Joseph Newton, Windsor Chair Maker of Fenton, Lincolnshire

William Sergeant's article in RFS 2018 tells the story of the discovery of two very early Windsor chairs in Newark which may be linked to the earliest named Windsor chair maker known: Joseph Newton, Windsor Chair Maker of Fenton, Lincolnshire.

Julian Parker's Notes in RFS Newsletter No 70 Spring 2019 expand on the importance of the discovery of Joseph Newton and the possibility that chairs made by him were once at Newstead Abbey. They are reproduced below.

Joseph Newton’s Windsor chair advertisements, 1725 and 1729

I write further to William Sergeant’s fascinating article ‘Joseph Newton, Windsor Chair Maker of Fenton, Lincolnshire’ (Regional Furniture, 32, (2018), pp. 93-102). Newton’s advertisements in The Lincolnshire, Rutland & Stamford Mercury appeared on 1 July 1725 and 8 May 1729. These are the earliest references to Windsor chairs made by a named individual that are known in any publication in the United Kingdom. They are transcribed below:

1 July 1725: This is to give Notice to all Gentlemen and others that have a desire to furnish themselves with New-fashioned Windsor Chairs of the best sort, may be furnish’d by Joseph Newton, the Maker, living at Fenton in the Parish of Beckingham, Lincolnshire, four Miles from Newark upon Trent in Nottinghamshire, and there is a Chair to be seen at the White Hart in Newark for a Sample, & one at the Angel in Grantham; He proposes to deliver them at the[s]e Place[s] at 7s. 6d. per Chair, and at Lincoln at 8s. and with as much speed as possible, after Notice given.

8 May 1729: This is to give Notice, That Joseph Newton of Fenton in the County of Lincoln, 4 Miles distant from Newark upon Trent, maketh all sorts of Windsor Chairs, the Price of the single Chairs 7s. 6d. a Piece, the Seat-two’s, Seat-three’s and four’s all at 7s. per Seat, and are to be sold at Mr. John Fox’s Gunsmith in Grantham, at Mr. Taylor’s at the Reign’d-Deer, and at Mr. John Farrow’s both in Newark, and at Mr. John Shakelton’s in Nottingham, and Gentlemen that has a Desire of any of the said Chairs, may be furnish’d at any of the above- said Places, they may go by Water from Newark to Nottingham, Gainsborough or Lincoln for Three-pence a Seat. I have furnish’d a great many Gentlemen, Gardeners with them, and they are esteem’d above those that come from London for both Ease and Fashion.

John Brown 1730: The next known advertisement referring to Windsor chairs was placed by John Brown in The Country Journal or The Craftsman, Issue 197, Saturday 11 April 1730. This advertisement is often wrongly dated to 1727 because of an unfortunate layout on p. 26 of Ambrose Heal’s London Furniture Makers 1660-1840 (London: Batsford, 1953), where the 1727 date appears on the preceding line. Heal writes: ‘It is noticeable that at this early date he was advertising “all sorts of Windsor Garden Chairs of all sizes painted green or in the wood.’” No source or date is given for these words.

The key part of Heal’s handwritten notes, from which his John Brown entry was composed, is available on the British Museum website. It only says: ‘1730. An advertisement in “The Craftsman” 11 April 1730 gives John Brown, blind maker, “at the THREE CHAIRS & WALNUT TREE in St Paul’s Church Yard, near the School.’” However, according to Moss Harris in The English Chair (London: M. Harris & Sons, 1937): ‘An advertisement of April 1730 speaks of “all sorts of Windsor Garden Chairs, of all sizes, painted green or in the wood, at John Brown’s, at the Three Chairs and Walnut Tree in St. Paul’s Church Yard, near the School.’” Moss Harris is right; an inspection by Dr Iain Ferris of the original journal in the British Library reveals the following full text:

At JOHN BROWN’S At the Three Chairs and Wallnut Tree in St. Paul’s Church-Yard, near the School, Is Made and fold BLINDS for WINDOWS of all Sorts, painted on Wyer, Canvas or Cloth, after the beft and lafting Manner ever yet done: fo that if ever to dirty, they will clean without Soap or Sand if occafion, and be like new: where may be feen great Choice of the fame, being always about them. And for the Spring Seafon, at the fame Place is kept, ready made, all forts of Windfor Garden Chairs of all Sizes, painted green or in the Wood; where all Perfons may be furnished at the cheapeft Rates.

