APPENDIX

SAMUEL PARR (1747-1825)

Dr Parr was born at Harrow-on-the-Hill on 26 January 1747 and was educated at Harrow School being top of the school in 1761. He went up to Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1765 but was forced to leave after his father's death in 1766. He became an assistant master at Harrow in 1767 and was ordained deacon in 1769. He obtained the degree of MA in 1771 and in the same year set up his own school at Stanmore. The school was unsuccessful and in 1777 he became a master at Colchester Grammar School on the recommendation of Dr Johnson. He moved to Norwich Grammar School in 1779 and in 1781 he took the degree of LL.D. Dr Parr had been ordained priest whilst at Colchester and he was presented to the living of Asterby, Lincolnshire in 1780. In 1783 he was also presented to the perpetual curacy of Hatton, Warwickshire. In 1785 he settled at Hatton and taught private pupils but in 1789 he exchanged livings with the Rector of Wadenhoe, Northamptonshire.

Parr became very involved in political, matters and, in return for his support of the Whigs, had hopes of a Bishopric. He had a number of works published but, despite his very great learning, he was active in his parish and was responsible in 1809 for the recasting of the bells at Hatton into six and for adding two trebles in 1817.

He conducted massive correspondence with his friends and was known to many distinguished men particularly politicians. Parr's mannerisms and his verbosity made his writings very often difficult to follow - the letter reproduced above (22) being a good example.

The Rev H T Ellacombe in making the point that men of the highest talent and education have taken part in bell-ringing gives Dr Parr as an example :

The following extract from 'Lines on the Bells of St Peter Mancroft, Norwich' is also of interest :

'The celebrated Doctor Parr averr'd

That he more scientific ringing never heard

Than at S Peters; and quite well he knew

The art in theory and practice too'.

Much more could be said about this fascinating man.

James HARRISON I (circa 1704 – 1766)

James Harrison I is mainly known for bell hanging and for the manufacture of bellframes. He gained a considerable reputation for the quality of his bellframes and this is confirmed by the commission given him in 1733 to construct a new frame and rehang the twelve bells of York Minster. Unfortunately the bells were in fact not a good ring and they were scrapped in 1760 and a new ten was installed in a new frame by the London bell founders. However, his reputation as a bellhanger was assured and he installed many frames in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Much of his early bellhanging was of bells cast by Daniel Hedderly. He also worked in conjunction with Edward Sellers I and II of York and the London bell founders.

Unfortunately few of his bellframes now survive but from the evidence of those remaining he was an excellent craftsman. In about 1762 James Harrison I extended his business to include bell founding at Barrow-on-Humber. This may well have been due to the retirement of Daniel Hedderly, with whom Harrison had worked closely. Hedderly cast his last bell in 1759 when aged 80. James Harrison’s son, Henry II who was at that time working with him. may also have influenced the decision to enter into bell founding.

In about 1762 James Harrison I set up a second bell foundry at Preston and this operated until his death in 1766.

For a much more complete biography of James Harrison I see Ketteringham, J. R. Lincolnshire Bells and Bellfounders (2000).

James HARRISON II (1767 – 1835)

James Harrison II was born in 1767 and, on 2 June 1791 he married Jane Marshall in Hull. They had one child who was also named James (III). James II moved the foundry to Barton and he achieved a considerable reputation not least as an eccentric. Although the greater part of his time was taken up with the casting and tuning of bells, as will be discussed below, he was also concerned with problems in clock making.

He spent much time on his calculations before casting a bell and if he was not entirely satisfied with the result he would immediately recast the bell. It is said that his calculations were made in a bed which he had within his foundry where he would remain for several days. His bells were cast in a cellar in the middle of the night so that no sound would affect the setting of the metal! Perhaps the fact that a bell for Normanby le Wold was cast on 21 December 1827, the shortest day of the year, was another example of his eccentricity!

