition having started it under John Taylor.

This chair encapsulates so many features regarding my research. With the help of Chris Goodwin, who is a descendant of the Taylors of Grantham, I can reveal that William Taylor gave up chairmaking on the 7th October 1815 to work for the Post Office as a mail coach guard, something he did for the next 30 years. This means that this chair can be precisely dated to the 4 years before Oct 1815. The implications of this are profound - no other writer on this subject has been able to confirm when the backsplat and H stretcher were introduced into the design of Lincolnshire chairs but this is firm date evidence.

The chair itself is made entirely out of ash wood, having a thick seat and of robust construction, weighing in at an impressive 15 pounds - this chair was made to last. The backsplat has a particularly pleasing design motif. The seat is flared towards the front to give more room to the front legs which leads to an elegant well-balanced design.

But the most outstanding discovery for me was that this collector had been lucky to purchase two of these chairs, in the same lot, from an auction house in Cumbria.

© William Sergeant 2018 and 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair stamped WILSON GRANTHAM with 3 x quatrefoil pierced splat, 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, 4 x ring and cove leg turnings with lower ring, crinoline stretcher, WS 184

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair stamped WILSON GRANTHAM with 3 x quatrefoil pierced splat, 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, 4 x ring and cove leg turnings with lower ring, crinoline stretcher, WS 184

Vernacular furniture is sometimes  referred to, in a slightly disparaging way, as 'country furniture' which carries with it the implication that is not of such good quality or design. When I find chairs like this one pictured above, made probably 200 years ago, I marvel at the superb quality of craftsmanship of these Lincolnshire county makers. My research has been unable to reveal who actually made this chair, whether it was John Wilson himself or a journeyman that was employed in his workshop, but the quality of balanced design along with beautifully executed turnery to the legs just shows what excellent work was being produced.

I had come across this maker at least ten years ago while doing research in to the Grantham chairmakers but he was described as a chairmaker of Little Gonerby and it was unclear as to exactly what type of chairs he was making.  So I was delighted when an auctioneer in the south of the county contacted me to say that a set of 4 side chairs with the stamp of WILSON GRANTHAM had been consigned to his sale. I accordingly secured the chairs as they make a valuable contribution to my museum as well as a graceful addition to my front room.

The seats of all the chairs are made from ash wood while all other components are of yew. I get the impression that the turners liked to use yew as its incredibily tight grain means that wonderful detail can shown in their execution of the leg turnings. That's why the best chairs were made from yew and today command the highest prices.

© William Sergeant 2020

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair probably William Taylor, with 3 quatrefoil and flea de lys pierced splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 165

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair probably William Taylor, with 3 quatrefoil and flea de lys pierced splat, 6 long spindles, 8 short, crook underarms, bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, crinoline stretcher WS 165

Shaped elm seat, two inches thick , chamfered under edges. Back support all ash wood except cherry splat . Eight short and six long spindles. Distinctive quatrefoil pattern on splat. Four blind square pins on back bow and five on the arm bow let in from the back.

Ash wood front legs with typical Lincolnshire ring and cove decoration, slightly shortened, one with evidence of torn fibres from cleaving blank. One plain ash back leg and one elm replacement leg and two elm replacement short stretchers. Ash crinoline stretcher. Weight : 13 ¼ lbs.

This chair was made by William Taylor, of that I have no doubt. If you look in Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990) at figure NE 28 on p. 118 you will see an identical chair which is signed Taylors Grantham. That is the stamp of William Taylor of Grantham. Also on the original rear leg there is an incised mark to show where the hole centre is to be drilled for the cross stretcher. I have only seen one chair with this constructional aid before and that is on chair WS 126 and if you look at that chair you will see that it is also signed Taylors Grantham.

