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Hawley spread his knowledge among a team of volunteers who both assisted in cataloguing the collection and in some cases became experts in their own right.<ref name="cossons" /> He also co-authored books on various aspects of the Sheffield steel industries and took part in many interviews that have since been transcribed.<ref name="barley" /> |
Hawley spread his knowledge among a team of volunteers who both assisted in cataloguing the collection and in some cases became experts in their own right.<ref name="cossons" /> He also co-authored books on various aspects of the Sheffield steel industries and took part in many interviews that have since been transcribed.<ref name="barley" /> |
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The Hawley Collection first came into public prominence following a meeting in 1991 with Janet Barnes, who was then Director of the [[Ruskin Gallery]] in Sheffield. An exhibition titled The Cutting Edge was arranged that drew upon the material and this led to the formation of the Ken Hawley Collection Trust, whose objective was to acquire and conserve it. Funding from the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] (HLF) and support from the [[University of Sheffield]] led to the collection being transferred to premises at the university around 1998-99.<ref name="cossons" /> It was officially recognised as a museum in 2002.<ref name="barley" /> A further, much larger HLF grant in 2008 allowed more spacious and specialist premises to be formed by converting buildings at Kelham Island Museum in the city. Those premises opened in 2010 and were extended in 2012; a third phase of development has been proposed.<ref name="cossons" /> |
The Hawley Collection first came into public prominence following a meeting in 1991 with Janet Barnes, who was then Director of the [[Ruskin Gallery]] in Sheffield. An exhibition titled ''The Cutting Edge'' was arranged that drew upon the material and this led to the formation of the Ken Hawley Collection Trust, whose objective was to acquire and conserve it. Funding from the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]] (HLF) and support from the [[University of Sheffield]] led to the collection being transferred to premises at the university around 1998-99.<ref name="cossons" /> It was officially recognised as a museum in 2002.<ref name="barley" /> A further, much larger HLF grant in 2008 allowed more spacious and specialist premises to be formed by converting buildings at Kelham Island Museum in the city. Those premises opened in 2010 and were extended in 2012; a third phase of development has been proposed.<ref name="cossons" /> |
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The collection is, according to Barley, "widely recognised as one of the best places to learn about tools and tool-making anywhere in the world".<ref name="barley" /> |
The collection is, according to Barley, "widely recognised as one of the best places to learn about tools and tool-making anywhere in the world".<ref name="barley" /> |
Revision as of 11:04, 24 December 2014
Ken Hawley MBE (born Kenneth Wybert Hawley, 29 June 1927 - 15 August 2014) was a British collector of tools and an industrial historian. The Hawley Collection is now housed at Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield, England, and is recognised as one of the most significant collections of its type in the world.
Life and career
Kenneth Wybert Hawley was born on the Manor estate in Sheffield on 29 June 1927. He and his parents, Walter and Isabel, moved to the Wadsley area of the city when he was aged three. He left school in 1942, taking up work as an assistant in his father's business of manufacturing wire guards for machinery. Through this connection he was exposed to many industrial workshops in the city as he took measurements and designed solutions for customers. The experience gave him an enduring respect for those who worked in the Sheffield cutlery and tool-manufacturing industries, which were then still famous throughout the world; it also instilled in him an abiding curiosity for how they had achieved their status and produced their wares.[1]
Hawley then spent some time in the British Army under the compulsory National Service scheme. Upon being released in 1947, he became a tool salesman, working firstly for a Sheffield firm, then for Joseph Gleave of Manchester, and finally for a business based in Rotherham. He married Emily in 1953; the couple had two sons.[1][2]
In 1959, Hawley established his own specialist tool shop in Sheffield, advertising it with the slogan "We sell nowt but tools" to distinguish it from ironmongers and general hardware stores.[1][a]
