INDUSTRIES 



There is no evidence of a second George 

 Chandler blossoming into a bell-founder by 1 702, 

 when the name reappears on bells : and it seems 

 quite a reasonable conjecture that it was found 

 that the two Richards (nephew and uncle) were 

 sufficient to manage the bell-founding, and that 

 George either devoted himself to the smithy, or 

 may have migrated elsewhere in pursuit of work ; 

 and that some time after his uncle had passed his 

 threescore and ten years it was found advisable 

 to get the assistance of a younger man. 



1723 is the latest date on which the name of 

 Richard III appears on a bell, and the saunce at 

 Emmington, in Oxfordshire, is inscribed in one 

 of George's sets of lettering, so there is no 

 question of its foundry : T. C. 1723. This must 

 be attributed to Thomas, the younger brother of 

 Richard III and George, who thus made his 

 first and last appearance. 



The third at Stone, by ' the firm,' in one of 

 George's sets of lettering, in 1726, is the latest 

 known bell bearing the name Chandler ; Richard 

 was buried on 27 April of that year, three years 

 after the appearance of his last bell. George 

 probably then left the village, as his burial does 

 not appear in the register of his native parish, nor 

 in that of the neighbouring parish of Stewkley, 

 where several entries of this surname occur. 

 Thomas (younger brother of Richard III and 

 George), was buried in his native parish in 1732. 



The Drayton Parslow foundry was continued 

 by Edward Hall, who had in all probability been 

 previously working there. He may have been 

 the son of a Henry Hall of Stewkley, but nothing 

 is known about his previous history. The burial 

 of his wife Elizabeth is recorded on Christmas 

 Day, 1733-4 according to one register, or 

 1734-5 according to another one; and on 

 30 April 1741 he married Mary the widowed 

 daughter of Richard Chandler II. His business, 

 owing no doubt to the gradual concentration of 

 this trade in the large businesses of London and 

 other centres, as roads improved, was evidently 

 very small less than one bell a year so far as 

 is known ; and at last comes the entry in the 

 Drayton Parslow register (in the rector's hand- 

 writing) : 



(Buried) Edward Hall poor old Bellfounder 

 Feb. 9 1755. 



There was until recently at Hillcsden a bell 

 inscribed : 



W HALL MADE ME 1756 



This is the last bell known to have been cast 

 at this foundry. The individual is not men- 

 tioned in the register of the parish, but probably 

 he was a son of Edward, born before his father's 

 migration to the foundry. 



The late Rev. T. A. Turner mentions " being 



" Records of Buckt. ir, 125 (1872). 



told by an old man named Baldwin that he in 

 early life succeeded in the village smithy business 

 a William Hall, who it was suggested was a 

 grandson of Edward, but it seems as likely 

 that he belonged to a generation later that is a 

 grandson of the founder William. Baldwin had 

 met with various bits of bell-metal, metal cast- 

 ings, sand and other things, which William Hall 

 had told him his grandfather used in the bell- 

 foundry business.** 



The saunce at Westbury seems to be of the 

 time of Edward III, and as Westbury is only 

 5 miles from Buckingham, this bell should 

 apparently be added to the group above described. 



The bell in the clock tower at Aylesbury is 

 blank, but is undoubtedly an old bell, and is 

 probably the bell mentioned in a report at the 

 Record Office dated 1555 as having come from 

 the house of Friars of Aylesbury, and was then 

 used as the market bell of that town. 17 It is 

 probably of ' local ' origin. 



The two bells at Ibstone are probably of the 

 1 8th century, and are more likely to be by an 

 itinerant than by a strictly ' local ' founder. 



On the single bell at Fingest is incised : 



J. HOBBS LANE END 1830. 



He was an iron-founder, and this appears to be 

 his sole attempt at bell-casting. His son, Mr. 

 Walter Hobbs, continued the iron-foundry until 

 his death in 1902, when the business was pur- 

 chased by Mr. Richard Smith, who afterwards 

 closed the works, which, however, have now 

 been re-opened. 



The Fingest bell, no doubt from a want of 

 technical knowledge having resulted in a wrong 

 gradation in the various degrees of thickness, 

 sounds at a distance as if it were cracked, but as 

 one approaches it is found that the bell is quite 

 sound, but is badly out of tune with itself. If 

 the crooks used to form the core and cope are 

 scientifically shaped, so as to ensure the correct 

 thicknesses throughout the bell, it should give, 

 when lightly struck, the key-note, third, fifth, 

 and octave at the respective distances up the side; 

 and when struck a full blow (as by the clapper) 

 on the sound-bow, the common chord results ; 

 if therefore the thickness at any part is incorrect, 

 the bell becomes out of tune with itself (and 

 many bells are slightly so). 



The saunce at Hardwick, besides the names 

 of the churchwardens, bears : 



1850. S. SEYMOUR, AYLESBURY 



He was an ironmonger in that town, and there 

 can be little doubt that he did not cast it 

 himself. 



" Cb. Belli ofButkt. 237. 



" Ld. Rev. Rec. bdle. 1392, file 10. 



125 