© William Sergeant 2015 and 2020

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair stamped TAYLORS GRANTHAM with fleur de lys splat and 3 teardrop piercings with 6 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarm supports bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 126

Lincolnshire medium bow back Windsor armchair with fleur de lys splat and 3 teardrop piercings with 6 long spindles, 8 short, turned underarm supports bell-shaped seat, ring and cove front leg turnings, plain back legs, H stretcher with darts WS 126

This chair appeared online at an East Midlands auction in May 2014. The picture was of good quality and it took no time to realise that it was an early Lincolnshire chair. It had obviously been reduced in height but everything looked original. I was not able to get to the viewing so followed the auction on the internet; I was convinced that I knew who the maker was. When the lot came up there was very little interest and soon the chair was knocked down to me for not very much. A couple of days later I travelled over to collect the chair and had the chance to view it for the first time. It was my lucky day! Not only was it in good condition but the maker was clearly stamped on the seat; either the auctioneer had failed to see the impressed name or he saw no reason to mention it in the sale description. But what totally amazed me was it had been made by a different maker in a different town from the one that I had expected. TAYLORS GRANTHAM means that the chair was made in the workshop of William Taylor, whose remarkable 1813 advertisement in the Stamford Mercury is discussed here.

WS 127 - TAYLORS GRANTHAM stamp on WS 126

© William Sergeant 2014 and 2020

Lincolnshire comb back Windsor side chair, probably by a Grantham maker, with curved crest rail, turned stiles, 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, 2 ring front leg turnings with vase feet, plain back legs and H stretcher WS 17

Lincolnshire comb back Windsor side chair, probably by a Grantham maker, with curved crest rail, turned stiles, 6 long spindles, straight seat sides, 2 ring front leg turnings with vase feet, plain back legs and H stretcher WS 17

This chair shows all the hallmarks of a Grantham side chair though it is unsigned: it shares many features with figures NE 119 and NE 120 on p. 136 of Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990).

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

Lincolnshire high comb back Windsor armchair, stamped 'I TODD 1844', painted black and gold, with curved crest rail, 8 long spindles, 4 short, turned underarm supports, bell shaped seat, 2 ring front and back leg turnings with a lower ring, H stretcher with darts, side stretcher with darts

Lincolnshire high comb back Windsor armchair, elm and ash with black and gold paint stamped 'I TODD 1844' WS 109

John Todd is mentioned in two books on vernacular furniture and is supposed to have brought to Caistor the tradition of Windsor chair making. This is largely based on one chair stamped with his name and dated 1844. A picture of this chair appears at Plate 26 on p151 of Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990). Nothing else seems to have been written about him but research at the Lincoln Archives has discovered new and interesting information about him.

He was baptised into a Caistor family on 20th October 1782, the youngest of 4 children. His parents were married in Caistor on 18th May 1773 and were John Todd and Damaris Curtis. On the entry in the marriage register the profession of John senior is given as chair maker. It appears that John Todd junior's grandparents were also married in Caistor: Bartholomew Todd and Mary Pinder in 1746.

There are some references to John Todd junior being a juror also owning and renting small parcels of land in his early years. At the age of 37 he married Martha Green, a dress maker from Keelby and ten years older than him. There is a note of this event in the Lincolnshire Chronicle in 1819.  She died unexpectedly in March 1840 again there is a notice in the Lincoln paper. So in the census of 1841 Todd is recorded as a widower and has his niece Ann Sanderson (15) living with him. In 1851 he is living in the Horsemarket in Caistor with his nephew John Sanderson (37 and a joiner) and his niece Ann. By the time the 1861 census he is an old man of 78 still living with his unmarried nephew and niece. He lived till he was 80 and was buried in Caistor in November 1862.

In every reference to him in the papers or censuses, his occupation is always given as chair turner (the same is true of the Ashtons and Greens of Louth, Alford and Spilsby) and nowhere is there a reference to Windsor chair making . If he had been making chairs all his working life, which must have covered at least 45 years, it is quite conceivable that he made thousands of chairs. Where have all these chairs gone and why has only one ever been found with his name on it?

