Still looking for Mr. Fairham

[Toolemera]

Gary - another possible line of enquiry - if the elusive Mr Fairham was a professional woodworker, he might have been a member of a trade union - the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers. This site gives some background info - http://www.unionancestors.co.uk/ASW.htm (but doesn't mention him as an official). It says the membership records are at the University of Warwick, so they might be able to help, or maybe someone here has access to their library.

An excellent lead! I'll contact Warwick to see what their Archivist might find.

Thanks!!!

Gary

 

[jimi43]

Complete guess - Fairham - Hampton? C W Hampton??
Maybe the wrong era?


Rod

Fairham predates Hampton by a small bit.

That's a little twist! :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[bugbear]

I have some facts that might be informative.

I own a bound volume of "The Woodworker" for 1918.

I also own a copy of "Carpentry for Beginners", published by Evans in their woodworker series in 1919.

It is apparent that the book isn't much more than a compilation of some articles from the magazine in a series called "Light woodworking".

The articles in the magazine are not credited to an individual

What seems relevant to the discussion at hand is that the introduction to the book is very similar to the introduction in the "woodwork joints..."; the statement is made that many of the chapters were written and illustrated by "William Fairham".

I tend to the view (on the present evidence) that "William Fairham" is a pseudonymous reference to the collective editorial staff at "The Woodworker".

BugBear

 

[Toolemera]

I have some facts that might be informative.

I own a bound volume of "The Woodworker" for 1918.

I also own a copy of "Carpentry for Beginners", published by Evans in their woodworker series in 1919.

It is apparent that the book isn't much more than a compilation of some articles from the magazine in a series called "Light woodworking".

The articles in the magazine are not credited to an individual

What seems relevant to the discussion at hand is that the introduction to the book is very similar to the introduction in the "woodwork joints..."; the statement is made that many of the chapters were written and illustrated by "William Fairham".

I tend to the view (on the present evidence) that "William Fairham" is a pseudonymous reference to the collective editorial staff at "The Woodworker".

BugBear

Paul

I've checked both sources. I agree that much of the content in The Woodworker Series is drawn from the serial, as was common then as now for serials making the most of their content. Bernard Jones and Paul Hasluck are the best examples of this monetization of content.

But, I haven't found any hard evidence as of yet that says the work can be attributed to multiple authors. The magazine articles, as you note, are uncredited. Fairham could have been the author of all of them, or none of them, or some of them, but there is no way to know with certainty. I guess coming from a librarian background, citations need to be proven rather than assumed.

There is also the comparison of style of writing and illustration in the other Woodworker Series books as compared to those authored by Fairham. There is enough difference to point towards Fairham being an individual. Whether he is Fairham or Brough or who knows, is anyone guess.

Gary

 

[bugbear]

I guess coming from a librarian background, citations need to be proven rather than assumed.

I lean more to the archaeologist/scientist view. There's ALWAYS (by definition) a best analysis based on the current evidence.

The quest for more and/or better evidence is continous, of course

BugBear

 

[Toolemera]

I guess coming from a librarian background, citations need to be proven rather than assumed.

I lean more to the archaeologist/scientist view. There's ALWAYS (by definition) a best analysis based on the current evidence.

The quest for more and/or better evidence is continous, of course

BugBear

Which is why when those scientists and engineers would come to the likes of me with a research question, the likes of me would provide citations or other information that could be fully verified as to origin. We left the content analysis up to the researcher!

Gary

 

[bugbear]

Gary - I suspect you have more old books that I do, and can check this more thoroughly.

In most of the books I have from this period, there's quite a lot of biography - essentially trying to convince you of how trust worthy the author is, what a fine fellow, what a rich experience etc. ;-)

"Mr Fairham" is mentioned very much in passing, which I find odd; perhaps with your greater context you could comment on this oddness?

BugBear

 

[Toolemera]

From the University of Warwick:

"I have checked our catalogues for any reference to William Fairham without success. The Centre holds numerous archive collections for the woodworking unions including the General Union of Carpenters and Joiners, the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners / Amalgamated Society of Carpenters, Cabinetmakers and Joiners, the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers and the Friendly Society of Operative Cabinet Makers / Amalgamated Union of Cabinet Makers.
Unfortunately many of these collections are large and it would be impossible to find which one Mr Fairham belonged to (if any) without many hours of research. Some of the unions’ membership registers are arranged by branch and it would therefore not be possible to find Mr Fairham unless we knew where he lived/which branch he belonged to.
I’m afraid we are unable to take such lengthy research on your behalf."

