A.Ashton block plane blade?

[tobytools]

Mod edit- caps removed from title, no need for them, thanks.

I have recently brought a 2" wooden block plane with an A.Ashton iron, i cant find a thing out about it as the web and me dont get on or that is rare, ive seen a thread that say its rare but thats it, any help on A.ashton would be great. ill up load pics if any one want but theres no logo just the name. many thanks..

tobytools

 

[TobyC]

Are you sure about the "A"?

Toby

 

[Jacob]

I know nowt except I have several old planes with Ashton on the blade so they aren't rare. Look relatively modern so probably another small Sheffield firm which disappeared sometime in the last 50 years or so.

PS I guess it's very likely that these are the chaps http://www.ashton-group.co.uk/about.htm or perhaps another branch of the same family

 

[tobytools]

Thank you very much for getting back to me so quickly. i have attached some pictures to show you what i have. and to my amazement it is S. i must of got it stuck in my mind that it was A, what can i say im a bloke ha, what do you know on S.Ashton or do u have a link,

 

[DonMc]

Goodman shows an S. Ashton, Sheffield, in its list of plane iron makers. But no information is given concerning working dates, etc., which suggests simply that other similarly marked irons have also been reported.

After doing some online searching, I've possibly come up with some additional information. A Samuel Ashton is intermittently listed as an "edge tool finisher" from 1879 to 1901, first at 5 Pilgrim Street, later at 29 Haywood Road. A secondary source indicates he's listed as an edge tool maker in 1871, but I've not been able to verify this independently. This may be the maker of these irons, but any such identification is very tentative at the moment.

The secondary source already mentioned also indicates that Samuel Ashton was listed as a plane maker in Birmingham in 1851. Again, I've not been able to verify this, and am somewhat dubious. But, this mention led to discovering that there was a Richard Ashton listed specifically as a plane iron manufacturer, in Birmingham, in 1849 and 1850 at 9 Broom Street. By 1852, John Ashton is listed at the same address, also as a plane iron maker. So there may be some other surviving plane irons marked R. Ashton and/or J. Ashton.

Hope this has been of some help.

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR

 

[tobytools]

Goodman shows an S. Ashton, Sheffield, in its list of plane iron makers. But no information is given concerning working dates, etc., which suggests simply that other similarly marked irons have also been reported.

After doing some online searching, I've possibly come up with some additional information. A Samuel Ashton is intermittently listed as an "edge tool finisher" from 1879 to 1901, first at 5 Pilgrim Street, later at 29 Haywood Road. A secondary source indicates he's listed as an edge tool maker in 1871, but I've not been able to verify this independently. This may be the maker of these irons, but any such identification is very tentative at the moment.

The secondary source already mentioned also indicates that Samuel Ashton was listed as a plane maker in Birmingham in 1851. Again, I've not been able to verify this, and am somewhat dubious. But, this mention led to discovering that there was a Richard Ashton listed specifically as a plane iron manufacturer, in Birmingham, in 1849 and 1850 at 9 Broom Street. By 1852, John Ashton is listed at the same address, also as a plane iron maker. So there may be some other surviving plane irons marked R. Ashton and/or J. Ashton.

Hope this has been of some help.

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR

your a gem, this has told me just what i wanted, i love old tools the older the better, and if its made of wood even better, i just cant wait to fix her up and restore her, not for work but just for respect (strange i know but im like that i hate a badley kept tool drives me crazy)
whats even better i got it at a carboot for £1, deal of the day apart from the metal lathe i got for £5

i googled the name and found nothing how do i what i want about old tools ect, how did you find this info...
thanks again. you have made my day.

 

[DonMc]

Glad my post was of some interest, and I want to caution, again, that this identification of Samuel Ashton as the maker of these irons is very tentative.

As to sources, the secondary source I mentioned is from a genealogical site, which I found simply by googling: "Samuel Ashton" plane maker. Speaking of which, after sending my last message, I realized that the information on that page probably came from UK census reports. In my limited experience, the accuracy of the transcription on free census sites is somewhat spotty. For example, on one such site I did find a Samuel Ashton listed as a plane maker in Birmingham in 1851. He was 2 1/2 years old. I have yet to spring for the paid site on which one can actually see the original records, so am unable to sort this out. But, based on looking at some other census records, I think it is clear that the Sheffield edge tool finisher by the name of Samuel Ashton likely did come from Birmingham and there probably were two generations of Samuel Ashtons involved.

As to the information in my previous message, it came from the Leicester University historical directory site. It's not easy to navigate, but the "Find by Keywords" function seems to work best for me. You can limit the search by location (county) and decade which can help in some circumstances.

Hope this helps a little.

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR