OLDHAM

[Irish Public Finance, 1912: ‘The present position is indefensible’.] Printed pamphlet: ‘The Public Finances of Ireland / By Professor C. H. Oldham, B.A., B.L., University College, Dublin’.

Author: 
Professor C. H. Oldham [Charles Hubert Oldham (1859-1926)], B.A., B.L., University College, Dublin; Richard Clay and Sons, printers [Irish Public Finance, 1912]
Publication details: 
1912. Printed by Richard Clay and Sons, Limited, Brunswick St., Stamford St., S.E. [London], and Bungay, Suffolk.
£90.00

From the Sylvia and Robert Lynd papers. Scarce: no copy on JISC, but in NLI. 16pp, 12mo. Stitched. No wraps. The outer covers spotted, and the back cover grubby, otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. One vertical fold. The author’s position, supported with statistical analysis, is that ‘The present position is indefensible as it stands; and it is becoming worse.

[Henry Livings, working-class Lancastrian playwright, screenwriter and actor.] Typed Letter Signed to Paul Furness, discussing the pubs he has frequented.

Author: 
Henry Livings (1929-1998), working-class Lancastrian playwright, screenwriter and actor in the first 'Carry On' film and the 'Coronation Street' television series
Publication details: 
Undated [1982 or 1983]. 49 Grains Road, Delph, ‘via Oldham’ [Lancashire].
£80.00

Livings’s entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that his farces ‘convey serious truths’ with ‘both a dazzling comic flair and an unexpected force and profundity that is heightened by his use of colloquial language’. 1p, foolscap 8vo. Twenty-two lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with four light ink underlinings. Signed ‘Yours, / Henry Livings’. One of a number of letters to Furness by writers, responding to his enquiry about socialist authors and British pubs.

[Sir Frederick Maurice, army officer and military theoretician.] Autograph Letter Signed to Col. H. L. Oldham, regarding a letter by Sir John Moore, and personal matters.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Maurice [Sir John Frederick Maurice] (1841-1912), army officer and military theoretician and historian [Colonel Frederick Hugh Langston Oldham Overley Hall, Shropshire].
Publication details: 
[Circa 1904?] Bowden, Two Mile Ash, Horsham.
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item was probably written around the time of his 1904 edition of the diary of Sir John Moore. 3pp, 12mo Thirty-three lines of text on bifolium of grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once. Annotated in red ink at head of first page: ‘Sir Frederick Maurice on Sir John Moore (HLO had sent him a copy of a letter of Sir J. Moore, fr. among the family Autographs.)' Addressed to ‘Oldham’ and signed ‘F. Maurice’.

[‘One like me who spends half his life wandering about’: Hilaire Belloc, poet and author.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed Letter signed in his name, to Col. Oldham of Wellington, regarding his stay with him while giving a lecture.

Author: 
Hilaire Belloc [Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc] (1870-1953), poet and author [Col. F. H. L. Oldham of Overley Hall, near Wellington]
Hilaire Belloc
Publication details: 
ONE: ALS, 5 October 1922; on letterhead of Kings Land, Shipley, Horsham. TWO: TLS, 11 October 1922; on lettehead of the Reform Club, Pall Mall, S.W.1. [London] THREE: ALS, 15 October 1922; on letterhead of Crosby Hall, Blundellsands, Liverpool.
£165.00
Hilaire Belloc

See Belloc’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is Colonel Frederick Hugh Langston Oldham (1876-1965), D.S.O., D.L., of Overley Hall near Wellington. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: ALS, 5 October 1922. 1p, 4to. With mourning border. Folded twice. Giving details of the train from Paddington he is proposing to take to Wellington for ‘[t]he lecture’ on 13 October. ‘It is most kind of you to have asked me to stay with you & I am much looking forward to it.’ TWO: TL, 11 October 1922. 1p, 8vo. Folded twice. The signature ‘H.

[Edmond Brock, painter.] Five Autograph Letters Signed (four signed 'Edmond Brock' and one 'E. Brock') to Colonel F. H. L. Oldham, regarding a commission to paint his wife Christabel Josephine Oldham.

Author: 
Edmond Brock [Charles Edmond Brock] (1882-1952), painter [Colonel Frederick Hugh Langston Oldham Overley Hall, Shropshire]
Publication details: 
Four from 1920, the other undated but from the same period. Four from 2 St John's Wood Studios, Queens Terrace, [London] N.W.8., three of them on letterheads; the other from Merrieweathers House, Mayfield, Sussex.
£250.00

An interesting correspondence, casting light on the practicalities of early twentieth-century English portrait-painting. The recipient is Colonel Frederick Hugh Langston Oldham, D.S.O., D.L., of Overley Hall, near Wellington, Shropshire, eldest son of the Archdeacon of Ludlow, and the letter concerns Brock's portrait of Oldham's wife Christabel Josephine Oldham. The five letters in good condition, lightly aged. The four dated letters are dated between 25 February and 13 July 1920. The total 9pp (seven in 8vo and two in 12mo).

[Frederic Yates, English artist active in America.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Fred Yates') to Mrs Oldham, describing his examination of the wreck of HMS Foudroyant, for a painting she has commissioned. With sketches of the ship in ink and pencil.