Harrison had a particular theory that bells had in them much more metal than was necessary and that their tone would be improved if less metal was used. The result was that his bells were very wide and thin and most of them are now considered far inferior to conventional bells.

Harrison lost no opportunity of publicising his theories as will be seen from the very long letters written by him in 1816, 1818 and in 1828 which are reproduced above.

In 1826 James Harrison II published a treatise on bells, which was revised and republished in 1831. The main part of the very long title reads as follows : ‘An Introduction to a Treatise on the Proportions of the Constituent Parts of Bells…’

Although James Harrison II was clearly an innovator he was no businessman and on 19 June 1834 he was imprisoned in Hull for debt amounting to £5, and discharged on 25 July 1834. He died in Hull and was buried on 26 November 1834. The Hull Packet dated 28 November 1834 recorded Harrison’s death as follows :

It seems that the bellfoundry site at Barton was sold in October 1837.

For a much more complete biography of James Harrison II see Ketteringham, J. R. Lincolnshire Bells and Bellfounders (2000).

William Ludlum (1717 - 1788)

William Ludlum was born in Leicester in 1717. He was a mathematician having graduated BA in 1738, MA 1742 and BD in 1749 and he was elected a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge in 1744. Ludlum became Vicar of Norton by Galby in 1749 and was one of "three gentlemen skilled in Mechanics" appointed to report to the Board of Longitude in 1765 on the merits of John Harrison's chronometer. John Harrison was, of course, the brother of James Harrison I the bellfounder. In 1768 Ludlum accepted the living of Cuckfield, Suffolk but seems to have actually spent the rest of his life in Leicester and died there in 1788. He published several papers including "A short Account of Church Organs" in 1772; "Determination of the Latitude of Leicester " 1775 and various theological works.

John Bryant, son of John and Catherine Bryant, was christened at St Martin's Church, Exning, Suffolk, on 8 June 1748.

Bryant Senr. appears to have been a native of Exning, and his trade was clockmaking. Catherine Bryant's had connections with Hatfield, and appears to have died young which may account for John jnr. being sent to school in Newmarket where he received an excellent education.

Although his father had hoped that young John would go on to university he wanted to be a clockmaker. He became an apprentice clockmaker, almost certainly to Joseph Eayre at St. Neots, there he learned not only clock and chime making, but bellfounding and general engineering in the company of men like Edward Arnold, Islip Edmonds and Thomas Osborn, all noted founders. It was probably during his time at St. Neots that he took up bell ringing and became a competent changeringer, like many of the leading founders of that penod.

In 1779 John's first commission as a bellfounder was to cast a clock bell for Quickswood in the parish of Clothall near Baldock where his father appears to have been the clock keeper. After the house was destroyed by fire in the following year father and son moved to Hertford where they set up their home, foundry and clock works in Parliament Row for Briant until his retirement in 1825.

John’s father died early in 1785 and left all his property to his son. At first, Briant's commissions were local; individual bells for Hertfordshire churches and some recasting for St. Andrew's Hertford, but his earliest major work was the recasting of the bells of St. Etheldreda's, Hatfield in 1786, still one of his finest rings. The Hertford foundry is known to have produced 441 bells (and there were probably more which have not been recorded, or have vanished without trace). At the same time, he built up a reputation for clocks; quarter clocks which struck the quarter hours on two bells (ting-tangs) and struck the hours on a third bell, and turret clocks which struck the hours only on a single bell. In this side of his business, he was ably assisted by James Skerman, a Hertford man and a ringer who took over on Briant's retirement. Under Skerman's son, William, and his successors, the business continued until the 1930s.

On 7^th June 1786, Briant, aged thirty-eight, married Mary (Molly) Hanley at St. Andrew's Hertford. They had two daughters, Molly and Catherine.

As Briant's reputation grew as a good founder and an honest man, so did the area over which his bells are found. 'Clusters' of bells can be found in various counties, although Herts. does not conform to this pattern, the distribution being fairly constant over the north and east of the county. His early expansion was into North Oxfordshire in the late 1780s and early 1790s, with mid Bucks being mainly early 1800s.

