More on W Watson & Sons

[Michael Pritchard]

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Further to my posting a couple of days ago (appended below) I can now add a bit more about Watsons and mechanisation.

 

In May 1889 the works are described as a 'veritable factory'  with a fifteen h.p. Crossley engine in the basement to power machines for planing, cutting, moulding and shaping wood. Four sawing machines were also present. With regard to the Acme camera:  'all the individual parts are made by machinery as far as machinery is applicable to its production, yet after everything is finished it occupies over two weeks for a highly skilled workmen to put together and fit a full-plate one for being placed on the shelves of the warehouse' .

 

Hope that's of interest.

 

Michael Pritchard

www.mpritchard.com 

 

 

 -----Original Message-----
From: Michael Pritchard [mailto:michael@...]
Sent: 03 February 2008 21:45
To: 'woodandbrass@...'
Subject: RE: [W&B] My New W&B web site

W Watson and Sons: The 'W' stands for William. It was really his son, Thomas Parsons Watson, who extended the firm's business into optical instrument making; and photographic equipment manufacturing also started around this time. The company was certainly mechanised from 1888. I wrote a piece on the company's history for the Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Photography (Routledge, 2007).

 

Regards

 

Michael Pritchard

www.mpritchard.com 

[Eric Evans-4]

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Hi Michael,

                  Nice work. I got my 89s and 98s mixed, due to advancing senility. I was amazed to think that some of the mouldings on my Watson Tailboard had been made with a moulding plane; now it seems they probably weren't. Still pretty labour intensive though, at the finishing stage.

Regards,

Eric.

----- Original Message -----

From: michael@...

To: woodandbrass@...

Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 4:43 PM

Subject: [W&B] More on W Watson & Sons

Further to my posting a couple of days ago (appended below) I can now add a bit more about Watsons and mechanisation.

 

In May 1889 the works are described as a 'veritable factory'  with a fifteen h.p. Crossley engine in the basement to power machines for planing, cutting, moulding and shaping wood. Four sawing machines were also present. With regard to the Acme camera:  'all the individual parts are made by machinery as far as machinery is applicable to its production, yet after everything is finished it occupies over two weeks for a highly skilled workmen to put together and fit a full-plate one for being placed on the shelves of the warehouse' .

 

Hope that's of interest.

 

Michael Pritchard

www.mpritchard.com 

 

 

 -----Original Message-----
From: Michael Pritchard [mailto:michael@...]
Sent: 03 February 2008 21:45
To: 'woodandbrass@...'
Subject: RE: [W&B] My New W&B web site

W Watson and Sons: The 'W' stands for William. It was really his son, Thomas Parsons Watson, who extended the firm's business into optical instrument making; and photographic equipment manufacturing also started around this time. The company was certainly mechanised from 1888. I wrote a piece on the company's history for the Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Photography (Routledge, 2007).

 

Regards

 

Michael Pritchard

www.mpritchard.com 

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[Marcel Safier]

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Michael

 

Thanks very much for this. I have done some research into several other Watson families.

 

One was George William, Watson b. c.1820, St Lukes, Middlesex listed in the censuses thus:

 

1861 optical instrument maker
1871 optical instrument maker
1881 optical instrument maker (2 men 1 apprentice)

1891 microscope maker

 

His son George also followed him in the trade.

 

From census info it can be hard from the stated occupations to distinguish people who made camera lenses from microscope and telescope makers as well as other optical instruments and of course some people listed merely as opticians produced cameras.

 

Are these Watsons known to you? They are not listed in the Webster database.

 

Cheers!

Marcel
--
Marcel Safier (Photographic Historian)
PO Box 239
Holland Park 4121
Queensland Australia
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/index.html

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: woodandbrass-bounces@... [mailto:woodandbrass-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Michael Pritchard
Sent: 06 February 2008 02:44
To: woodandbrass@...
Subject: [W&B] More on W Watson & Sons

 

Further to my posting a couple of days ago (appended below) I can now add a bit more about Watsons and mechanisation.

 

In May 1889 the works are described as a 'veritable factory'  with a fifteen h.p. Crossley engine in the basement to power machines for planing, cutting, moulding and shaping wood. Four sawing machines were also present. With regard to the Acme camera:  'all the individual parts are made by machinery as far as machinery is applicable to its production, yet after everything is finished it occupies over two weeks for a highly skilled workmen to put together and fit a full-plate one for being placed on the shelves of the warehouse' .

 

Hope that's of interest.

 

Michael Pritchard

www.mpritchard.com 

 

 

[Michael Pritchard]

Some parts of this message have been removed. Learn more about Nabble's security policy.

The only other Watsons I have are Watson Brothers in Cockspur Street in 1895 and Robert Watson in West Kensington in 1886. There is, of course, the well-known Holmes and Watson in the early/mid 1890s. It sounds like the Watson you have identified was more a scientific instrument maker.

 

Regards

 

Michael Pritchard

www.mpritchard.com

 

-----Original Message-----
From: woodandbrass-bounces@... [mailto:woodandbrass-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Marcel Safier
Sent: 06 February 2008 00:50
To: 'Collectors of 19th Century Cameras &Photographica'
Subject: RE: [W&B] More on W Watson & Sons

Michael

 

Thanks very much for this. I have done some research into several other Watson families.

 

One was George William, Watson b. c.1820, St Lukes, Middlesex listed in the censuses thus:

 

1861 optical instrument maker
1871 optical instrument maker
1881 optical instrument maker (2 men 1 apprentice)

1891 microscope maker

 

His son George also followed him in the trade.

 

From census info it can be hard from the stated occupations to distinguish people who made camera lenses from microscope and telescope makers as well as other optical instruments and of course some people listed merely as opticians produced cameras.

 

Are these Watsons known to you? They are not listed in the Webster database.

 

Cheers!

Marcel
--
Marcel Safier (Photographic Historian)
PO Box 239
Holland Park 4121
Queensland Australia
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~msafier/index.html

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: woodandbrass-bounces@... [mailto:woodandbrass-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Michael Pritchard
Sent: 06 February 2008 02:44
To: woodandbrass@...
Subject: [W&B] More on W Watson & Sons

 

Further to my posting a couple of days ago (appended below) I can now add a bit more about Watsons and mechanisation.

 

In May 1889 the works are described as a 'veritable factory'  with a fifteen h.p. Crossley engine in the basement to power machines for planing, cutting, moulding and shaping wood. Four sawing machines were also present. With regard to the Acme camera:  'all the individual parts are made by machinery as far as machinery is applicable to its production, yet after everything is finished it occupies over two weeks for a highly skilled workmen to put together and fit a full-plate one for being placed on the shelves of the warehouse' .

 

Hope that's of interest.

 

Michael Pritchard

www.mpritchard.com