Author: 
Frederic Yates [born Frederic Keeping] (1854-1919), English artist who found fame in America before settling in the Lake District [Oldham family; HMS Foudroyant; Royal Navy; Plymouth; Devonport]
Publication details: 
Letter: 'Sunday noon' [no date]. On letterhead of the Royal Hotel, Devonport. Pencil sketches without date or place.
£450.00

Yates studied in Paris before setting up a successful practice in San Francisco, also teaching there at the Art Student League. His portraits include the educator John Haden Badley and the only president of Hawaii, Sanford Ballard Dole. He returned to England in 1900, but was invited back to America to attend the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson and to paint his portrait. Wilson presented Yates with the flag that his hand rested on whilst he took his oath of office. The Oldham family moved in artistic circles, and Constance Oldham was John Ruskin's god-daughter and corresponded with him.

[Frederic Yates, English artist active in America.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Fredc Yates') to Mrs Oldham, describing in moving terms the funeral of Anne Oldham.

Author: 
Frederic Yates [born Frederic Keeping] (1854-1919), English artist active in America before returning to England and settling in the Lake District [Anne Oldham]
Publication details: 
17 May 1895, on letterhead of 3a Portman Mansions, W. [London]
£180.00

Yates studied in Paris before setting up a successful practice in San Francisco, also teaching there at the Art Student League. His portraits include the educator John Haden Badley and the only president of Hawaii, Sanford Ballard Dole. He returned to England in 1900, but was invited back to America to attend the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson and to paint his portrait. Wilson presented Yates with the flag that his hand rested on whilst he took his oath of office. The Oldham family moved in artistic circles, and Constance Oldham was John Ruskin's god-daughter and corresponded with him.

[Dame Eva Turner, dramatic soprano.] Typed Letter Signed ('Eva Turner.') to Constance Evans, whose claim that she was her 'earliest private accompanist' she accepts, with reminiscences.

Author: 
Dame Eva Turner (1892-1990), English dramatic soprano [Constance Evans of Darlington, piano accompanist]
Publication details: 
26 Palace Court, London, W2. 6 April 1962.
£100.00

1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with the top part of the blank reverse pasted onto a slip of paper cut from an album. Adressed to 'Miss Constance M. Evans, | Raventhorpe, | Carmel Road N., | Darlington.' She begins by stating that Evans's letter has been forwarded to her by Julian Herbage.

[Henry Livings, playwright and screenwriter.] Typed Letter Signed ('Henry Livings') to Ian McPherson

Author: 
Henry Livings (1929-1998), Lancastrian playwright and screenwriter [Ian McPherson]
Publication details: 
49 Grains Road, Delph, Oldham [Lancashire]. 18 September 1986.
£40.00

1p, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, folded twice. He does not have a copy of his book 'Flying Eggs', but intends 'to order a few. Since computerization, ordering is a longwinded business, but there's reasonable hope they'd arrive before the Christmas post.' He gives instruction concerning payment and postage. He makes a suggestion if McPherson should 'at any point in the future [be] tempted to buy my first book of short stories, PENNINE TALES' (go for the paperback which is cheaper and 'much better edited').

[ Oldham Street Methodist Chapel, Manchester. ] Forms of application for permission to 'erect a chapel' and 'sell trust property', signed by the trustees, with Autograph Letter Signed from John Bedford and copies of letters from Edwin H. Tindall.

Author: 
[ Oldham Street Methodist Chapel, Manchester; Edwin H. Tindall; John Bedford (1810-1879) of Charlton, President of the Methodist Conference, 1867]
Publication details: 
[ Oldham Street Methodist Chapel, Manchester, Lancashire. ] 1875 (letters) and 1879 (forms of application). Tindall's second letter from 18 Acomb Street, Manchester. Bedford's letter from 2 George Street, Carlisle.
£250.00

See S. Taylor and J. Holder, 'Manchester's Northern Quarter' (English Heritage, 2008), which refers to 'the construction in 1781 of a Methodist Chapel, in a grand Georgian-Gothic style on Oldham Street, which replaced the earlier chapel on Birchin Lane'. This is said by Taylor and Holder to have been replaced, 1855-1856, by the Methodist Central Hall, which still stands. The dramatic changes being proposed in the present collection would appear to have been contemplated in the face of a new and large working class congregation.

[ Dame Eva Turner, English soprano. ] Photographic portrait on postcard, inscribed in autograph 'Eva Turner'.

Author: 
Dame Eva Turner (1892-1990), English soprano opera singer, born in Oldham, Lancashire
Publication details: 
Without date and place.
£35.00

14 x 9 cm black and white postcard. In good condition, lightly aged.. A head and shoulders image, with Turner's face looking to the left, looking downwards, hands clasped under her chin. Inscribed at foot: 'To Mr A Watt | Best Wishes | Eva Turner'.

[ John Moffatt, Lancashire poet. ] Nine unpublished Autograph Poems (six signed 'J. M.'), including abolitionist poem titled 'Lords and Slaves'. Eight contained in two Autograph Letters Signed to Elijah Ridings, the ninth annotated by Ridings.

