Prior, John & Robert (1817-1859)
Prior, John & Robert
High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex; rustic chair makers and turners (fl.1817-59)
John jnr. and Robert Prior were two sons of John Prior.
They were listed at Hillingdon End (1823–38) and as Windsor chair makers in 1832.
Robert was a member of the Providence Congregational Chapel and his son William was baptised there on 13 March 1814. The billhead of J. & R. Prior used from 1818–20 describes the business of ‘Windsor Chair-Maker & Turner’ and is embellished with a fine engraving of a Windsor Chair. It states that they dealt ‘Wholesale, Retail & for Exportation’. They had trading links with London; in September 1818 a consignment of six yew armchairs for the 3rd Lord Lyttelton's house, Hagley Hall, Stourbridge, Worcestershire were first sent to Joseph Bury at ‘The Ram Inn’, West Smithfield, London. The Priors charged Bury £4 10s for these chairs, however his account to Mr Grove, Lord Lyttelton's agent at Hagley, was for £5 2s and carriage of £1 7s 6d in addition.
Another surviving bill of the Prior brothers, dated 20 March 1820, is for the supply of stakes, poles and pea sticks to Samuel Hall, presumable because as a maker of turned chairs they maintained close contact with traditional coppice crafts.
Another Windsor chair is known with the stamp ‘ROBERT PRIOR/MAKER/UXBRIDGE’ impressed [Uxbridge Reference Library; Temple Newsam House, Leeds, Exhibition. Catalogue, Common Furniture, 1982; Worcestershire. Record Office, Lyttelton MS, 5467/705: 658/122(i)].
John junior died in 1846 in Uxbridge. Robert had a son, also Robert (1811-59) and both were recorded in the 1841 census as chair makers in Hillingdon End. Robert senior died in 1853 and Robert junior in 1859.
For a family tree for the Prior & Trotman families, see Julian Parker, Regional Furniture (2020), p.73.
A child's chair by J. Prior stamped 'J PRIOR UXBRIDGE on the edge of the seat , was recorded by Julian Parker [illustrated RFS Newsletter, No. 82, p. 13].
Sources: DEFM; Gilbert, Christopher, English Vernacular Furniture 1750-1900 (1991); Parker, Julian 'Windsor Chairs, Children's Carts, German Stools, Rustic Chairs, Summerhouses and Perambulator: The Webbs (and Bunce and Carter), Dells, Priors and Trotmans, Regional Furniture (2020); Parker, Julian, 'Prior Knowledge Required', RFS Newsletter, No. 82, Winter 2025, pp. 12-13. .
The original entry from Dictionary of English Furniture Makers, 1660-1840 can be found at British History Online.
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