Over the many
years in pursuit of clocks made by the Barlow family, I have met
and spoken to many people who have either owned or have known
the whereabouts of a Barlow clock. It is therefore
not unusual for me to have spent
many hours talking and
swapping information and assumptions with other
Barlow enthusiasts. In particular it has always been quoted that
Edward Barlow (senior), Benjamin, John, James, William and Edward (junior)
were all relat- ed in the family business of clockmaking and
that Benjamin was Edward’s son, and that John was Edward’s brother.
It is with these two family relationships that
most collectors would agree upon. With this information
in mind and the relationship between Edward and Benjamin
now proven, then any clue no matter how small to
link John and Ed-
ward as brothers was needed.
Although some assumptions throughout the whole of this account have had
to be made,
I find the evidence conclusive.
John Barlow was born
October 30th 1698, and his father is named as Henry
Barlow, the baptism being recorded at Rochdale.
We already know that Edward’s father was Henry and that Edward was
born at Ladyhouse Rochdale, so it
is almost certain
that Edward and John were brothers as there are
no other records relating to a Henry Barlow of Rochdale
at this point in time.
John’s wife was called Jane,
and I have traced two possible marriages, one in 1745 to Jane
Chadwick at Manchester and the other in 1746 to a Jane Schofield
at St John’s Bury. There are no other marriages listed
between a John Bar-
low and a Jane
from 1745 up to 1754, which is the year when they
had their first child. There are no marriages
listed between a John Barlow
and a Jane up to 1745. It is therefore impossible
to say for certain which of these two Jane’s that John
Barlow the clockmaker married.
Because both of the possible marriages are dated 1745 and 1746, John Barlow did not get married until he was either 47 or 48 years old and this could probably account for him and his wife Jane only having two children. I have not yet traced the death of Jane but John Barlow died at the age of 84 on September 1st 1782.
By the time John Barlow got
married he would be living and working along side his brother
Edward in Oldham. So it would be feasible for him to
probably marry a lady from Oldham. If this
was the case, then Jane Chadwick lived in Oldham and
was baptised at St. Mary’s Parish Church Oldham in 1712.
This would make her 33 years old when she married John and 42 and
44 years old respectively when she gave birth to their two children.
They had two children :
James February 1st 1754 To become a clockmaker
John
June 9th 1756
John, like his brother Edward lived to a good age for the times and also like his brother was fathering children well in- to his fifties.
In 1755 the Oldham Churchwardens
paid a bill presented by John Barlow clockmaker,
for the sum of nine shillings
and nine pence, and
a year later he is recorded as having made the sun dial at
Royton Church. In 1768 and 1775 he
is recorded as doing more
work for the wardens at Oldham Church. In 1753
Edward was also doing work for Oldham Church and one could
assume that it was Edward who got the work for his brother
John at the church, or simply the family business was
awarded the work and it was John who carried it out and
subsequently invoiced it. There is no doubt that John
like his brother Edward was a talented blacksmith and
engineer and would have been able to turn
his hand to anything of a
mechanical nature.
Thomas
Oldham Barlow
Engraver
London, England
The
Graphic - April 05, 1873