A Tribute to

Lawrence Earnshaw

Lawrence Earnshaw is a man of Mottram worthy of celebration. A handsome monument in the local churchyard attests to his memory and a Blue Plaque erected on the Court House remembers his achievements.

Yet, Lawrence Earnshaw died, as he had lived, in poverty. He invented many ingenious machines and clocks but did not use his prodigious talents for personal gain. This page tells the story of his life.

Early Years

He was born in the first decade of the eighteenth century, the precise date not being known, at a house on Mottram Moor. The lovely setting and the secluded attic in which he often worked probably helped inspire the development of his genius.

His father was a poor weaver and as a boy Lawrence received very little formal education. However, from an early age he displayed a keen curiosity in working mechanisms and in particular in clocks. He regularly dismantled the family clock whilst he should have been at church.

Lawrence the Apprentice

The poverty of his family meant that Lawrence was apprenticed at an early age to a Mr Samuel Kynder, woollen manufacturer at Hyde Green, Stayley. He remained there for seven years and then spent the next four years apprenticed to a tailor. Neither of these employments suited the natural bent of his genius and he moved next to work for a clock maker.

The Inventor

Lawrence could now give full attention to his remarkable talents. Besides clock making he also educated himself to an exceptional level. During the course of his lifetime he made musical instruments, taught music and understood chemistry, metallurgy and mathematics. Additionally, he could engrave, paint and make sundials and optical instruments.

His main love, however, remained the invention of clocks.

The Astronomical Clock

This was Lawrence's most celebrated accomplishment. It is described thus in William Chadwick's 'Reminiscences of Mottram' :

"A very curious astronomical and geographical clock, containing both a celestial and terrestrial globe, to which the different movements were given, representing the annual and diurnal motions of the earth; the position of the moon and stars, the sun's place in the ecliptic; with the great exactness". Due to a lack of finance it took seven years to complete the timepiece. He subsequently made a further three, one of which sold for the princely sum of £150 to the Earl of Bute.

The Mottram Court House Clock

The Court House has a clock pictured right bearing the name of Lawrence Earnshaw. On it appears a map of the world, including the United States of America, a country which was not founded until 10 years after Earnshaw's death, suggesting that the clock has been restored at a later date. Nevertheless, the works of the clock are very probably authentic.

A Charitable Man

In 1753 he invented a machine which could spin and reel cotton in a single operation. He showed it to his neighbours but then destroyed it in apprehension that such a machine would injure the livelihood of local textile workers.

A few years later Arkwright, Crompton and others succeeded in working out ideas equivalent to those of Lawrence Earnshaw. They became rich and famous. Earnshaw however, declined to work out the practical results of which his machines were capable and remained poor.

A local historian of the nineteenth century with the benefit of hindsight Commented :

"Poor Lawrence Earnshaw ! Others with less scrupulous minds and harder wills pushed their inventive faculties to the uppermost, and while they increased the facilities for English manufacturers, made themselves princely fortunes."

Later Years

In later life, Earnshaw was much distracted by his ailing wife who was confined to bed. He himself became lame and relied upon the use of crutches, even though his mind remained clear and spirited to the last.

Lawrence Earnshaw died on 12th May 1767. Despite his local fame as a mechanic, his earnings were small and he remained poor to the end. He was buried in St Michael's churchyard in an unmarked grave.

Lawrence Earnshaw Remembered

In the late nineteenth century a monument in the churchyard was raised to his memory by public subscription and its inauguration was marked by a public procession on 10th April 1868.

Over a hundred years later we pay him further respect by honouring him with a Blue Plaque.

Acknowledgements to post graduate student Ian Lomas for his assistance with this page.

Lines From a Poem by James Leigh of Hyde

This poem reflects in verse 5 how Lawrence Earnshaw's genius was acknowledged long after his death.