Audley, William jnr & John

Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire; upholsterer, paper hanger, cabinet maker and auctioneers (fl. 1812–39)

Initially at Lad Lane but by 1822 had in addition premises in the High Street. In the period 1818–22 the business is referred to as William Audley & Sons. In 1834–39 William Audley appears to have been the sole proprietor and was trading from addresses at Iron Market and Bridge Street.

Advertised in Cottrill's Directory, 1836, as upholsterer, paper hanger and cabinet manufacturer with shop at 5 Ironmarket and manufactory and warehouse in Bridge Street. He thanked customers for ‘encouragement received by himself & his late brother over the last 20 years’ and offered ‘Beds and Window Curtains, of every description made and fited up in the neatest manner. Carpets made up; Rooms, Halls and Passages papered in the first style of workmanship; and every article in the Cabinet busines repaired and made upon the most approved principle … He employs none but the best and most experienced workmen.’ Audley offered his present stock at reduced prices, including ‘Paper and Borders, suitable for parlours and bedrooms, Brussels, Kidderminster, Scotch and Venetian Carpeting; figured and plain Oil Cloths, Druggets and Matting; Moreens, Dimities and Chintz Furnitures; Fringes, Trimmings, Tassels, Lines and Bindings, Hair Seating, prime Goose Feathers and Ticking, Blankets and Mattresses of every description; Looking Glasses, Sofas and Chairs, Venetian, Shade, Spring and other Blinds together with a general assortment of Rosewood, Zebra, Mahogany, Oak and Painted Cabinet Furniture, Bedsteads &c. &c. Appraiser & auctioneer’.

There is a billhead from this maker in the Johnson Collection in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

Source: DEFM; Stabler, ‘Furniture Makers' Trade-Cards and Bill-Heads in the John Johnson Collection’, FHS Newsletter (May 2007).