THE FURNITURE HISTORY SOCIETY
c/o Furniture, Textiles and Fashion Department, Victoria & Albert Museum, London SW7 2RL
www.furniturehistorysociety.org
THE DICTIONARY OF BRITISH AND
IRISH FURNITURE MAKERS ONLINE
A Partnership Project between the Furniture History Society and The Institute of
Historical Research (Centre for Metropolitan History), The University of London
The Furniture History Society (FHS) is
collaborating with the University of Londons
Institute of Historical Research (IHR) on a new
digital project, The Dictionary of British and Irish
Furniture Makers Online, which will be open to all
as a free online resource. The cost of the first five
years is estimated as 365,000 of which 55,000
has already been pledged, leaving a target of
310,000. The timetable may have to be modified
as it is dependent on the amount of money raised,
but the first year is nearly guaranteed by existing
pledges and we are confident that this shortfall
will be made up in order that the project can go
forward before the end of the current academic
year in July.
The hub will be the IHR, where the project
will be co-ordinated and implemented by the
Postdoctoral Research Fellow The Dictionary of
British and Irish Furniture Makers Online (to be
appointed) who will also work closely with the
FHS, taking advantage of its unrivalled access to
scholarship and art historical expertise in the
field. FHS members contributed fundamental
information to the publication in 1986 of the
1,000 page Dictionary of English Furniture Makers
16601840, edited by Geoffrey Beard and
Christopher Gilbert, the Societys greatest single
scholarly achievement and the inspiration for
the current endeavour. The Dictionary contains
some 50,000 entries, publishing brief histories of
each larger firm, the documentary evidence and
source material for further research. This will be
the model for the Dictionarys expansion into The
Dictionary of British and Irish Furniture Makers
Online. The work on the 1986 Dictionary took
many years, involving scholars and researchers,
all working voluntarily under the umbrella of
the Furniture History Society. This approach
would be impractical today as would be a
published book and the creation of an online
database is considered to be far more flexible,
practical and fit for purpose, allowing everyone
with an interest in furniture, its manufacture
and sale, to search for information and to
contribute new research, wherever in the world
they may be.
The initial aim (Year One 201617) is to create a
fully searchable online database which will be the
worlds first port of call for the history of British
and Irish furniture makers. The digitised material
online will be combined with search and analysis
tools that will allow researchers to use the
material in different ways, whether for casual
browsing or sophisticated scholarly interrogation.
Its foundations will be the Societys 1986
Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 16601840.
This remains the bible for the study of English
furniture and craftsmen, but scholarship has
moved on considerably in the past thirty years.
There are also inevitable errors and duplications.
The entries on individuals and firms need
revision and expansion; details of 12,000
additional furniture makers are ready to be
added to the list; the book is out of print and the
logical solution is to go online.
The secondary aim (Year 2 onwards) is to extend
the date range of the published Dictionary of
English Furniture Makers 16601840 from before
1660 and after 1840. Welsh, Scottish and Irish
cabinet-makers will also be included, as well as
makers throughout the British Empire and
Commonwealth, who were providing furniture in
British style for British clients, often under the
influence of foreign traditions. The joy of a
database is that it is expandable. We are open to
all kinds of options for expansion in the future.
The type of furniture to be included in the
database will range from the vernacular to the
regional and metropolitan.
The mechanism for expansion will be in place
after Year One of the project. It is envisaged that
The Dictionary of British and Irish Furniture Makers
Online will be permanent, allowing perennial
revisions and additions, though there will be an
initial period of high activity to get the database
The Project: The Dictionary of British and Irish Furniture Makers Online
Phase I (Year One 201617)
This will result in an online searchable database
for the existing entries in the Dictionary of English
Furniture Makers 16601840 to which an existing
corpus of 12,000 newly identified makers will be
added. The mechanism for future expansion will
also be in place. A Postdoctoral Research Fellow,
based in the IHR, will be recruited to undertake
the work, with the advice of specialists in the FHS
and the IHR and under the overall supervision of
the Chairman of the FHS and the Director of the
Centre for Metropolitan History in the IHR.
Phase I total costs: 85,000 inclusive of salary,
other costs and technical input, made up of:
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Dictionary of
British and Irish Furniture Makers Online in the
IHR: 46,000 p.a. including other costs as well as
salary on University of London, Level 7.
Technical input and costs: 30,000 (digitisation of
the printed Dictionary, conversion/processing of
additional digital research data and the largest
element: digital platform development).
