EDWARD BARLOW
CLOCKMAKER of OLDHAM

by:  PETER JAMES SIMON

Edward Barlow  was the first member of the family working in Oldham Lancashire to produce domestic longcase clocks, or grandfather clocks as they have become known to us today.  Edward Barlow was born in the year 1699.    His father was Henry Barlow, blacksmith and clockmaker.   He was born in an area of  Rochdale known as Ladyhouse, today this area exists as part of  Milnrow which comes under the borough of Rochdale Lancashire.

Exactly what date and why  Edward moved over to Oldham is not known, it was probably quite simply the fact that he married a  lady  from Oldham and  she did not wish to live in  Rochdale,  so they set up home in Oldham.    There is a reference in the Parish Records to the maiden name of  his mother being Clegg, but I think  this information has been incorrectly translated and has become mixed up with the lady who Edward subsequently married.   The records that I have seen show his baptism as ‘about 1700’, and records show Edward Barlow on a jury list of 1771 and states his age
as 72, confirming the year of his birth to be 1699.

On  April 25th 1725 Edward Barlow married Anne Clegg  at  St. Marys Church Prestwich.    Anne was born June 10th
1705 and her father was John Clegg.     Upon their marriage, Edward would have been 26  years old  and Anne would have been 20 years old. It is an interesting fact that many people from Oldham did not get married in St. Marys church Oldham, but used  St. Marys church at Prestwich.    However they almost always used St. Marys church Oldham to bap-
tise their children.

Throughout their marriage, Edward and Anne had nine children, spanning  a twenty five  year period.   The first child was christened Henry being born in 1728, probably named after Edward’s father and the last child Anne, being born in 1753, when Edward was 54 and his wife Anne was 48.    Both these ages being substantial in years to be bearing  child- ren today, but quite common for these times.

The following is a list of baptisms recorded at St. Marys Church Oldham, for children born to Edward Barlow of Oldham Clockmaker and his wife Anne.

Henry       September 4th 1728        Named after Edward’s father

Edward    April 21st 1733       Named after Edward’s grandfather

Mary      February 21st 1738   Probably died young, hence fifth child named Mary

Benjamin July 14th 1736     To become a clockmaker of Oldham and Ashton

Mary        April 7th 1738

Abraham  November 6th 1741

Sarah       September 21st 1743     Died Jan 25th 1782 aged 39

William   November 18th 1748     To become a clockmaker of Ashton

Anne       Mar 14th 1753      Named after Edward’s wife
 
 

The following facts are extracts from the Annals of Oldham relating to Edward Barlow:

In 1736 Edward Barlow repaired some candlesticks in St. Marys Oldham Parish Church, the same year he baptised his fourth child in this church. This demonstrates that he was not just a clockmaker but was a craftsman and an engineer skilled in metal working, with a good reputation in the borough.

In 1743 he was made a constable for the borough of Oldham.

In 1750 he became a surveyor of the highways.   Both these highly regarded positions show what a well respected man Edward Barlow must have been.

In 1753 he erected a weather vane on Oldham Parish Church tower, and the accounts show that the costs for this work be divided between the following townships :

Oldham           one pound eight shillings and nine pence and one farthing

Royton            fourteen shillings four pence and three farthings

Chadderton     one pound one shilling and seven pence

Crompton        one pound one shilling and seven pence

The total  cost paid to Edward Barlow  for  the weather vane was four pounds six shillings and four pence.   This would compare with a clock which he would sell for about two pounds and ten shillings  and would take him some two weeks
to complete.

In 1761 Edward Barlow became a churchwarden at St Marys Oldham Parish Church.

In 1771 we find Edward Barlow on a jury list eligible to serve as a juror at the Assizes or Quarter Sessions at the age of 72.
 

As well as  participating in all of the above  activities,  Edward  was quite a  prolific clockmaker, this  being his full time occupation.  From what little information we can gather about Edward Barlow we can draw our own conclusions.  It is apparent from notes regarding the  weather vane and the candlesticks that Edward was a gifted engineer, a craftsman and a  man of  great ingenuity.    He  would  have been a man who l ived his life to the full, keeping himself  and more importantly his mind busy at all times.   He would have been a man of high moral  standards and a very well respected man within the borough,  hence he  was both  a constable and a churchwarden.  His ingenuity and clever mind would
also have been well  respected in  the town, these  abilities giving him  position as surveyor of  the  highways.  Edward Barlow would have  been a man of property and considerable wealth, both these factors giving him inclusion as a juror
of the time.

More importantly, after all these qualities and positions he  held, he would have been a great father figure to the nine children and a good  husband to his wife Anne.   Our only assumption regarding Anne, is  that she probably spent the majority of  her life at home tending to the children and her home.   However, in these times, which  are described by William Rowbottom 1787-1799 as  ‘the most  dismal times’,  I very much doubt that there was ever a shortage of  food
on the table at the Barlow household.

Edward Barlow died on April 19th 1776 at the age of 77.   His wife died on January 28th 1782 at the age of  76.   Both of  these ages  being good for the  times and probably reflecting a higher standard of living than was normal, due to the wealth of the family.