His will in the Lincolnshire Archives makes fascinating reading. It was made six years before he died. In it he leaves his own house, shop and garden in Caistor to his nephew John and goes on to list a further 8 properties that he bequeaths to his nephew and nieces; each one is denoted by the tenant at the time. A list is given below:


2. Tenant, Ann Grantham. To Joseph Sanderson.

3. Tenants, George Porter and Elizabeth Ringrose. To Benjanim Sanderson.

4.        "      , Joseph Wrack and William Keyworth. To William Sanderson.

5.        "      , Charles Mundy and Jane Gord. To Charles Sanderson.

6.        "      , George Moody and William Mundy. To Damaris Bilton, wife of Robert.

7.        "      , James Parke. To Sarah Sanderson.

8.        "     , Thomas Moore and Mary Frow. To Ann Sanderson.

9.        "     , James Harrison and John Dewick (?). To Mary Sanderson.

The riddle of the missing chairs from Todd could easily be explained if he had made only one Windsor style chair in 1844 and all the other chairs that he made were of the rush seated ladder back variety that were made in north-east Lincolnshire. None has ever been found with a maker's name on it.

© William Sergeant 2013 and 2020

Lincolnshire comb back side chair, probably from Grantham, with curved crest rail, turned stiles, 4 long spindles, 3-piercing fleur de lys and teardrop piercing splat, straight seat sides, 2 ring front leg turnings with vase feet, plain back legs with vase feet, H stretcher WS 96

Lincolnshire comb back side chair, probably from Grantham, ash with curved crest rail, turned stiles, 4 long spindles, 3-piercing fleur de lys and teardrop piercing splat, straight seat sides, 2 ring front leg turnings with vase feet, plain back legs with vase feet, H stretcher WS 96

In the collection of Steven Voyt. An unsigned side chair with everything pointing to it being made in Grantham . This chair was inspected by Bill Cotton about 15 years ago and he suggested that it may have been made by Wilson of Grantham . If you have one like this but with a maker's name on it then please let me know.
© William Sergeant 2013 and 2020

Lincolnshire high back bow back Windsor armchair, with 3 piercing fleur de lys and teardrop pierced upper splat, teardrop pierced lower splat, 6 long spindles, 6 short, turned underarm supports, straight seat sides, 2 ring front leg turning with vase feet, plain back legs with lower ring, H stretcher

Lincolnshire high back bow back Windsor armchair, with 3 piercing fleur de lys and teardrop pierced upper splat, teardrop pierced lower splat, 6 long spindles, 6 short, turned underarm supports, straight seat sides, 2 ring front leg turning with vase feet, plain back legs with lower ring, H stretcher WS 26

Although there is no maker's name stamped on this chair it is similar to other George Wilson chairs. This type are referred to as a high back bow back or hoop back Windsor: whereas one such as this chair by George Wilson is referred to as a low back bow back Windsor.

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair with 6 long spindles, ring and cove front leg turnings with a lower ring, plain back legs and H stretcher WS 16

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair with 6 long spindles, ring and cove front leg turnings with a lower ring, plain back legs and H stretcher WS 16

Lincolnshire hoop back side chair with 6 long spindles, ring and cove front leg turnings with a lower ring, plain back legs and H stretcher.  Has some similarities to the side chairs which appear at figures NE53 (stamped SHIRLEY) and NE 55 (stamped MARSH) on p. 123 of Dr B D Cotton's The English Regional Chair (1990).

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair with 4 ladders, domed with downward shaping, straight backpoles with button finials and tapered feet, turned front legs morticed into the seat frame, with pad feet, rushing bars, front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double rear and side stretchers

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair with 4 ladders, domed with downward shaping, straight backpoles with button finials and tapered feet, turned front legs morticed into the seat frame, with pad feet, rushing bars, front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double rear and side stretchers WS 20

This chair shows all the hallmarks of a simple rush seated ladder back chair made in Northeast Lincolnshire, in good usable condition and probably 150 years old. Very few people know anything about these chairs and I recently (2012!) found this one on eBay and paid less than £4 for it. As with all these rush seated chairs it is made entirely out of ash.

