Wigan Album

Ron is that name Peter Rawson the clock makers from Wigan.

From the British Museum website – Royle & Rawson, Clockmakers, Wallgate, Wigan. Active all around 1858.

SORRY CAN'T MAKE IT OUT. BUT IF THERE WAS A PETER RAWSON CLOCKMAKER, I'D SAY THAT WAS HIM.

Ron and Owd viewer - if you download the pic and enlarge it, the name can be seen to read Royle & Rawson.

Rawson (& Royle) did have a watch & clockmakers there many years ago, they took over from a watchmaker called Esplin, I have one of his watches made in the 1840's.

Ron, what is the source of this picture?

It is a cutting from the Wigan Observer

Thanks Ron.

Name: Peter F Rawson
Age: 25
Estimated birth year: abt 1826
Relation: Son
Father's name: Thomas Rawson
Mother's name: Harriet Rawson
Gender: Male
Where born: Wigan, Lancashire, EnglandHousehold Members:
Name Age
Thomas Rawson 50 Wearhouseman
Harriet Rawson 48
Peter F Rawson 25 Watchmaker
Elizabeth Rawson 21 Dressmaker
Samuel B Rawson 20 Grocer
John Rawson 18 Carpenter
Harriet Rawson 16 School
Mary Rawson 12 School
Martha A Rawson 10 School
Sarah Rawson 8 School

Civil Parish: Wigan

His poor wife a child every two years

hi does anyone know of a William Barton - clock maker Wigan 1834
he may have worked with Esplin

Caroline, William Barton was a watch and clock maker. He married Elizabeth MIlner in Manchester in 1830. Elizabeth already had an illegitimate son - George Esplin - who was born in Manchester in 1819. I can't find what happened to William, as he is not on Elizabeth's 1841 census and in 1851 she is said to be a widow. Elizabeth and her son George went into partnership as watch and clockmakers in about 1838, a partnership that was dissolved in 1841 because of 'debts by Esplin'. So Barton and Esplin appear to be mother and son and not two males, as most people suppose (though William Barton and step-son George Esplin may have traded for a while before that, I suppose). George then started up on his own and was very successful before his untimely death aged 34 in 1854. His wife tried to continue the business at 76 Wallgate in a shop known as 'The Illuminated Clock', but soon handed it over to Royle and Rawson. George's estate amounted to some £1 million in todays money, and it seems Betsy did ok.

You give a date for William Barton of 1834: may I ask where this comes from, as I've not been able to find anything about him except his marriage place and dateand his occupation.

And AW, I'd love to see the 1840 watch by George Esplin! I've just bought one of his clocks, but it's from the later period when he had 30 men working for him, so it's unlikely he ever saw it, never mind touched it :)

The ever changing faces of Wigan, in the last 70 years alone it has been a case of now you see it, now you don't so take pictures of everything while its still there.
The ally way just up from the Swan & Railway must be the one that now leads through to the car park at the back. Lovely sketch by the way, someone had foresight for future generations.

I have a Royle and Rawson grandfather clock. No idea of date and needs some refurbishment. Was bought at an auction by my Grandmother in the early 1960s. Nice to see the sketch of where it might have been made.

The above Wallgate sketch appeared at the top of page 5 of the Wigan Observer and District Advertiser on Wednesday May 23rd 1906 under the heading 'Pictures of Old Wigan'. The text beneath the sketch reads:
WALLGATE FIFTY YEARS AGO
The above sketch presents a picture of the old Wallgate fifty years ago. As will be at once seen there have been many changes during this period of half a century. The illustration is taken from an old bill head which a correspondent has unearthed and sent to us. This old bill was quite an artistic production and was issued by Messrs. Royle and Rawson, who took over the business of George Esplin, an old Wigan watchmaker.
The business place of Messrs. Royle and Rawson was a well-known Wigan landmark of the period and was known as "The Illuminated Clock". In the Wigan Observer of 1856, just 50 years ago, there is an advertisement under this heading which details the many articles which the firm were offering to the Wigan public. It runs in this way:
"Illuminated Clock, Patent Watch and Clock Manufacturer, 76 Wallgate, Wigan (between the two railways). Established 25 years. Royle and Rawson (late G. Esplin) proprietors." Then the advertisement goes on to say that churches, railway stations and other public buildings were supplied with clocks by contract and that the firm were manufacturers of "the improved railway guards' timepieces" now in use on several principal lines of railway in the kingdom. It is stated that the best gold and silver watches, eight day spring bracket and other clocks were manufactured on the premises. The firm had a high reputation for its work.
"The Illuminated Clock" occupies the most conspicuous place in the picture. The old buildings further down Wallgate were occupied by well-known trades people of the day and this sketch, which resurrects a dead Wigan will call up many memories to the older inhabitants of the district.
The picture presents some idea of how the Wallgate railway bridge looked some fifty years ago. In rebuilding the London and North Western Railway Station in 1859 and 1861, this quaint old bridge was swept away. Mr John Preston, the Wigan contractor, remembers removing the old structure. It looks quaint enough as it appears in the picture to the present generation, but it may be recalled that the old bridge in 1859, before the alterations to the station, was supported on 8 Ionic columns, which were some 2 feet in diameter at the base and which projected into the roadway, and thus narrowing the thoroughfare in like proportion. Mr Preston, in rebuilding the bridge, used cast iron girders, which later were replaced by wrought iron girders.

Thankyou Alan, all quite fascinating.
Clearly Wigan was a major manufacturer of watches and clocks in those days, amazing that this precision trade was lost to the town and its history nationally.
I have never seen a watch of clock boasting 'Wigan' but you never know I might see such an example on Antiques Road show or find one in my attic. Who knows I could be as rich as Derek (Dell Boy) Trotter!!!!

Colin, I have 2 timepieces (a grandfather clock and an 1855 silver pocket watch) made by Thomas Milner of Wigan, plus a George Esplin wall clock, which also states proudly on its face that it was made in Wigan. They are not particularly expensive items, unfortunately, though they all still work some 170 years or so after their manufacture, which is quite remarkable. A very interesting (and concise) book is 'The clock and watch makers of Wigan' by Arthur J Hawkes. It can be read for free at the Wigan Local History and Heritage Society website: https://www.wiganlocalhistory.org/resources/the-clockmakers-and-watchmakers-of-wigan-1650-1850

Thanks Alan, I will check this out.