Charles Horner (1837–1896) was an English
jeweller
A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stone setting, engraving, fabrica ...
and founder of the
Halifax jewellery business ''Charles Horner of Halifax''.
Life
He was born at
Ovenden
Ovenden is a village in West Yorkshire, England, next to Boothtown and Illingworth about a mile from Halifax town centre. It is also a Calderdale Ward whose population at the 2011 Census was 12,351.
Ovenden railway station on the Halifax and ...
.
Horner's business was founded in the 1860s and was based at 23 Northgate, Halifax. It produced silver jewellery and ornaments. Among its better-known jewellery lines were enamelled Art Nouveau pendants and necklaces, twisted silver wire and glass paste 'knot' brooches, and silver hatpins.
Horner's "
Dorcas
Dorcas ( el, Δορκάς, Dorkás, used as a translated variant of the Aramaic name), or Tabitha ( arc, טביתא/ܛܒܝܬܐ, Ṭaḇīṯā, (female) gazelle), was an early disciple of Jesus mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (, see discussi ...
"
thimble
A thimble is a small pitted cup worn on the finger that protects it from being pricked or poked by a needle while sewing. The Old English word , the ancestor of thimble, is derived from Old English , the ancestor of the English word ''thumb''.
...
s were patented in 1884.
These solved the problem of the previous soft,
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
thimbles by using a sandwich of strong
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
and
sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.
''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is r ...
layers. The three layers were formed separately, stacked together, and then a protruding lip of the inner silver liner was
burnish
Burnishing may refer to:
* Burnishing (metal), plastic deformation of a surface due to sliding contact with another object
* Burnishing (pottery)
Burnishing is a form of pottery treatment in which the surface of the pot is polished, using a ...
ed over the steel, locking into place in a groove around the outer silver decorative layer.
After his death in 1896, his two sons, James Dobson Horner and Charles Henry Horner, continued the business, in partnership with Charles William Leach.
[Leach is described as a ' commercial traveller', of the same address.] They expanded in 1905 with the opening of a new factory at Mile Cross, Halifax. The Charles Horner factory produced a range of products during the 20th century, together with other items like silverware, tableware and clocks.
In 1889 the partners obtained a second patent on the manufacture of 'Dorcas' thimbles. This was for a minor improvement, the provision of thicker material at the top of the thimble, the area of most wear. As this was such a minor improvement, it may have been applied for more to extend the lifetime of patent protection held by the Horner company, rather than for a specific improvement. The same partners were also granted another patent, for a similar idea of layered metal protection formed by the
presswork with which they were already familiar. This was for a long-lasting yarn spindle or 'cone', where the
boxwood
''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood.
The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost South ...
cone was sheathed entirely in
brass
Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
. Such an invention was of obvious relevance in the
Pennines
The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...
of Northern England, where textile spinning and weaving was such an important trade. Previous cones had been partially sheathed in brass. The softer boxwood would wear in time so that the brass became a protruding lip which then caught on the yarn. A complete sheathing would have no lip, but required the Horner's skill to devise a means of manufacturing the deep metal cone. Unusually, although Halifax and Yorkshire East of the Pennines is best known for its
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
trade, the patent mentions
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
yarns specifically, generally considered a Lancashire trade, West of the Pennines.
The company is also known for
hatpin
A hatpin is a decorative and functional pin for holding a hat to the head, usually by the hair. In Western culture, hatpins are almost solely used by women and are often worn in a pair. They are typically around in length, with the pinhead be ...
s, a collection of which were shown on the BBC television programme 'Antiques Roadshow' in May 2013.
A small number were made in gold.
After the Great War, the Charles Horner company was one of the first to use the new
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
materials becoming available, specifically
casein plastics. These were branded as 'Dorcasine'.
Thimbles continued to be produced until 1947 and the company went into voluntary liquidation in 1984.
Hallmarks
As the Dorcas thimbles were partly steel they could not be
hallmark
A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''hallmark'' can al ...
ed, even though the silver layers were of sterling. Silver jewellery pieces were marked at
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
and also marked with a "C H" maker's mark.
Sterling silver thimbles were also produced. These may be identified as they are hallmarked, do not carry the 'Dorcas' name and do not have the rolled lip of the Dorcas design.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Horner, Charles
1837 births
1896 deaths
English jewellers
English silversmiths
People from Halifax, West Yorkshire