SAMUEL CHATWOOD

CHATWOOD PATENT SAFE & LOCK COMPANY

Taken from: O'Connor, Denis
Samuel Chattwood: Banker's engineer: An account of the Chattwood Safe Co. Ltd 1854 -1963. Certificate in Local History Course, Extra Mural Dept University of Manchester 1979

1856 Dealer in safes and Ironmongery

1859 He was well known in Liverpool and advertised Hold - Fast and fire resisting safes at his works 65 Cornwall St.and had a depot at 32 Lower King St Manchester and was also Agent for Simpson Patent Sewing Machines.

1860 On 2nd February 1860 he took out his first patent for a complete sewing machine named " Paragon ". It was at this time that the Bolton address first appeared. The Manufactory Liver St Works Bow St Bolton. There was a showroom at 22,South John St Liverpool. His home address was 16 Houghton St Southport and this was a respectable middle class district which is now known as Chapel St.

1861 The sewing machine business disappeared when it was announced that William Dawes who was a Civil and Mechanical Engineer, who had managed the Coalbrookdale Ironworks in Shropshire for 5 years as chief engineer was joining the company and that it would be now known as Chatwood and Dawes.

1862 This arrangement ended near the end of year when Mr Dawes returned to the Midlands to take up a position with another safe firm but the name was not changed until 1864 when it became the Chatwood Patent Safe and Lock Company

1868 Samuel was in a train accident on the 31st October 1868 when he caught the 12-45 train from Manchester to Bolton with a friend. When the collision occurred he sustained bruises and a cut near his eye inflicted by his friends top hat. As a result of this accident he claimed his sight and hearing had been impaired and his doctor sent him to Ben Rhydding near Ilkley to recuperate. He decided to sue the railway company (Lancs and Yorks Rly) for £10,000 and the case went to court where there was a lot of conflicting expert medical evidence about the extent of the injuries and their long term effects but in the end Samuel was awarded £2000. Now lived at 5,Wentworth Place Bolton, an exclusive suburb with large Georgian houses.

1871 Census shows Samuel aged 37 and his wife Jane aged 42. Their son Albert Beardsall is shown as being born at Birkdale Southport and Samuel Rawsthorne and Arthur Brunel at Little Bolton.

1873 About this time there seems to have been an adventure into mining in Cornwall and this led to tragic consequences. The family were on holiday at their house on Cornwall and the first son (Samuel Rawsthorne ?) was amusing his younger brother Albert Beardsall by throwing gunpowder on a fire when there was an explosion Arthur's hand was injured but there were complications and he died, being buried in Bodmin Cemetry on the 25th May 1873

1881 Census Family shown living at 14 Wentworth St Little Bolton Samuel , Jane,Samuel R. and Lucy M.. Arthur Brunel was at Giggleswick School near Settle.

1905 Samuel's wife Jane died at their home High Lawn Worsley and was buried at Worsley Parish Church. She left her money £1747-12-10 to her daughter Lucy Helen ? who at 34 was unmarried. However on the 17th January 1906 she married William Cumming-Craig, the manager at Chatwood's London, at St Peters Eaton Square London. Samuel retired and went to live in Windermere but on a visit to a friend, Mathew Cocker, of Oswaldtwistle he died 2nd December 1909 and was buried in Worsley Churchyard with his wife.
Obituary from Bolton Evening News December 2nd 1909
Death of Samuel Chatwood, founder of the firm of Chatwood & Co., safe makers.
Deceased was in his 79th year and had attained a world wide reputation for safe making, recieving orders from many distant countries. In the early days of the firm Mr Chatwood engaged in the severest tests regarding burglary and fire resisting, in which the high quality of the Chatwood safe won for the firm considerable eminence.

Obituary from Bolton Journal December 3rd 1909
The death took place yesterday of Mr. Samuel Chatwood, founder of the firm of Chatwood & Co. , safe makers. The deceased gentleman who had attained the ripe age of 77 was well known in many parts of the country. The business of the firm was established in Bark St. by the deceased half a century ago. Here it was carried on for a lengthy period and some years the firm secured larger premises in Foundry St. As makers of safes and strongrooms Messrs Chatwood attained a worldwide reputation and executed orders in many countries. In the early days of the firm Mr. Chatwood engaged in tests of the burglar and fire resisting qualities of his manufactures, which won for the firm much eminence in the country.

Funeral from the Bolton Journal December 10th 1909
The funeral of Mr. Samuel Chatwood took place on Monday when he was interred in the Family Vault at St. Marks Churchyard Worsley. The service was conducted by Rev. T. Harrison. Deputation representing the firm formed a procession at the Village Post Office from Manchester staff, Bolton office staff and Heads of Departments.
There were six carriages:-
  1. Mr and Mrs S.R. Chatwood Son and Daughter in law
  2. Mr and Mrs Cumming-Craig Son in law and Daughter
  3. Mr S.R.Chatwood Junior, G.A. and A.B. Chatwood Grandsons
  4. Miss Chatwood, Grandaughter, Mrs Burton and Mr and Mrs Wood Nephew and Niece
  5. Simeon Chatwood Nephew, Miss U nsworth Niece
  6. Miss Walker, Mr T.J. Murray and Dr. Scowby (Worsley)
The organist, Mr R.F.Coules FRCO played Chopin and Beethoven's Funeral Marches.

Report Bolton Journal May 31st 1873

Shocking death of Bolton gentleman's son from an explosion of gunpowder

On Saturday morning a shocking, and what has since terminated in a fatal accident, occurred in the house of Mr. S. Chatwood at Bodmin Cornwall. Mr. Chatwood's four children, Albert, 12, Samuel, 9, Arthur, 7 and a daughter, the youngest of the family were in the drawing room and Albert was amusing himself by throwing small portions of gunpowder from a flask he held in his hands, which had been incautiously left about by a Mrs. Fell, into the fire. After he had been thus engaged for a short time the flames ( of the fire ) communicated with the powder in the flask and a terrible explosion occurred. Albert was the most severely injured owing to his holding the flask , the thumb of the right hand being lacerated, the joint dislocated and the skin between the fore and middle fingers was also lacerated. He was not thought by a medical man - Mr. Couch - to be in danger of his life. Arthur was near Albert and escaped with two wounds to his legs. The other two children were least hurt, escaping with slight scorching such as Mr. Couch did not consider required much attention. The above facts were conveyed to Mr. Chatwood, who was in Bolton, by letter from Mr. Couch, received on Monday. Mr. Chatwood, however, received a telegram on Sunday informing him of the melancholy event, but too late for him to leave for Bodmin by train. On Monday a second telegram was received conveying the sad intelligence that Albert had expired from exhaustion.

Mr. Chatwood left at noon for Cornwall