Another source of business came through his contacts with local bellhangers who were often, fellow bell ringers, such as John Cabourn of Sutterton, which led in the case of Lincolnshire known bells being cast, on a subcontract basis, between 1793 and 1805. Other hangers for whom he subcontracted were John Waters of King's Sutton and John Over of Rugby. Benjamin Cort of Leicester, an iron-master, seems to have acted as an agent for Briant, probably on the recommendation of Edward Arnold When Briant retired in 1825, he recommended Thomas Mears of Whitechapel as a trustworthy successor. This was normal sound business practice.

Being a ringer, one of the first things he did when he moved to Hertford was to join the local ringing society, the Hertford College Youths, who quickly elected him Steward. Some indication of his ability is shown by the fact that he rang the tenor to 5280 Oxford Treble Major at St. Andrew's, Hertford in the first true peal on the bells. That peal-board survives. He also was elected to the Ancient Society of College Youths of London and rang the tenor behind to a peal of Triples at St. Mary's, Battersea. These are the only peals in which he is certainly known to have rung, although there were possibly others. That he was interested in the theoretical side of ringing is proved by his name being among the subscribers to the 1788 Clavis Campanologia, along with all the other major bellfounders of the day.

By honesty and sheer hard work he established a near-monopoly in Hertfordshire almost totally excluding his friend and rival, Thomas Mears of Whitechapel between 1790 and 1825. Much of his time had to be spent travelling the country to meet churchwardes, inspect installations and give advice.

In his later years eyesight seems to have been a problem and may have been a deciding factor leading to his retirement in 1825.  In one of the Lincoln Letter he admits to having an 'Amanuensis' – someone to write his letters.  In another he says 'Mr Shaw sends his thanks' for hospitality in Lincoln. Solomon Shaw had obviously accompanied his father-in-law on that visit, possibly to keep an eye on him.

1825, Briant sold the bellfounding side of his business to Thomas Mears of Whitechapel.  In about 1827 he moved into a four-roomed 'flat' in the Marlborough Almshouses in Hatfield Road, St Albans. and in 1828 he supervised the installation of a clock at King's College, Cambridge which was his last major work.

The Lincoln Letters dating from the last years of his long life are a fine example of his written style.  It says much for his reputation that, when the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln became seriously concerned about their bells, they should approach a man of his age for advice.  The correspondence which has been reproduced in full above and which was quoted at length by North and Stahlschmidt in Church Bells of Hertfordshire and also by Andrews in his Life of Briant gives an insight into Briant's character and his amazingly lucid replies, as well as his use of English.

Although the cathedral authorities did not follow Briant’s advice the fact that Thomas Mears had to recast Great Tom proves that Briant was correct all along.  Briant had even designed a special set of pulleys for lifting the bell, a result of his excellent mechanical training in his youth.  It was a strange situation; an old man living in an almshouse, needing a secretary to write his letters, yet still spry enough to supervise the installation of the King's College clock.  This suggests that eyesight, rather than immobility, was the real problem.  For delicate adjustments to the clock, good hearing and sensitive fingers were more important than sight.  There could be no doubt whatsoever about his mental capacity. The letters are slightly discursive, but his meaning is abundantly plain.  Moreover, his poor Amanuensis got the blame for the mistakes!

Briant's last year appears to have been spent quietly in St Albans as little more is heard of him, except that the churchwardens of Shillington, Beds placed an order with him for the recasting of their Sanctus bell.  The order was completed by Thomas Mears, the bill being submitted by his daughter, Mary Shaw, who was his executrix.  He was comfortably off, lacked no material comforts and his daughter was near enough to keep an eye on her father.

Towards the end of February 1829, his health gave cause for serious concern.  On the 26^th, he dictated his will which is simple and lucid and may have been drawn up by a lawyer, or by Solomon Shaw who had some legal knowledge.  Even at the end, he was still concerned about his handicapped daughter, Catherine.