Author: 
John Moffatt (d.1830) of Failsworth [ now in Oldham ], Lancashire poet, Jacobin and tailor [ Elijah Ridings (1802-1872), poet and reformer; Henry 'Orator' Hunt (1773-1835), radical politician ]
Publication details: 
One of the letters from Failsworth, Lancashire. The other without place, dated 7 April 1825. 'Poems dating from 1824, 1825 and 1826.
£450.00

Moffatt is an interesting minor figure. In a 1924 piece titled 'Brief History of the Failsworth Pole', Rev. James Smith writes: 'The Jacobins' Club Library was kept in a room next to that in which Ben Brierley was born, and old John Moffatt, tailor, of "Crockey Hall," opposite the Pole, had charge of the Library'. Smith quotes lines which he considers 'remarkable for their patriotism', noting: 'He must have been a mild sort of Jacobin.' A total of sixteen pages, on eight leaves.

[ William Griffin, Secretary to the Board of Ordnance. ] 'Copy' circular letter, in secretarial hand, signed by him ('W: Griffin.'), to the 'Officer Commanding the Oldham Regiment of Local Militia', calling in their 'Arms and Accoutrements'.

Author: 
William Griffin (d.1827), Secretary to the Board of Ordnance, London [ John Crossley of Scaitcliffe, near Rochdale, Lancashire, collector; Napoleonic Wars ]
Publication details: 
Office of Ordnance [ London ]. 10 April 1816.
£220.00

1p., folio. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with some chipping and a few closed tears to edges. Addressed 'To | The Officer Commanding | the Oldham Regiment of Local Militia. | Oldham Lancashire' (i.e. John Crossley of Scaitcliffe near Rochdale, who built up a notable collection of military memorabilia, dispersed after his death). Attached to a leaf of paper with a note by the recipient concerning the permission he has been granted to retain a 'Musquet and Set of Accoutrements'.

[ Alfred Emmott, 1st Baron Emmott. ] Autograph Card Signed ('Alfred Emmott') to 'Holdsworth', undertaking to present a petition to the House of Commons.

Author: 
Alfred Emmott (1858-1926), 1st Baron Emmott, Oldham cotton magnate and Liberal politician
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Horton, Chipping Sodbury. 9 April 1904.
£28.00

In good condition, with slight crease to one corner. Informing him that he will be 'very glad to present your petition when the House re-opens'.

[Alfred Emmott. Liberal. ] Five Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Alfred Emmott'), one discussing the 'moral effect of military training'; with ALS from his brother George, on his time at the Quaker school, Kendal; all to C. J. Holdsworth of Wilmslow.

Author: 
Alfred Emmott, 1st Baron Emmott (1858-1926), Liberal Member of Parliament for Oldham and cotton magnate [ Charles James Holdsworth; Stramongate School, Kendal; Quakers; Society of Friends ]
Publication details: 
AE's five letters on letterheads of 30 Ennismore Gardens, S.W. [ London ] (3); and Spring Bank, Oldham (2); four of them from between 1905 and 1907, the other undated. GHE's letter on letterhead of 35 Grosvenor Road, Claughton, Birkenhead; 1903.
£125.00

The six items, totalling 9pp., are in fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, George H. Emmott's letter having slight wear at head. The recipient was Charles J. Holdsworth of Sunnyside, Wilmslow, Cheshire.

Four folders of notes by Frank Mallalieu of D. & H. Mallalieu, Bailey Mill, Delph, Oldham, Lancashire, compiled while studying in the Department of Textiles Industries, Huddersfield Technical College, including graph patterns and cloth swatches.

Author: 
Frank Mallalieu of D. & H. Mallalieu Ltd, textile manufacturer, Bailey Mill, Delph, Oldham [Huddersfield Technical College, founded as Huddersfield Mechanics' Institution and now the University of ]
Publication details: 
Huddersfield Technical College; between 1929 and 1939.
£450.00

These items not only constitute survivals from one of the leading Lancashire textile manufacturers, in an era when the industry in that area was world-renowned, but also of what was considered to be one of the very best of the north of England's celebrated working men's colleges. A total of 507pp., 4to., in four folders. In addition to Frank Mallalieu's meticulous course notes, diagrams and calculations (with occasional tutors' markings), the contents include 99pp. of mimeographed course notes and 47 swatches of material.

Mortgage Indenture (No. 13992), printed, manuscript, typewritten, and signed, between Smith, his wife Millicent Smith and the Burnley Building Society.

Author: 
William Russell Smith, Oldham 'Book Manufacturer and Auctioneer'
Publication details: 
9 October 1922. Printed by 'George Anderson (Burnley) Limited.'
£35.00

Eight pages, quarto. Unbound and stitched on six leaves. Good, with recto of first leaf and verso of last somewhat more aged. With company and tax stamps. 'Mortgage, [a leasehold plot of land and messuage Numbered 26 in Barker Street Oldham in the County of Lancaster to secure £450 and interest.' Typewritten acknowledgment of payment, 25 February 1929, signed by company secretary W. Harvey and director J. Brown.

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