Heal’s handwritten notes reveal another John Brown advertisement, though with no specific mention of Windsor chairs:

The Craftsman, Issue 295. February 26th 1732. JOHN BROWNE. At the Three Cover’d Chairs and Walnut- Tree, the Eaft Side of St. Paul’s Church-yard, near the School, London, Makes and Sells all Sorts of BLINDS for Windows, curioufly painted on Canvas, Silk or Wire; where is good Choice and beft painted of any in London, none excepted. Likewife all Sorrs of Chairs and Cabinet Work, with Coach and other Glafses [or Glazes] at the cheapeft Rates.

It is clear from the breadth of goods sold by John Brown that his business was wide-ranging and one would be surprised were he to have made the Windsor chairs himself. Thereafter, the next advertisement specifically referring to Windsor chairs appears in Jackson's Oxford Journal, Saturday 13th July 1754:

Notice is hereby given that William Partridge hath opened a Shop near the White Lion in Banbury, with all sorts of the most fashionable furniture in the cabinet way ... Likewise all sorts of carpentry, joiners work, and carvings; viz. Brackets, Umbrello’s, Temples, Pavilions, Pallisadoes, Fences, Garden Seats, Windsor and ForrestChairs and Stools in the Modern Gothic, and Chinese taste; and all other Things made in Wood that are not to be had in this Part of the Country of any Person but himself.

The individual makers of these Windsors again seem likely to remain a mystery, but with the Joseph Newton advertisements there is no doubt who made, as well as sold, the chairs. It is for that reason that his 1725 and 1729 advertisements are a truly exceptional find.

Julian Parker

Windsor chairs at Newstead Abbey

As Regional Furniture 2018 went to press I discovered a reference in Thomas Crispin’s English Windsor Chairs (Dover, New Hampshire: Sutton Publishing, 1992, p. 10) to an inventory of Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire dating from 1738 to 1740. Further research showed that the inventory in question is published by Nancy Goyne Evans in ‘A History and Background of English Windsor Furniture’ (Furniture History, XV (1979), p. 34):

After the death of William, Lord Byron (1669-1736), a suit brought on behalf of his children against Frances, Lady Byron, and her second husband Sir Thomas Haye, Barrister, required appraisers to draw up a lengthy inventory of the furnishings of the house at Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire. Scattered through the rooms was Windsor furniture of varied form. The single chair in the hall served a recognized function, but furnishings of the four galleries introduce new insights into the early use of Windsor furniture. Ranged throughout these areas were no less than ten settees! The account reveals something of their placement in these passages:

In the Red Gallery
	4 Double Windsor Chairs	3..3..0
	One Treble D° [Ditto]
	8 Single Branches [candle arms]	1..8..0
In the Great Gallery	2 Glass Sconces
	80 prints of Several Sorts	8..8..0
	4 Treble Windsor Chairs, 6 Single D°	4..4..0
	2 Arm Chairs and Cushoons	0..15..0
In the Little Gallery	A Harpesichord wth. Leather Cover	5..5..0
	An Elks head A Wooden Bagg Pipe	1..1..0
	12 Cane Chairs 4 Windsor Chairs	2..10..0
	4 Arm Chairs and Cushoons	1..10..0
	2 Marble slabs wth. Iron frames	5..5..0
	8 Single Branches 2 Glass Sconces Double Branches	1..6..0
In the Blue Gallery	A Brass Branch wth. four Socketts	1..10..0
	20 Pictures	........
	1 Treble Windsor Chair & Single D°	3..0..0
	12 Single Branches	1..5..0
	15 Heads [busts] 2 Lanthorns	1..1..0
	2 Black Marble Tables wth. mohogany frames	5..0..0

The term ‘settee’ was not yet applied to the Windsor seat that accommodated two or more people, and the expression of size is still in terms of an expanded chair form.

