Unknown Vintage Hand Saw

[bridget1]

I have inherited 3 vintage saws and I don't know anything about them. The first two are Henry Disston saws, I think one is 1940's and the other earlier, between 1896 and 1917.

The third is a hand saw with no markings other than a stamp on the blade which is hard to read but looks like:

W R Brown Warranted Liverpool

It has 3 brass studs that are smooth front and back and the middle one is slightly larger than the top and bottom one. It also has a kind of notch on the nose.

Can anyone tell me any more about it please?!

 

[DonMc]

The only information I've been able to find is a 1900 directory listing for William R. Brown, tool merchant, 408 Stanley Road N, Liverpool. As far as I can determine, he doesn't appear in the 1894 or 1911 directories, so think we may be able to limit the date of manufacture to a few years on either side of 1900.

Hope this helps a little.

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR

 

[AndyT]

In BSSM, Simon Barley lists an E Brown at the same Stanley Road address in the 1920s, with a note that he was presumably a dealer rather than a maker, so that fits with what Don found.

 

[DonMc]

Andy, thanks for posting that. It inspired me to do a little more searching and found a 1911 Liverpool listing for a Miss Elizabeth Brown, tool merchant, at the 408 Stanley Road N address. I would guess that Elizabeth was William R.'s daughter and took over the business sometime between 1900 and 1911, continuing at least into the 1920's. I suppose it's possible that when Elizabeth had tools stamped for sale that she continued to use her father's mark, though the directory listing doesn't indicate her doing business under his name. I'd be curious what others think.

Does Simon indicate the source of his information from the 1920's?

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR

 

[AndyT]

He shows an image of a saw marked E Brown, with the Liverpool address and an estimated date. The date could be from the style of the saw or from a directory entry. He doesn't give footnotes for his sources on every entry - the book would be far too bulky if he did.

 

[DonMc]

Knowing that there is a saw marked "E Brown" at the 408 Stanley Road N address provides me with the information I was interested in. From that, we know that Elizabeth used her own mark, which suggests (to me, at least) it's a little less likely that she would have continued using the "W R Brown" mark for any length of time. So, for the present, I'm inclined to stay with my original thoughts concerning the possible dates of manufacture of the saw.

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR

 

[AndyT]

Agreed!