Where's the last place in the world you would expect to find a Rose Engine Lathe complete with Holtz.. glass front Spanish mahogany cabinets containing every sort of chuck, or attachment you could think of including 2 Geometric chucks, and two Holtz cabinets containing 120 H & D hand tools with ivory inlays and a host of extras yet to be described. :

How about an open shed in a sea side village at Lake Elesmere in New Zealand.

Believe it, that's what happened and the sea air wasn't doing the brass and bronze work a lot of good.!!

The interesting stuff is unraveling how it got there and its history.

Our preliminary researches have come up with the following information which SOT members may be able to add to.…

A young man by the name of Jamie Young inherited a strange old lathe and showed it to an antique dealer who subsequently made an offer on behalf of an American client.

He approached SOT Life member Bob Lynn after learning a bit more about his inheritance and preferred it to stay locally if possible.

Jamie Young lived near Christchurch at a small settlement called Lake Ellesmere near the Sea, not 50 miles from Bob Lynn's Museum and workshop at Ashburton.

Bob immediately rushed off to see this strange old lathe and was absolutely shocked to find a complete Rose Engine Lathe with a full range of accessories.

Such a collection so close to home was unbelievable and he rushed back to the Lynn Museum Trustees with a plea "We have just got to acquire this " and so some fund raising and loans from friends enabled The Lynn Trust to agreed to match the offer that Jamie Young had received, which he accepted expressing a preference to see the Bower Rose Engine and its extensive collection of accessories housed with the Lynn Trust where it would be used and appreciated.

On examination the Headstock had the words "J Bower "

The story from Jamie was that his Father had purchased the lathe after having seen it displayed in the British Pavilion of the South Seas Empire Exposition of 1925 in Dunedin New Zealand.

We don’t as yet know who was responsible for sending it out for the Exposition but there were a number of trade and craft displays including some supported by the Guilds of London as well as the usual Business promotions.. Bob Lynn remembers seeing it at the exposition. ( but cannot remember which stand, just that it was in the British Pavilion.

Subsequent to the closure of the Exposition it was sold to a Mr. Young for the sum of £900.00 (which in those days was the price of two good houses) We have searched the archives of the 1925 exposition but have been unable to find any references to the Lathe.

The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office was responsible for the British Pavilion so there may be some records in their London archives.

When reading through the notes in Warren Ogden Jr's book Pedigree of Holtzapffel Lathes some interesting points emerge… : Warren describes Lathe 1513

We don't yet know Bower's age at death but he is not listed in the 1817 or 1827 Trade Directories for London

He appears on Holtzapffel's list as buying lathe 1513 on 17 November 1832 with the above address.

He appears in the London Directory of PIGOT's 1839 and gives the following entry :

BOWER John: engine lathe & tool maker and engine turner on metals and steel, 13 King St, Clerkenwell .

and appears in trade catalogues till 1849 when he dies.

To be in business as an engine turner he would have needed OT lathes and a Rose Engine lathe would have been desirable and he may have had one prior to 1839. We note that Clerkenwell was also part of the watchmaking district at the time.

His Will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury in 1849, date of Death given as 25 August 1849, personal estate in the UK was valued at, 5788 pounds 12 shillings . A significant sum for those days. We have not examined a copy of his will but that could prove to be useful in establishing his age at death, and who inherited his estate.

So it appears Bower started business in London between 1827 and 1832 and continues in business till 1849 when his apprentice William Millis takes the business over.

What he was doing and where he was prior to 1832 we have no knowledge of.

There appears to be no Patent office records for J. Bower.

There are no records of published material in the British Museum Library although there may be other material elsewhere.

The Lynn Trust does not have a complete set of SOT journals ( we are missing a few years) but there is no reference to Bower in any we have.

It has been brought to our attention there are many people with the "Bower'" name originating in Langton Matravers ,Dorset. and there are several John's baptized there; it may be that he came up from there to London. There is a published book " the Bower Family of Clairmont" by H.B. Brown which has material on the Weymouth & Langton Matravers ,Dorset Bower's.

There are records of of 12 John Bower baptiseds between 1762-1817 and two marriages in the Dorset area. The Langton Local History Society report of a John Thomas Bower baptised 1^st September 1769 with brothers Thomas (1771)and Stephen (1773) who all migrated away probably to London . This may not be the right John T Bower but is worth following up.