Probate was granted to Mary Shaw the Daughter of the said deceased the sole Executrix on 10 March 1829.  The estate was valued at 'under three hundred pounds", John Briant died the following day, Friday 27th February, in his eighty-first year, deeply mourned not only by all who knew him but by most of Hertford as well.  He was buried on 10^th March, in the grave of his first wife, Molly and her mother in All Saints' churchyard The Hertford College Youths rang half-muffled and his old friend Henry Symondson placed one gross of iron screws in his coffin, as Briant had requested.

The original stone still stands, but has long been illegible.  A new stone laid horizontally at the foot of the original was dedicated on 13^th May 2000. A bronze plaque was dedicated on the centenary of his death at a memorial service and is in the church, facing the font.

Source : This is a much abbreviated version of the biography by Joyce Dodds contained in Hertfordshire Bellfounders (2003) pp 163-206

William Dobson (circa 1779-1842)

Thomas Osborn was foreman for Joseph Eayre at the bellfoundry in St Neots and when Eayre died in 1772 his successor, Edward Arnold, appears to have taken Osborn into partnership. In about 1779 Osborn started casting bells on his own account at his home town, Downham Market in Norfolk.

At some time in the 1790s Osborn's grandson William Dobson joined him in the foundry. His name first appears on the ring of five bells cast for Crimplesham, Norfolk, in 1798. Dobson's name does not appear again on bells until 1803. From then until 1806 the joint names of Osborn and Dobson occur on bells cast at the Downham foundry. In 1806 Dobson succeeded his grandfather in the foundry, an advertisement to that. effect appearing in the Bury and Norwich Post of Wednesday 18th June 1806. Osborn died on 6th December 1806.

Another advertisement by Dobson appeared in the Bury and Norwich Post in July 1807. This lists "peals" of bells cast at the Downham foundry since 1779. Dobson states that the last 15 “peals” were cast under his own immediate direction. The earliest of these rings of bells was a ring of six cast for Walsoken, Norfolk in 1795 opened on 27 January 1796. However at that time Dobson was about 16 or so – he died on 11 July 1842 “in the 63rd year of his age. Thus while this claim is possible it seems rather more likely that Dobson was exaggerating for the purpose of drumming up business.

In 1808 Dobson cast a 29 cwt ring of eight bells for St John’s Peterborough. His greatest ring however was the 41 cwt ring of twelve bells for St Nicholas Liverpool in 1812/13 to replace the bells broken in the fall of the steeple on Sunday 11 February 1810 just before morning service. Dobson’s bells were opened on 4 June 1814 and on that occasion a silver cup valued at 20 guineas was presented by the churchwardens for the best performance while Dobson gave a set of handbells for the second best performance.

The tenor bell at Liverpool was not Dobson’s largest bell. The Norfolk Chronicle and Norwich Gazette for Saturday 15 November 1817 contains a report of the casting of five clock bells for the General Post Office in Dublin the largest of which weighed 43 cwt. Clearly Dobson had a good reputation which was probably due to the good tonal qualities of his bells which was well above average for the period. There is evidence that thought was given to bell design in a manuscript dated 20 December 1800. This is now among the records of the Whitechapel bell Foundry.

Rings of bells cast by Dobson were supplied to most English counties and even as far afield as the West Indies. He clearly had a good reputation and he was well aware of the value of publicity. In 1819 he cast seven bells to add to the old tenor at Birstall, Yorkshire and the advertisement for the opening on 18 August in the Leeds Mercury included an up-dated list of rings of bells cast at the Downham foundry.

In 1832 Dobson sold the Downham foundry to the London founder Thomas Mears and he worked in a solicitor’s office in London. He eventually became a brother of Charterhouse where he died in 1842.

Adapted from an article by Dr J. C. Eisel which was published in the Ringing World dated 31 January 1986.
 

Revised: 03 April 2006