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair, with plain stay rail attached to button finials of straight backpoles, 3 ladders, missing rushing bars, front stretcher with turnery commonly found in Lincolnshire, turned front legs morticed into the seat frame, with double side and rear stretchers

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair, with plain stay rail attached to button finials of straight backpoles, 3 ladders, missing rushing bars, front stretcher with turnery commonly found in Lincolnshire, turned front legs morticed into the seat frame, with double side and rear stretchers WS 34

This an excellent example of a simple well made rush seated ladder back chair made out of ash (with rerushed seat). Vernacular furniture at its very best, probably made by the Ashton/Green families of the Spilsby, Alford, Louth area. This unloved chair appeared at a local auction house and was lotted with other house clearance bits which I got for a pittance - it should have been acquired by the local museum which is only a few streets away from where it was sold. The town where I bought it: Louth.

© William Sergeant 2012

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair: straight back uprights with tapered feet & flattened top finials; 4 ladders with lower indented shaping; square cornered cabriole front legs morticed into the seat frame, missing rushing bars; front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double side & rear stretchers

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair: straight back uprights with tapered feet & flattened top finials; 4 ladders with lower indented shaping; square cornered cabriole front legs morticed into the seat frame, missing rushing bars; front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double side & rear stretchers WS25

This is the very first rush seated Lincolnshire chair that I acquired; I found it hidden away in the back room of a second-hand shop in Greenwich. It was under other things and filthy but I recognised those distinctive front legs with cabriole shape and the turning on top. That was many years ago now and I am so pleased that I bought it. I think this is at least 200 years old; it has been made with a lack of sophistication and naivety that would indicate an early crude country chair - but what charm and presence!

© William Sergeant 2012

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair: straight back uprights with tapered feet & flattened top finials; 4 ladders with lower indented shaping; turned front legs with pad feet morticed into the seat frame, missing rushing bars; front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double side & rear stretchers

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back side chair: straight back uprights with tapered feet & flattened top finials; 4 ladders with lower indented shaping; turned front legs with pad feet morticed into the seat frame, missing rushing bars; front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double side & rear stretchers WS 23

Compare this Lincolnshire rush-seated side chair with WS 22 and WS21 below; there are so many things in common that these are undoubtedly made by the Ashton/Green families in North Lincolnshire. These do appear with much more regularity on the market and I have lost count the number of times they are described as Lancashire chairs. No, no, no, as a former Lincolnshire-born Prime Minister might have said. Look and learn! 

Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back rocking chair: straight back uprights with flattened top finials; 4 ladders with lower indented shaping; turned front legs morticed into the seat frame, rushing bars; front stretcher with turnery often found in Lincolnshire, double side & rear stretchers WS 21

They are elegant well made vernacular furniture, skilfully made after many years of honing the design, cheap and light weight but brilliant survivors. They would have been on the market of their day as a cheaper alternative to Windsor chairs and many thousands of cottages in the East Midlands would have had these beautiful chairs to sit on.

© William Sergeant 2012 and 2020

William Sergeant with some of his collection of Lincolnshire Windsor and rush-seated chairs

William Sergeant with some of his collection WS 107

I was invited by the Lincolnshire Wood Turners to give an exhibition at their annual display in August 2013 . The response was most encouragin . I had a lot of interest from members of the public: many were unaware that there was a tradition of chairmaking in Lincolnshire! Several asked if the chairs were for sale and seemed disappointed when I said that I only collected chairs for academic and educational purposes.

On the display behind William: suspended in mid-air: a Marsh bow back side chair and a Marsh comb back side chair; on the dais: a Shirley/Shadford workshop Caistor rocking chair, a Lincolnshire comb back and two cabriole leg Lincolnshire rush-seated ladder back chairs; on the floor: a Lincolnshire ladder back missing its rush seat and a Grantham bow back side chair.

