J. W. Chapman-Taylor the architect made these wheels in his furniture workshop in Molesworth St, Wellington (now the Sen Sen Cafe). They were called "Lady Liverpool" wheels because the first one was made about 1915 when Lady Liverpool (wife of the then Governor-General) held a competition for a spinning wheel to encourage people to take up spinning for the war effort.The second photograph is taken (with permission) from Judy Siers' book "The Life and Times of James Walter Chapman-Taylor" (Millwood Heritage Productions 2007). She quotes interesting family memories of the making of these wheels: apparently he copied a wheel "borrowed from an experienced spinner" to create his prizewinner. Orders for them (at six pounds each, a lot in those days) continued for years and as many as 100 may have been made. The photographs show a double drive wheel that could also be set up with scotch tension, with one end of the brake fastened to a cord running between the tips of the maidens, a not uncommon system in earlier times. The wood used was jarrah, a heavy, durable Australian timber favoured by Chapman-Taylor. In spite of this, an actual wheel still has not been located.
It is said that Aileen Stace, founder of the Eastbourne Spinners, bought the first one after the competition (she would have been in her mid-teens at the time) and eventually owned two. However, she cannot have had any spinning wheel at the beginning of the Eastbourne Spinners' work in 1940 or 1941, as she recounts that she "borrowed a spinning wheel with some difficulty" for Mr Nicolson to copy (Twists to Treasures p.32). The archive held by the Eastbourne Historical Society contains a number of photographs taken in her studio in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and none shows a wheel like this. In any case, the whereabouts of these and the rest of Chapman-Taylor's wheels are now unknown.
Have you seen a wheel like this?
This little upright wheel was bought in poor condition from a junk shop in Te Puke in 1972. The spindle and flyer sit on top of the maidens.
This kauri wheel was acquired in Christchurch. It has no maker's marks.
Jack Ruysch of Taupo made these spinning wheels as well as many other wooden objects. This newspaper photograph was published in 1968. Mr Ruysch, who died in 1999, came from an artistic Dutch family of long standing, and his wife Cornelia was a spinner and weaver. She says he made perhaps 20 of these wheels, which were sold in art shops throughout New Zealand as well as in Taupo in the 1960s and 70s. They were made of rimu and had a paper label bearing the trade name "The Chisel". Does anyone still have one of these unusual-looking wheels?
This old wheel is currently in the Shear Discovery Centre in Masterton.
It has a most unusual spindle and tension system. The spindle is separate from the orifice and the bobbin is removed through the gap. Bobbin tension is adjusted by turning a metal screw which tightens or loosens a spring pressing on the bobbin.
The origin of this upright wheel is unknown. Can you identify it?
This unusually styled wheel is quite heavy. The timber looks like rimu but the maidens are a different wood. It has no markings.
This large saxony wheel is said to have been made in the Cheviot area of North Canterbury, out of a kauri church pew. Unusually, it has an uneven number (7) of spokes, though there are 8 felloes (the sections of the wheel rim). It has no markings.
This norwegian-style or double table wheel was apparently made by an elderly man for his wife around 1990, possibly in North Canterbury. The spokes are pegged in with wooden pegs. Its only mark is IX - could this mean it was the 9th he made?
This saxony style wheel is made of oak. The flyer is hand-forged iron, and the scotch tension brake runs from a peg on the wooden bar above the flyer down to a peg on the base of the mother-of-all.
This nicely made little upright comes with no clues as to its maker.
This small double table wheel is in the Central Hawkes Bay Settlers' Museum at Waipawa, and they would love to know about its origin. The flyer hooks are made of small bent nails.
This upright wheel was bought as a box of parts at a church fair, where it was being sold as firewood! The owner has put a lot of work into repairing and reassembling it and would very much like to know more about it. There is a brass band around the wheel with grooves at each side.
This mystery wheel spins very well. Like the Callister it appears to be based on the Peacock wheels but there are many differences.
This sturdy little wheel has a lever and reel to tension the drive band, somewhat like the Mathieson, but there are few other resemblances.
This unusual looking wheel has no known history. It is made of oiled kauri and very heavy.
