Daniel asks,
>I picked up a 2ft 4 fold boxwood rule at the flea market this morning.
>It's made in england by Hockley Abbey and it's a no. 1163. It say
>
>TRADE MARK
>3 triangle outlines go here
>HOCKLEY ABBEY
>
>The three triangles are much like the current Rabone logo except they
>are not filled in black and the center triangle is a little larger than
>the other two. So is there any relation between these two companies? How
>old might this be? I thought it might be somewhat recent but the type
>used for the numbers does have an old style look to it so maybe it's not
>that new.
Hi Dan,
This is probably a rule made by John Rabone and Sons. Hockley Abbey Works
was the name of their factory in Birmingham, UK.
History (taken in part from Jane and Mark Rees' book, and partly from "The
Cutting Edge":): The Rabone firm was founded in 1784 by Michael Rabone and
his wife Elizabeth. First located in Bull St Birmingham they moved to Snow
St and Elizabeth ran as asole owner after Michael died around 1803. John,
their son assumed control in the 1820s, and in 1845 John Rabone Jr joined
his father and the name changed to John Rabone and Son. In 1877 John Jr's
sons entered the partnership and it became John Rabone and Sons.
In 1871 John Rabone and Son moved from central Birmingham to a purpose
built factory at Hockley Abbey to the north of the city. This would have
been when the "3 peaks" trademark was adopted. The principal partner, JR
jr introduced as much machinery as possible, faced by considerable
opposition, to the extent that he "was stabbed by a disgruntled worker".
Apart from that moment of excitement it sounds like a nasty boring place to
work: the acount I have refer to the extreme subdivision of labour whereby
each person carried out only one of the up to one hundred separate
operations needed in the manufacture of a rule, all at piecework rates.
In 1945 John Rabone and Sons was producing 27,000 boxwood rules each week.
Hard to imagine.....
The other component of the present day Rabone Chesterman was the Sheffield
based firm founded by James Chesterman. Chestermans specialised in linen
and steel tapes as compared to Rabone's rules, so they would have made a
good fit as a merged company. I don't know which company had the level
making business, but I suspect it was Chestermans. The two merged in 1963,
and then in 1990 were bought out by, you guessed it, Stanley Tools.
There is a reprint catalogue around, available I think from Astragal Press.
I don't have it and can't comment on the model number, but I reckon if you
look hard you will find either Rabone Chesterman or John Rabone and Sons
somewhere on your rule.
Regards,
Tony B
Hobart, Tasmania
always seeking short auger bits
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