There should be documents relating to John's business interests at the London Metropolitan Archives which have not been checked,

1) Archive Searches, Room G.16, Companies House, Cardiff CF4 3UZ

(they maintain a card index of registered companies)

2) National Register of Archives, Quality House, Quality Court, Chancery

Lane, London WC2A 1HP

(they have a computerised database of surviving business records)

also worth checking

3)Local Studies Library, Holborn Library, 32-38 Theobalds Rd, London

WC1X 8PA

4)There could be records of sale of his estate goods in newspapers at the time.

So there is a lot of work to do which is a bit difficult from 12000 miles away!

Bower lathe head, note elaborate pillars

Earl Harborough

The reference to Earl Harborough commissioning a Rose Engine from Bower gives rise to interesting possibilities; was the Rose Engine we acquired the one commissioned by the Earl.?

Lord Harborough, or more correctly Earl Harborough with the family name of Robert Sherard had a significant involvement with Ornamental Turning from 1815 to the 1850's and appears to have been the owner of a large number of lathes which he traded from time to time. We have not been able to unearth much about him.

Warren Ogden describes lathe 855

"Robert (Sherard) Earl of Harborough of Stapleford Park, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, and no1 Hill St, Berkeley Square, London W. and 11 St James's Place London SW. The "Best Customer " of Messers Holtzapffel & Deyerlein must have been the Earl of Harborough, Born Aug 26 1797, about 3 weeks after John Holtzapffel had sold his 22 lathe. During the Earl's lifetime, starting at age 15 , he purchased the following ornamental turning lathes: 883 in 1815, 913 in 1821, 1165 in 1821, 1473 in 1830, 1476 in 1830, 1432 in 1830, 1414 in 1830 , 1110(rose Engine) in 1831, 1553 in 1833, 1869 in ca 1846, 1934 in 1848

Lord Harborough was raised at Fineshade Abbey, the residence of his mother Eleanor, daughter of the Hon Col. John Monckton. He was educated at Eaton and Oxford

B Aug 26, 1797 at Finshade Abbey, County Northampton, d without issue at Stapleford Park, County Leicester, July 28 1859, age 61.

Ogden's description of Rose Engine Lathe 1110 raises a number of questions and creates some confusion which needs to be clarified.

" This appears to be the most expensive Holtzapffel outfit ever purchased by the Earl of Harborough--- the best customer of Holtzapffel & co -……..- of all the lathes purchased by Lord Harborough only two have surfaced no 931, and 1110 …..

Second Owner: appears to have been Mr. John Bower of 13 King Street Clerkenwell, a skilled engine lathe and tool maker. He seems to have retired in 1859 when his apprentice, William Millis, was listed as the principal of the firm at 13 King St.

According to Mr. Bower the total cost of the lathe and accessories when purchased by Lord Harborough came to £1500.00 . Thus when the lathe came into Bower's posession " it had almost every contrivance which an amature could possibly desire and a great deal besides" this included two geometric chucks……

The third owner was Edward J Booth, who acquired the lathe at the sale of Bower's Estate…… and then describes various owners including the present owner in Jersey.

There is clearly some confusion here :

1. Bower died in 1849 ,not "retired in 1859" Lord Harborough died in 1859.
2. That the Earl was the "Best Customer" of Holtzapffel & co seems questionable.
3. The Most expensive lathe sold by Holtzapffel was no 1636 for £1850 which was last known to be in Warren Ogden's possession.
4. When Bower acquired 1110 is not known, The Earl bought it in 1831 for £330.00 , Bower must have acquired it between 1831 and 1849 or more probably 1839 and held it till he died.
5. Is the phrase " According to Mr. Bower the total cost of the lathe and accessories when purchased by Lord Harborough came to £1500.00" referring to Holtz Lathe 1110 or the one he was making for Earl Harborough. A more careful examination of the Holtzapffel records relating to the Earl may enlighten us.
6. Lathe 1110 when acquired by Bower "had every contrivance including 2 Geometric Chucks," It would be interesting to know if two geometric chucks are still with the last reported owner of no. 1110 Mr. George Alfred Rogers , 69 Clos-de-sables, St. Brelade, Jersey.

We are interested in the £1500 .00 lathe ordered from John Bower by Lord Harborough and what may have happened to it. Presumably this is different to the Holtzapffel lathe which cost with accessories £1500.00 and came into Bower's hands?

There is also a possibility of some confusion in Ogden's records. Was there one lathe worth £1500 or two?