Size is similarly expressed in the Joseph Newton advertisement of 1729: ‘... single Chairs 75. 6d. a Piece, the Seat-two’s, Seat-three’s and four’s all at 7s. per Seat.’ At Newton’s prices, four doubles and a treble for the Red Gallery with carriage at ‘... Three-pence a Seat ...’ would have cost 77 shillings for chairs and 2 shillings and 9 pence carriage - £3.19.9 compared to £3.3.0. Four trebles and six singles for the Great Gallery would have cost 126 shillings for chairs and 4 shillings and 6 pence carriage - £6.10.6 compared to £4.4.0. No comparison can be made for the four Windsors in the Little Gallery (28 shillings plus 1 shilling carriage) as there is no way to separate the twelve cane chairs also included in the £2.10.0 valuation. For the Blue Gallery a treble and a single would have also cost 28 shillings plus 1 shilling carriage - £1.9.0 compared to £3.0.0. For the three galleries where a comparison can be made £11.19.3 compared to £10.7.0, which is closer than one might expect in a calculation of this kind.

Newstead is about 20 miles from Newark, 27 from Fenton and 12 miles from Nottingham. There is a reasonable likelihood that the 4th Lord and Lady Byron acquired their many Windsors from Joseph Newton who must be the leading candidate, being their nearest source of supply. Carrier from Fenton to Newark, by barge along the Trent from there to Nottingham and then by carrier the last stage to Newstead seems a possible route. Perhaps Newton gave the Byrons a discount.

Enquiries with Simon Brown, Curator at Newstead Abbey, reveal that hot-footing it to Newstead to hunt for these Windsors is a fruitless pursuit: ‘The entire contents of the house were sold by the 5th Lord Byron to service his sizeable debts - he was unable to sell Newstead itself due to the terms of his inheritance - he auctioned off everything else he possibly could (including doorknobs!).’ Alas.

Julian Parker

1665 - Inventory of John Brooke, Chair maker of St Martin's Parish, Lincoln

This inventory lists the contents of a late 17th century Lincoln chair maker's house and workshop.

"A true and perfect Inventory of all the Good and Chatt[els] of John Brooke late of the parish of St Martin in Lincoln Chaire maker deceased taken and appraised this 15^th day of July 1665, by Us whose names are here under written

	£	s	d
Inprimis His Purse and his Apparell	1	0	0
Item, Wood great and small in the house and yard	2	0	0
Item 9 Rakes and other similar one implemts in the shop	0	10	0
Item white Rods	9	10	0[]
Item Coine in the little Chamber nixt the sheets	0	5	0
In the Great chamber
Item one dozen of Napkins, one pair of lyn sheets, fr pillow      }
Cases, 2 Table cloths, 2 long Towels, 3 paire of Course sheets,  }	2	15	0
One Silver Cup and two silver spoons in a seeld chest nigh the  }
Window, and the Chest                                                                 }
Item one course Covering, one Blanket, one pillow and  }
one pillow case with a trundle bed                                    }	0	5	0[]
Item one paire of Curtaines and Vallance, One Coverlet        }
one blanket, one paire of sheets, one pillow, one pillow case }	0	10	[]
and a Chaff bed                                                                        }
Item two Covered Stooles	0	2	[]
Item one Table Cupboard with a Carpet, one Cradle }
one Chest and one Stoole                                           }	0	6	0
Item One wanded Chair, † one standing Close presse	0	6	0
Item One Seeing glass	0	0	6
In the Back Shop
Item one dozen of Chaires	0	6	0
In the house
Item Two flaggons, one pinte can, and one Gill can     }
8 pewter dishes, one chamber pot & two Candlesticks }	0	17	6
Item one Brass pott, 3 brasse pans, one warming                   }	0	9	0
Pan, one Brasse Chafin dish, & one Brasse morter & pestull }
Item one high Cupboard	0	10	0
Item 3 little Tables and one Carpet	0	4	0
Item One Salting Kit, †† three Water Kits†† and }
one drink stand                                                      }	0	3	0
Item one andiron§, one Spit, One paire of Cobirons§§ }
one ffire skummer, one paire of Tongs, one dripping    }
pan, Two End irons§, one Tallow Cawk, & hooks         }	0	10	0
one frying pan and other old iron                                   }
Item one Mare and a foale and one foot (?) follower	3	0	[]
Item Bumble Reed ‡	0	5	[]
Item Stallbords blocks and other implements	0	0[]	[]
Total of this Inventory	23	[13]	[]
Roger Clark [x] his mark John Goodinn [x] his mark
Samuell Booth Robert Burmoster
1200 [] E[] fuit huiu[] .. apud Lincoln 12° Aug[] & pri[?]o [..] sub & S[]

