Haughton, George (1775-1783)
Haughton, George
London, England then Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; upholsterer, joiner, house furnisher and auctioneer (fl.1775-1783)
George Haughton claimed to have worked for John Trotter in London, a cabinet maker to George II. In 1767 he was living in Bow Street, Covent Garden.
He announced his arrival in Philadelphia in 1775 through an advertisement (below) for his upholstery business on Second Street, four doors down from Chesnut Street. … 'where he proposes to follow the Upholstery business in all its various branches. As he has had the advantage of serving a regular apprenticeship to that trade in one of the most capital shops in London, and of working in most of the others, and has done the principal work some time in this city for Mr. Webster, he does not doubt of giving satisfaction to those Ladies and Gentlemen that will please to employ him in any part of the business … He makes the new fashion'd French corner chairs, conversation stools, sofas, Venetian window blinds, and bedsteads of all sorts; Fringe line Tossels made to any pattern or quality, on the shortest notice’.
In May 1776 he announced he had moved to Front Street next door to the London Coffee house (below), where in addition to upholstery goods, he also sold chairs, stools and tables and 'other article necessary for the military... Also genteel lodgings furnished .... [and] A smart boy, as an apprentice to the upholstery business is wanted'.
Apparently military 'equipage' was in demand; in October 1777 (below), Haughton advertised that 'gentlemen of the army may be supplied with all kinds of CAMP EQUIPAGE on the shortest notice. Tents, markees and drums made and repaired, with a variety of HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE to be sold'
By the end of 1777 (below) Haughton had expanded his stock in trade to include dining and tea tables, clock cases, chairs, and mahogany bedsteads. He was also holding weekly auctions where in addition to selling furniture, he also offered dry goods, horses and cows.
George Haughton died in the summer of 1783. Two notices announced his death, one on 13 August 1783 in The Pennsylvania Gazette, the other seen below. It is unclear who the administratrix, Christina Haughton was, but presumably she was either his widow or daughter.
Source: DEFM; The Walpole Society Journal, 1929; TLA, London Land Tax Records, 1767; American Craftspeople, 1600-1995. The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum.
The original entry from Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840 can be found at British History Online.