Alan Day Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 I was talking to a good friend at the George on Monday and she tells me that she has an English concertina manufactured by Rock Chidley No 1379 135 High Holborn London She then went on to tell me that Rock Chidley was a Nephew of Wheatstone pinched the tools from his uncle to set up his own concertina manufacturing business at the above address.This information I am told came via an old article by Niel Wayne ,possibly in Free Reed magazine. I promised that I would ask you all if her instrument is rare/valuable and if the history aspect was true. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 She ... went on to tell me that Rock Chidley was a Nephew of Wheatstone Loosely speaking this is correct, but they were only related by marriage. pinched the tools from his uncle to set up his own concertina manufacturing business ... This information I am told came via an old article by Niel Wayne ,possibly in Free Reed magazine. I think somebody may be confusing him with "concertina folklore" about Louis Lachenal here ? Rock Chidley was a "finisher" for Wheatstone's, who set up his own business when Louis Lachenal started to "mass produce" concertinas for that firm. I promised that I would ask you all if her instrument is rare/valuable There are many Rock Chidley concertinas in circulation, is there anything unusual about it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes williams Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 She ... went on to tell me that Rock Chidley was a Nephew of Wheatstone Loosely speaking this is correct, but they were only related by marriage. Al, You'll find the relationship explained in a diagram in the Wheatstone And Chidley Family Trees thread in this forum. As Stephen says, the "stolen tools" legend related to Lachenal, and did appear in one of the articles in Free Reed. You'll see how it could have come about when Stephen's article on Lachenal for PICA is published. Rock Chidley concertinas were made roughly 1850-1867 and they reflect the concertina technology available at that time. 135 High Holborn London was the address of Rock's parents, which he continued to use for his business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebi-la-volpe Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 I have a Rock Chidley for sale on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/284573929390 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Thorne Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 Whatever else people think of Rock Chidley concertinas, it must be the "coolest" manufacturer name of them all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebi-la-volpe Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 Agreed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes williams Posted December 19, 2021 Share Posted December 19, 2021 Its probably worth bringing this thread up to date, so more recent additions on the Chidleys can be found at Chris Flint's Joseph Scates Concertinas site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadbrewer Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) He was a bankrupt at one stage....his Grandson ...also Rock, may well have emigrated to the US around the time of WW1 Edited January 30, 2022 by sadbrewer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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