Annoying, ain't it?

Paul

I've been reviewing all the Woodworker Series, The Kingsway Series and whatever copies of the magazine I have on hand. Nothing so far. Chris Schwarz has looked into Ancestry.com and is seeing if his contact at the present incarnation of the magazine might know something. So far, nothing.

But... taking the example of James Lukin as a test, of all his books, only one had a biography included.

http://toolemerablog.typepad.com/toolem ... raphy.html

The search goes on. Digging through the magazines may be the only way to figure this one out. Maybe he was really a spinster lady from the backwoods?

Gary

 

[bugbear]

From the University of Warwick:

"I have checked our catalogues for any reference to William Fairham without success. The Centre holds numerous archive collections for the woodworking unions including the General Union of Carpenters and Joiners, the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners / Amalgamated Society of Carpenters, Cabinetmakers and Joiners, the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers and the Friendly Society of Operative Cabinet Makers / Amalgamated Union of Cabinet Makers.
Unfortunately many of these collections are large and it would be impossible to find which one Mr Fairham belonged to (if any) without many hours of research. Some of the unions’ membership registers are arranged by branch and it would therefore not be possible to find Mr Fairham unless we knew where he lived/which branch he belonged to.
I’m afraid we are unable to take such lengthy research on your behalf."

Annoying, ain't it?

But surely we already know (by his absence from ancestry.com) that "William Fairham" is a pseudonym, and thus unlikely to appear on any register that uses real names?

BugBear

 

[Tom K]

Why the emphasis on Ancestry.com? I just did a quick search on Genes Re -United for 1890+ or - 10 years gave two possibles with that name.

 

[Toolemera]

Why the emphasis on Ancestry.com? I just did a quick search on Genes Re -United for 1890+ or - 10 years gave two possibles with that name.

Because that is the only one I have access to through our library!

Could you send along the data you found? And I'll take a look at that website. A genealogist I am not.

Gary

 

[bugbear]

Why the emphasis on Ancestry.com? I just did a quick search on Genes Re -United for 1890+ or - 10 years gave two possibles with that name.

Because that is the only one I have access to through our library!

Could you send along the data you found? And I'll take a look at that website. A genealogist I am not.

Gary

Ah. I was kind of relying on your "best conclusion on evidence so far" on that...

So there may (yet) be a real William Fairham. I sill don't like the tone of the intro though. Doesn't ring right at all.

BUgBear

 

[Peter Evans]

Gentlefolk,

A perusal of the various volumes provides a few data points:-

1: JCS Brough had a fretwork/handicrafts background, and a rather murky publishing history (which landed him in court, and paying damages). He acknowledges his authorship of the Fretwork volume, and I think we can safely assume he did not write any of the stuff in the other books, nor probably much in the magazine itself.
2: Some volumes have no Foreward and by nature are likely to be compilations
3: A couple of Forewards acknowledge multipe unamed authors.
4: The two volumes - Tools - Joints - are almost unique in listing Fairham as the author on the title page, suggesting he was a "real" person, of course that might not be his/her real name. Tools acknowledges an additional illustrator.
5: Fairham is acknowledged as the principal author of Carpentry
6: Wood Carving "... chapters have, for the most part, been written by an experienced woodcarver..."
7: Furniture Repairing... "most of the chapters have been written by Charles Taylor..."
8: Timbers for Woodwork was written by (and on title page) William Bullock
9: Household Repairs & Renovations, by JOHNSON. C. S
10: Practical Upholstery, by Ernest Boreham

So pretty specific attributions in those cases where there is a Foreward, and why use a pseudonym ?

By the way who nicked my copies of Staining & Polishing? This volume was a rework of earlier publications on the subject, and the 1st edition acknowledged no author, later editions indicated Fairham as the author (which does seem unlikely, perhaps he was the revisor).

So, not any closer to a Fairham bio, but I think he is likely to be an individual.