[ ]: the original has losses at the margin where not all of the document remains. 

† Wanded chair: chair made of wickerwork or with wickerwork seat and back rushes (Glossary, p. 152 ‘Probate Inventories of Lincoln Citizens 1661-1714’ edited by J.A. Johnston, Lincoln Record Society & The Boydell Press 1991)

†† Kit: tub (p. 149, ibid.)

§ Andiron; also End iron: a device for raising logs above hearth level (p. 145, ibid.)

§§ Cobiron: a small version of an andiron, usually with hooks on the front to support spits  (p. 146, ibid.)

‡ Bumbles are woven bull rushes (p. 145 ibid.)  See also entry from ‘The English Dialect Dictionary’  Joseph Wright, OUP 1898:  “BUMBLE, sb.⁶ Yks. Lin. [bu-ml.]   1. The bulrush, Scirpus lacustris, with which chairs are bottomed. Also used attrib.   Lin. The chair's got a bumble bottom (R.E.C.). n.Lin. N. & Q.  (1852) 1st S v. 375 ; n.Lin.¹ I can't abide them bumble-seated  chairs ; it's makkin' onessen like a Paapist to set doon 'e one  on 'em. sw-Lin.¹   2. Comp. Bumble-barfan, a horse-collar made of reeds  or rushes as distinguished from the leather bargham (q.v.).   n.Yks. 12 ne. Yks. ¹ The bumble-barfam was specially used for  young colts and fillies when first yoked (s.v. Barfhame). m.Yks.¹  VOL. I.     [Bull-rushes ... in some countries . . . are called  bumbles, WESTMACOTT Script. Herbal (1694) 32.]”

Reference Name INV/165/41

Name: Brooke, John

Profession: Chair Maker

Place: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Date: 1665

Repository: Lincolnshire Archives [057]

© Julian Parker 2020

1696 - Probate Inventory of John Dring of St Peter's in the Arches, Lincoln 4th December 1696

This inventory is intriguing for both the contents and the list of both woods and tools in a late 17th century Lincoln joiner's house and workshop.

"Decr 4th A Dmi 1696

A Trew and perfect inventary of John Dring joyner deceaised in St Peeters in ye arches Parish of his goods & chatle by Us whose names are heare under written Robert Langby Philip Cunstall
and John Glenn
Imprimis