© William Sergeant 2013 and Julian Parker 2020

Bill and Gerry Cotton visiting William Sergeant in Lincolnshire in 2013

Bill and Gerry Cotton visiting William in Lincolnshire in 2013 WS 104

I was honored to be visited by the county's leading authority on regional chairs, Bill Cotton and his wife, Gerry. They stayed several hours and we had so much to talk about; it only took a few minutes for Gerry to find a really faint maker's stamp on a chair that I had had for many years and never noticed! This picture shows them stripping the rushing off a chair attributed to East Anglia; some of the rushing bars were cracked and the chair was a danger to anyone who sat in it. We also hoped that we might find some name on these hidden bars but were out of luck.

© William Sergeant 2013

A Caistor rocker at Newark Antiques Fair 2013

A Caistor rocker at Newark Antiques Fair 2013 WS 103

I found this chair at the Newark Antiques fair; I didn't buy it but the dealer kindly let me record it. Those turned stiles that are the back supports are so reminiscent of chairs which are associated with Caistor that this one probably comes from there too.

© William Sergeant 2013 

William Shirley's chair factory Boggs Lane, Caistor, c. 1870

Shirley chair factory Boggs Lane, Caistor, c. 1870. The man with his hand on the child's chair is said to be William Shirley WS110

William Shirley junior was baptised at Grantham on 27th June 1817 and was born into a chair making family. His father. William senior served his apprenticeship under another Windsor chair maker in Grantham, John Taylor, and was made a Freeman of the Borough in 1815.  An advertisement appeared in the Stamford Mercury in June 1815 when William senior seeks an apprentice to join him, describing himself as a maker of Windsor, turn-pin and fancy chairs, and spinning wheel maker. A few Windsor chairs, both armchairs and side, have been found with SHIRLEY GRANTHAM impressed on the upper rear of the seat.

It seems likely that William Shirley junior would have done his apprenticeship under the guidance of his father while living in Grantham, probably being freed in 1838 at the age of 21. He is noted as working as a chair maker and living in Grantham in the census of 1841. However 2 years later he is recorded in the Rate book of Caistor renting a house, garden and (work)shop from the widow Shadford, presumably making chairs. How and why he went to Caistor remains a mystery but at some later his father leaves Grantham as in the 1851 census he is recorded as working as a chair maker in Birmingham.

Within a year or two of arriving in Caistor he takes on his landlord’s son, John Shadford, as his apprentice; a position he occupies for over 14 years. The length of his apprenticeship may be explained by him being born completely deaf. The 1851 census indicates that the business has grown as he has two apprentice chairmakers with him, one is his younger brother Frederick (15) and another called John Young (16).

In 1859 when John Shadford is preparing the wording for his business in his notebook he explains that he is to occupy the workshop vacated by his former master. Perhaps it is at this time that William Shirley builds his own workshop. We are so fortunate to have pictures of the building showing the water wheel at the side of the building driven by water channelled from one of the springs in Caistor.

In the chair making tradition at Caistor William Shirley has always been overshadowed by John Shadford and his famous notebook but it is most likely that he produced far more chairs than Shadford ever did. The 1861 census tells us that he is employing 2 men and 3 boys in his chairmaking business while Shadford is noted as working alone. What the relationship was between these two men we may never know, but they lived very close to each other in fine houses in Duck street and would have seen each other every day if they so wished.

The census of 1871 describes him as a chair manufacturer with his son Alfred (26) as a chairmaker in the same house. Also almost next door is his brother Frederick (35) with his family, also a chair maker. The last mention of him is in the census of 1881 when he is once again described as a chairmaker employing 3 men. So the business was still surviving after nearly 40 years from leaving Grantham and in that time he and his business must have made many thousands of chairs. The pattern of these chairs has not been completely established as no advert or sales leaflet has yet been found but a high back Windsor and a ‘ Grecian side chair with the stamp of SHIRLEY have been consigned from a house close to Caistor to the local saleroom and must have been made by him. Other chairs with just the SHIRLEY stamp (but without the GRANTHAM ) are known to exist.

He died in Caistor just after Christmas in 1889. In his will he appoints his son Alfred as executor and he leaves everything to his wife Hannah. His estate included his dwelling house with a garden and a bath-house. There were some adjoining out buildings plus some thatched cottages.

© William Sergeant 2013 and 2020