The Bower Rose Engine which the Lynn Museum now holds had an extraordinary range of Accessories and with the cabinets could easily have cost £1500 to make in the 1830's and includes 2 geometric chucks, one an Ibbetson chuck identical in all respects to those made by Holtzapffel but with out the Holtz imprint. The other by Cook & co York.

How many Rose Engines came with 2 Geometric Chucks?

Many of the accessories including the cabinets were Holtzapffel in origin, and along with a set of rosette's for the Bower were a dozen that look like they are for a Holtzapffel Rose engine.

What records are available about Lord Harborough's involvement with Ornamental Turning, or about the disposal of his collection of lathes after is death in 1859? Over a 40 year period he had owned 11 and must have built up a large collection of accessories that were ultimately disposed of.

Another interesting note : Ogden In describing Rose Engine lathe 1636 and the first owner John Taylor in 1838 …" the second owner (unknown)…another possibility was that the lathe belonged to a Holtzapffel & Co engineer by the name of L. Frost…..one of the Frosts also worked for the Earl of Harborough…….a third possibility is that the lathe belonged to a William Taylor an engine-turner a 3 king st Clerkenwell, as of 1836 ….

Just along the street from John Bower at 13 King St Clerkenwell.

Robert Sherard was the son of Philip Sherard (who was born 10 oct 1767, married 4 july 1791 and died 9 oct 1807 age 40 years leaving his wife Eleanor with 7 small children),.

Robert born 26 aug 1797succeeded to the Earldom at the age of 10 on his fathers death in 1807 and bought his first lathe at age 15!!

Robert married late 27 Nov 1843 at age 46 , Mary Elizabeth , daughter of Edward Temple esq. and produced no children.

The earldom became extinct with his death, although an Irish Barony was passed to his cousin Philip -Castell Sherard based Killkenny in Ireland.

His Country estate Stapleford Park is now a high class Country Hotel.

Robert had 6 sisters

Lucy Eleanor m 19 may 1817 to Hon Col. Henry C Lowther. D 8 Jun 1848

Ann Maria m 7 mar. 1816 to William Cuffe esq. D 22 Nov 1848

Sophia m 1 Apr. 1818 Thomas Whichcote Bart.

Jane d 18 Dec 1856

Charlotte d unmarried 1856

Susan m 11 jul.1821 Lt-Gen John Reeve Grenadier Guards

A more detailed analysis of Lathes owned by Lord Harborough

cost

£ s d

Number

Dia

Type

Date

15

15

0

855

5"

Common

Bought

Mar. 21, 1812

Sold to

?

?

42

0

0

883

5"

Screw Mandrel

Bought

Apr. 14, 1815

120

0

0

Frances Hartwell

91

sold to

C B Reynardson

Feb23, 1849

252

0

0

931

5"

Screw Mandrel

Rev L G Newman

Feb15, 1815

0

0

931

5"

Sold to

Lord Harborough

may8, 1821

Sold to

?

?

12

0

0

1165

7"

Common heads

Bought

Aug. 3, 1821

sold to

Colonaire Vale Est

Oct17, 1831

98

0

0

1473

4"

Screw mandrel

Bought

Mar. 25, 1830

sold to

E J Graef esq

apr12, 1833

240

0

0

1476

7"

Screw mandrel (rocking head)

July2, 1830

sold to

?

?

63

0

0

1432

7"

Common

Bought

Aug. 28,1830

sold to

East India Co

Apr 30,1831

30

0

0

1414

5"

Common

Bought

Dec. 15,1830

sold to

?

?

330

0

0

1110

12"

Rose Engine Lathe

Dec. 15, 1831

sold to

John Bower

?

180

0

0

1533

7"

Aug. 16, 1833

sold to

?

?

110

0

0

1934

5.5"

Traversing Mandrel

Dec. 18, 1848

170

0

0

Sold to

W W Campbell esq

Feb 8, 1849

 

We have just finished cataloguing all the components of the "Bower Collection" which number about 400 and will do a more detailed study of them.

If any members of the SOT have any knowledge of J Bower's OT involvement, Lord Harborough's involvement with OT, or how this particular Rose Engine came to New Zealand in 1925 we would appreciate the assistance in unraveling an interesting historical puzzle.

(This article was submitted by Lindsay Holland of the New Zealand Ornamental Turner’s group. You can contact Lindsay at puzzle@xtra.co.nz.)