Hawley ceased his involvement in his tool shop in 1989. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Sheffield Hallam University in 1995 and was appointed a MBE in 1998.[2] The latter honour was bestowed for his forty-year involvement as, according to several obituaries,[1][2] the "driving force" behind restoration of Wortley Top Forge, a 17th-century finery forge and ironworks that has been restored by volunteers who were inspired by him.[4] He was also a founder member and president of the Tools and Trades History Society.[5]
Ken Hawley died on 15 August 2014; he was survived by his wife and sons.[1]
Collecting
Hawley said that he had no interest in history until 1950, when he visited a customer to demonstrate a machine. While at the customer's premises, he noticed a joiner's brace of a design that he had not seen before and was able to acquire it. Perhaps the most significant single development to his collection came in 1965 when he paid a business visit to the William Marples company and discovered that the firm's plane-manufacturing workshop was being close. The Marples company was the last maker of a specific type of wooden plane and Hawley asked whether he could have some examples. According to Simon Barley, writing an obituary in The Guardian:
Before long he was carting off the entire contents of the workshop in his Volvo estate. "The only thing left was the benches," he said, and after a phone call to the owner he took those as well.[1]
As time passed, Hawley became known for uttering the phrase, "You'll not be wanting this, will you?"[4] The Sheffield tool-making industry went into decline due to changes both in the economy and in technology and he acquired a reputation as the person to approach when a business was closing. His knowledge, which was bolstered by an interest in researching the disappearing skills, enabled him to select those items that were worthy of adding to his collection. He also recorded his research and made short films showing the surviving makers in their working environment.[1]
The extent of the Hawley Collection was matched by the extent of his knowledge regarding it. It comprises over 70,000 tools, mostly but not entirely from Sheffield, as well as catalogues and other documents. The tools include many examples of such things as planes, table knives, anvils, files, taps and dies, rules, micrometers, scissors, hammers, handsaws, and vernier and caliper gauges. He stored these in two garden sheds, then in his garage. The garage was eventually turned into a two-storey building to provide more space, and he also used his attic as well as space begged from other people.[2][b]
Hawley spread his knowledge among a team of volunteers who both assisted in cataloguing the collection and in some cases became experts in their own right.[2] He also co-authored books on various aspects of the Sheffield steel industries and took part in many interviews that have since been transcribed.[1]
The Hawley Collection first came into public prominence following a meeting in 1991 with Janet Barnes, who was then Director of the Ruskin Gallery in Sheffield. An exhibition titled The Cutting Edge was arranged that drew upon the material and this led to the formation of the Ken Hawley Collection Trust, whose objective was to acquire and conserve it. Funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and support from the University of Sheffield led to the collection being transferred to premises at the university around 1998-99.[2] It was officially recognised as a museum in 2002.[1] A further, much larger HLF grant in 2008 allowed more spacious and specialist premises to be formed by converting buildings at Kelham Island Museum in the city. Those premises opened in 2010 and were extended in 2012; a third phase of development has been proposed.[2]
The collection is, according to Barley, "widely recognised as one of the best places to learn about tools and tool-making anywhere in the world".[1]
Publications
Among Hawley's publications are:
- A Cut above the Rest - the Heritage of Sheffield's Blade Manufactures (2003), with Joan Unwin
- Sheffield Images - Cutlery, Silver and Edge Tools, with Joan Unwin
- Wooden Spokeshaves (2007), with Denis Watts
- Knifemaking in Sheffield and the Hawley Collection, with Ruth Grayson
References
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barley, Simon (19 August 2014). "Ken Hawley obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Cossons, Neil (December 2014). "Ken Hawley MBE". Newcomen Links (232). Newcomen Society: 23. ISSN 1478-484X.
- ^ Armstrong, Julia (23 August 2014). "Retro: farewell to man who saved Sheffield's tool-making heritage". The Star. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
- ^ a b "Tribute to 'a true son of Sheffield'". Sheffield Telegraph. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
- ^ "Tools and Trades History Society". Tools and Trades History Society. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
- ^ "The Hawley Gallery". Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
Further reading
- You'll not be wanting this then, will you?: Ken Hawley - A Collector's Tale (Video, including interviews with Hawley and historic film footage)