Overview Of Lochwinnoch’s Three Cabinet Works

By the late 1800's the old industries were declining and Lochwinnoch was becoming a centre for furniture manufacture. The Lochwinnoch annual sports day became known as the “Furniture Sports” and attracted the top-class competitors of the day because of the high value placed on the furniture prizes donated by the local companies.

Shipbuilding was at the heart of these businesses supplying furniture for the Lusitania, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. The Klondyke and Hunters both supplied chairs for the ill-fated Titanic. It was reported in an article in Lochwinnoch Online that the penultimate owner of the Muirshiel Estate, Sir Lionel Fletcher, was Chairman of the White Star Shipping Company, owners of the Titanic. It is also said that his father-in-law Gilbert Bates was Chairman before him. This makes a convenient link between furniture making in Lochwinnoch and the Titanic. Neither was Chairman of the White Star Line. Fletcher's father-in-law, Gilbert Thomson Bates, was nonetheless the owner of a shipping company and Fletcher married his daughter, Mary. Sir Lionel Fletcher was however a senior manager in the White Star Line at the time of the Titanic sinking. A nephew of Bates did become Chairman of Cunard which took ownership of the White Star Line in the 1930's, long after the Titanic tragedy in 1912. Irrespective of whether these gentlemen were Chairmen of the White Star Line their senior connections are an obvious link which will have helped local companies secure contracts with businesses to which they were attached.

Hunter, Hamilton and Crawford were the first to establish furniture making in Lochwinnoch. They came from Beith where furniture making was already an established business. They started the Calder Cabinet Works in 1881 and the partnership lasted around 15 years. During this time the operation was extended twice. On Monday 17th May 1897 the Calder Cabinet Works was destroyed by fire. At this time it employed around 150 workers. Hunter rebuilt these works in 1898 and continued on his own as James Hunter & Sons.

The Lochhead Cabinet Works started trading on 17th December 1897. It emerged literally from the ashes of Hunter Hamilton & Crawford which had burned down the previous year. The partnership of Hunter Hamilton & Crawford broke up and Hamilton & Crawford built a new factory to the rear of the Parish Church. It became known locally as The Klondyke because of the gold rush (1896 - 1899) going on at that time. It also employed around 150 workers. The factory has made furniture for the Mauretania and the Titanic. The order for the Titanic took over four hundred logs to complete.

Joseph Johnstone came to Lochwinnoch in 1882 to work at the Calder Cabinet works. He started his own business in part of the Calderpark Mill that remained standing after the fire that destroyed the main building in 1874. He paid Hugh Crawford a rent of £15. Due to increasingly large contracts he built the Viewfield Chair and Cabinet works in 1888. Again this was on land owned by Hugh Crawford and the feu duty was £9 9s 11d annually but to double every 19 years from 1993. He bought himself out of this via a one-off payment of £189 18s 4d in 1919. Unfortunately his new factory burned down in August 1893. It was thought the fire started in a wood store directly above the boiler room. There was a mechanism to release steam sufficient to suppress any outbreak of fire. This clearly failed to achieve its key design parameter. Not to be deterred it was rebuilt and was up and running by the following May. Disaster struck again when the new building was blown down on 22nd Dec 1894 killing 4 men and badly injuring 14 others. In early 1908 the factory was extended with the erection of a three storey addition. Tragedy was to strike yet again with a fire breaking out on Saturday July 4th 1908. It took two hours to get the fire under control. The damage amounted to around £5000 which was covered by insurance however nearly 200 workers were laid off till the factory was repaired. However, Mr Johnstone went on to establish "Joe's" as the largest and most prestigious cabinet works in Scotland. Joseph Johnstone eventually took over the Lochhead Cabinet Works, (The Klondyke). He was very active in the community being a County Councillor, Chairman of the Lochwinnoch School Board and member of other local bodies. In 1918 he was awarded an OBE for services to the Scottish War Aims Committee in the King’s Birthday Honours list. He sat as a Coalition Liberal member for East Renfrewshire from 1918-1922. Joseph Johnstone died at Calder House aged 71 on Tuesday 13th 1931.

My Dad (John Smith) and our Uncle Tom served their time as cabinet makers at Joe’s and my Uncle Pat (Pat's Dad) served his time as an upholsterer. Our Uncle Robert served his time as a chair maker and our Auntie Annie served her time as a French Polisher at Hunters. That family story was repeated by so many who lived in the village, just as it had done when the large mills were in operation. In the end Hunter's was taken over by the West of Scotland Furniture Manufacturing Company in 1952. It moved the Lochwinnoch operation to its Beith plant around 1963/64. In 1958 the Clyde Cooperage came to Lochwinnoch and acquired the site of Joe's and the Lochhead Cabinet Works (The Klondyke) for its operations. It had a small section making office furniture and small decorative casks for pubs under the trade name Lochlyne. This was effectively the end of large scale furniture making in Lochwinnoch.

There were other smaller cabinet works in the village. Mr Andrew also used buildings from the Calderpark Mill just as Joseph Johnstone had done. Robert Stewart had a cabinet and chair works in the High Street. His building was two storeys high and on Wednesday May 27th 1908 it and the adjoining wood store were completely destroyed by fire. Fortunately the loss was covered by insurance. Given the number of fires the various manufacturing facilities suffered I imagine premiums were sky high.