	£	s	d
The purs and aparell £30 plate £2	32	0	0
Bed Chamber
The feather bed pillars and bolsters blanckits and roog	5	0	0
The bedsted and cornish cortins and vallents cortin rodds cord and map	3	0	0
The chist of drawers the cheeres the Looking glassees and pictures	3	14	0
Cradle and roogs	0	15	0
The Clossit
Bedsted and all belonging to varnish fish skin brushees	3	12	0
The Seeled Chamber
The wallnuttree chist of drawers and Looking glassees	10	12	0
The fenered tables and stands side bord tables and combox	3	10	0
The bedsted ye great with bos sees and other things	1	9	0
The Mens Chamber
The feather bed roog and blanckits all things belongin to it	4	0	0
The cuttin screwes with ye box to it the chist with the tooles all	2	1	0
The Litle chamber
The table feet that is in it	0	11	2
The garrat
The coffins and bedsteds cheere frames turning frames a still and pot to it	5	0	0
The 2 sawes stoole feet black wood and molds staing stoole wheele rack Bird cage baskit and bock bocks all comes to	2	4	4
The parlar
The ovell wenscote tables and the side bord tables and Litle table all	8	3	0
The chist of drawers ye bedsted one greate with ye froggs and galla boake	5	8	6
The hall
The tables in ye hall wenscote and elme one with the other comes to	4	15	0
The wallnut chist of drawers stooles pewter case a cooller washing tubs and other things	9	7	0
The Kichin
The pewter 2 douzen of plates 11 pewter dishees 2 tankards 1 flaggin 2 candlesticks	3	17	0
The tables and cheeres 3 guns one pair of wooden srewes glew a ston and half all	3	11	0
The brass pots and Kettles candsticks and copper can warming pan fryin pan sawspan	1	18	0
The spits testing Irons smoothing irons glew pots nest of drawers	0	13	6
The driping pan glas botles a paire of folding dores with the hingees	1	1	0
Three douzen of Locks one douzen paire of duftale hingees 3 douzen of dripls	1	9	5
Three douzen of scuthings 7 douzen of squaes coffin Locks	0	10	5
The back Kichin
The washing tubs ternes scip and other neasesary things for ye Kichin	0	16	6
The oake bords old Iron turning fram other odd ends of stufe all	2	11	0
The foale and the hay	1	19	0
The Sellar
The end of wood and five barells	1	17	0
The Yard
The bed post bed rales bed sides and all other peicees with a buring wheele and bords	2	15	0
The stufe in the summer house	1	10	0
The Wood house
The oake quarters elme bords wallnuttree plancks and other peicees	5	0	0
The Hay Chamber
The dale bords and five score and ten of quarter dales comes to	11	11	2
The oake plank and bord the paire tree plank and bord	1	10	6
The Shop in ye Street
The coffins the wenscote bords the bass bords and peicees of bords	2	9	4
The stools and cheere feet and rales 2 gun stocks with other peicees	0	17	0
The molds and patterns squares and leavell frames of tables screwes and boxe	0	16	0
The chist and all tooles in it and in the shop hatchits hansawes hammer holdfasts Long plains for plaines smoothing plaines comish plaines belection plaines ogees hollow and rownds plaines plowes growing plaines spring plaine files rasps and burring tooles screwes and screw plates wimble and passer stock and small kits mortis chissell and all sort of chissells and formers and gougees the turning fram a vice the benchees all things in it	9	16	7
The old house Where they came from
The oake plank the Wallnuttree plank the partree plank the grindle ston and other waist wood in all	4	7	1
The Timber
The oake timber by Saint Sweethings Church the sawpitt The foure trees comes to in all	6	13	4
Elme wood
The elme wood att Stamp end 20 peicees comes to in all	3	0	0
Totall:	174	12	4
	175	12	4

Wittnessed by us whose names are heare 

John Glenn

Robert Langley

Phillip Constable

Robert Dring

Exhibm fuit huius inventarium apud Lincoln septimo die mensis Decembris Anno Dmi millimo Sextennio & nonogesimo sexto P. Executricem pro vero &c Sub &c fi &c (This inventory was presented at Lincoln on the 7th day of December in the 1696th year of our Lord by the Executor as a true and faithful inventory etc.)"

Reference Name INV/192/362 

Name: Dring, John 

Profession: Joiner 

Place: Lincoln, Lincolnshire 

Date: 1695-1696 Repository: Lincolnshire Archives [057]
© Julian Parker 2020