Rock Chidley - Bankrupt

[SteveS]

Just been reading in a newspaper from 1862, that Rock Chidley was declared bankrupt on September 12 of that year.

 

Did this mark the end of R.Chidley concertinas?

 

It appears as though E.Chidley remained active until at least 1872.

Edited July 30, 2014 by SteveS

[Anglogeezer]

On his website CHRIS FLINT has the following CONCERTINA TIMELINE which lists the significant dates for the following makers - Wheatstone, Scates, Lachenal, Jones, Nickolds, Austin, Case, Crabb & Chidley and the various links/crossovers between them.

 

http://www.scatesconcertinas.com/pdf/Concertina%20Timeline%20open%20office.pdf

 

If you go to The LONDON GAZETTE here http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/ there are about 10 official notices regarding his bancrupcy.

 

Edit: this link should take you straight to the results ; https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/notice?sort-by=oldest-date&text=Rock%20Chidley&location-distance-1=1&categorycode-all=all&numberOfLocationSearches=1&results-page-size=50

 

He was discharged from his bankrupcy on 25 July 1867.

Jake

Edited July 30, 2014 by Anglogeezer

[wes williams]

It appears as though E.Chidley remained active until at least 1872.

In 1870 Edward Chidley was operating from Wheatstones Conduit St. premises and listed as a 'Maker and Importer of Harmoniums,concertinas, etc.'. But then again, he was producing all Wheatstone's concertinas - with the exception of those already ordered from Lachenal - from about 1865 (the riveted reed jobs).And he was the owner of Wheatstone until his death in 1899. So it depends on how you define active

[Dan Worrall]

I discussed Rock Chidley and his bankruptcy in my book; see page 22 of volume 1:

http://books.google.com/books?id=1-thWE5XRmsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=anglo+concertina+worrall&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4XHaU9K7E8ic8gGYgoHgDA&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=anglo%20concertina%20worrall&f=false

 

Rock was listed as a concertina maker in the London City Directory until 1886. And as Wes mentioned, his brother Edward was active with Wheatstone until his death in 1899. Then Edward's son Edward Jr took over. And Edward Senior's grandson Kenneth Vernon Chidley joined Wheatstone in 1906, managing it by 1924. They probably should have renamed it the Chidley concertina!

[gcoover]

Sounds like business was tough making it on his own, so perhaps he was the logical candidate to work for Wheatstone after the demise of William Wheatstone?

 

The title of this thread casts a potentially poor light on Mr. Chidley, but he must have been doing something very right since I wouldn't trade my riveted-reed EC for anything - it's a phenomenal-sounding instrument that has held up to at least 35 years of my musical abuses!

 

Gary

[wes williams]

Everything needs to be viewed in context. Rock Chidley was an enterpreneur, Edward was totally conservative.

I found two bankruptcies for Rock close together in time, but these need to be considered in the light of his older brother John being a very prominant solicitor in the bankruptcy courts.Were the bankruptcies business failures or just sound business practice? I suspect the latter.

The relationship between the Wheatstone brothers and the Chidleys was published long ago, so I'll repost it here.

Edit - And before anybody asks, Cornelius Ward was also a well known musical instrument maker.

Edited August 2, 2014 by wes williams

[SteveS]

 

Were the bankruptcies business failures or just sound business practice? I suspect the latter.

What could have been the reasons for filing for bankruptcy? How were his business interests organised I wonder - as an incorporated limited liability company or as an individual tradesman? By filing for bankruptcy as an individual, he might have been able to escape creditors if he was working as a tradesman. But then anyone with concertina orders outstanding would then become unsecured creditors (assuming a deposit had been paid), and they'd be very unhappy and not likely to order a R.Chidley concertina from the factory if he restarted the business at a later time.

 

Is there any way to find out if it was business failure?

Are there any court records from the time?

Might be a fascinating research project.

Edited August 2, 2014 by SteveS

[Dowright]

Like Wes Wiiliams, I found references to two bankruptcies of Rock Chidley. It is interesting that Wes brought up John Chidley, who may have been very influential at Rock Cidlley's court appearance,. A different concertina maker went bankrupt and landed in debtor's prison! (William Dove, as I recall but am not sure at the moment). Rock Chidley twice escaped such a fate. After he went bankrupt, Rock Chidley went into a line of work completely removed from musical instrument manufacture. (Off-hand, I cannot remember his subsequent occupation.)

It is interesting that, in the first half of 1862, Rock Chidley "made a splash" with his presentation of his Anglo-German concertina at the International Exhibition of 1862, but went bankrupt in the second half of the year. And the cause of the financial difficulties may have been explained less by the concertina market, and more by competition in the harmonium market. (Just a guess!)

Edited August 4, 2014 by Dowright