Hello all and Kiwi upon whose heels I am following closely, I know that Kiwi put his Beardshaw (Rosling) saw on for the medallion but I think that the saw itself has turned out to be of equal interest. My saw is not as itrinsically good or probably as interesting as the Rosling, but at least I am able to speculate with fair degree of certainty why Beardshaws attached this brand name to their saw. I don't know whether it is Ray or Simon (probably both at one stage or another) who have remarked on the apparent randomness of the attachment of some brand names to saws, but I think that this saw has Charles Calow on the medallion for the simple reason that Charles Calow looks like being the middle names of one of the Beardshaws. Now last time that I looked something up in the historical directories, Simon pulled me up ( and quite rightly so) for transposing the christian and surnames of the maker and so I direct you to Whites 1879 Page 405 where you will see:- Beardshaw Charles Calow (J. & Son); h 8 Taptonville (Also see images {the top entry} below if I can transfer it properly). And so could it be that Mr Charles Calow Beardshaw decided to name a brand of saw after himself, however obliquely? Fred I wonder if we will ever find a brand/make of saw called Edward Taylor? See second entry down.
Hi Fred, Tis the season for Beardshaw it seems.. Nice well proportioned saw, and I must say I like your new background. (The old one was good too.) Charles Calow Beardshaw would have been an interesting gentleman to talk to, he lived until 1908, having been born in 1831, he would have lived through the hey-day of Sheffield sawmaking. He was 19 at the time of the 1851 census. Regards Ray
Fred says "I wonder if we will ever find a brand/make of saw called Edward Taylor? " Funny you should mention that Fred. One of my puzzler saws has a blade stamp that appears to be "EDWd TAYLOR" (the middle bit is rather worn and difficult to be sure of). The London pattern handle has no medallion, and the copper rivets and brass screw hardware appear to be replacements. I had thought that the sawmaker/seller was Edward Taylor, who might possibly be part of some iteration of the Taylor Brothers dynasty,....... .... but now Fred's excellent sleuthing brings up the possibility of Edward Taylor being a Trade Name derivative from Beardshaw & Son , (albeit an early tradename, as the stamp also has "german steel" and three crowns ) This saw identification game gets confuseder and confuseder... (..or is that just me ! )
Another Beardshaw Beautiful medallion, Fred! From memory (away from home) CC was a tradesman in a non-saw trade who lived somewhere in the Hollis Croft area and a relative of whom married a Beardshaw. Edward Taylor has been a real puzzle to me - I've seen saws with this name made apparently about half a century at least apart, and no obvious connection. The handsaw looks distinctly lesser-quality (LP handle, German steel, three screws), so ET could easily be someone's name for a lesser quality line - but who?? I don't think I remember seeing it as one of the many Beardshaw trade marks.