Saddler and Harness Maker - Hugh Rowe
Old photos of the centre of Greasby show a saddler’s shop standing in what is now the car park of the Coach & Horses pub. The proprietor was Hugh Rowe who had spent five years learning the trade of Saddler and Harness Maker, having been apprenticed to Joseph Wilkinson on 21st May 1884.
The Rowe family had moved to Greasby about 1877. Hugh was probably 15 years old at the start of his training. The apprenticeship contract, or “indenture”*, is still held by the Rowe family. The document shows that Hugh’s father, Owen, formally signed the indenture because Hugh was underage for signing legal documents.
Hugh received no wages during his first year of training, two shillings (10p) per week during the second year, growing in annual stages to five shillings (25p) per week during the fifth year. Joseph Wilkinson committed to train the boy. Hugh promised that he “shall and will faithfully serve his said Master, his secrets keep, his lawful Commands obey and do; hurt to his said Master he shall not do, or suffer to be done by others when it is in his power to prevent the same: His Masters goods he shall not waste or embezzle, the same give or lend without leave; Day or Night absent himself from his said Masters service; nor do any other Act, Matter or Thing whatsoever, to the Prejudice of his said Master but in all things shall demean and behave himself towards his Master and all his as a faithful Apprentice ought to do”.
Hugh married Esther Ann and they had a daughter, Elsie Margaret. Hugh died in 1952 aged 83.
Times change, cars replaced horses, and a photo dated 1959/60 shows that the sign above the saddler’s window had changed to ‘Footwear Repairs’. It is not known when the building was demolished but it was probably when the smithy was demolished in 1966.
*Historical note:
Originally, indentures had wording duplicated on the same page so that the text on the upper part matched the text on the lower. The page was cut along a jagged line to separate the two parts. Each party to the contract got one piece. The jagged edges (the teeth, dents in French) matched so there could be no cheating or re-wording by one of the parties.