Overheads/management time (IHR): 9,000
up and running (in Year One) and to lay the
foundations in the first three to five years,
depending on the success of the appeal for
funding. The database framework will allow for
the insertion of material of all periods from the
second year onwards. The University of London
will design and maintain the website, which will
be future-proofed by the University under the
same terms that it protects its own online
material, thus ensuring that the database of The
Dictionary of British and Irish Furniture Makers
Online is technically permanent and secure, in so
far as that can ever be guaranteed. The
University already hosts similar websites in
partnership with other charitable institutions
such as City Livery Companies and is committed
to developing such scholarly resources.
Funding for Phase I (Year one 201617)
Amount pledged by the FHSs 50th Anniversary
Appeal Fund: 45,000
Anonymous gift to FHS: 5,000
Amount pledged by Sir Nicholas (President of the
FHS) and Lady Goodison: 5,000
Funding needed: 30,000
Donors will be fully credited on the project
website, which will be accessible free of charge
world-wide.
Annual Costs after Phase I
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Dictionary of
British and Irish Furniture Makers Online in the
IHR: 46,000 p.a. including other costs as well as
salary on University of London, Level 7, but not
including increments and percentage increases
after Year 1.
Technical input and costs: 15,000 p.a.
Overheads/management time (IHR): 9,000 p.a.
Total annual cost after Year 1: 70,000
Phase II (Years Two and Three)
This period will see the revision of the material
published in the Dictionary of English Furniture
Makers 16601840, partly by scholars who originally
provided it and who are still active in the field, and
partly by the addition of published information.
The extension of the date range of the original
Dictionary before 1660 and after 1840 will be
explored, planned and begun. Given that The
Dictionary of British and Irish Furniture Makers Online
will become the FHSs principal undertaking every
endeavour will be made to promote it and to
encourage the aims of the Society in its
implementation. The IHR shares these aims.
The FHS and the IHR will be endeavouring to
raise the money to achieve as much as possible of
these significant plans. There is huge scope for the
involvement, training and motivation of younger
furniture historians in helping with research and
writing up entries. The encouragement of younger
scholars is a key element of the FHSs 50th
Anniversary Appeal Fund. The FHS and IHR also
envisage working closely with sister organisations
and with museums, heritage trusts, livery
companies, private owners, academic institutions,
auction houses, the trade and individuals in
establishing sources of information to be included
in The Dictionary of British and Irish Furniture
Makers Online.
Phase II total costs: 142,000, inclusive of salary of
Postdoctoral Research Fellow The Dictionary of
The Partnership in the Creation of
The Dictionary of British and Irish Furniture Makers Online
The Furniture History Society (FHS) was
founded in 1964 (registered charity no. 251863) to
promote the study and appreciation of furniture,
woodwork and historic interiors of all types and
from all countries. The Societys President is Sir
Nicholas Goodison and its Chairman is
Christopher Rowell. Website:
http://www.furniturehistorysociety.org/ . It has
1350 members world-wide who pay an annual
subscription. The Society is actively seeking to
increase its membership. Members receive
quarterly printed copies of the The Furniture
History Society Newsletter, now in its 202nd edition
British and Irish Furniture Makers Online, other
costs and technical input, but not including salary
increments and percentage increases after Year 1.
Funding needed: 140,000
Phase III (Years Four and Five)
This period will involve further consolidation and
expansion of the database, breaking seriously into
the earlier and later periods, bringing the end
date up to 1900, with the eventual possibility of
including the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries. Even if entries are short to begin with,
there is considerable scope for future revision and
expansion of the database into new areas of
knowledge. The DEFM online project will become
the worlds largest and most comprehensive
resource for the study of furniture manufacture in
Britain and Ireland.
Phase III total costs: 140,000, inclusive of salary
of Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Dictionary of
British and Irish Furniture Makers Online, other
costs and technical input, but not including
increments and percentage increases to the
Postdoctoral Research Fellows salary after Year 1.
Funding needed: 140,000
Total Cost of Phases 1III (Years One to Five):
365,000
Funding needed: 310,000
(back numbers have been indexed and are being
placed online) and the annual volume of
Furniture History, the worlds foremost scholarly
journal on the study of furniture, which is edited
by the Hon. Editorial Secretary. The 51 volumes
of Furniture History are placed online on JSTOR,
with a five year moving wall, so to date the first
46 volumes are already in JSTOR. Members of the
FHS also have the opportunity to participate in
visits to houses and collections throughout the
world via the Societys Events Committee, which
also organises an annual scholarly symposium at
the Wallace Collection and an annual lecture at
the Society of Antiquaries. Financial matters are
supervised by the Hon. Treasurer. The Society
has a Grants Committee with funds to encourage
the international study of furniture by scholars
and runs an active Early Careers Development
Group for younger scholars and enthusiasts,
including visits and symposia. In all areas of the
Societys activities, including its newly revamped
website, the Council of the Society and the
volunteer Officers are supported by paid part-
time staff. The Societys Fiftieth Anniversary
Appeal Fund, which raised 250,000 in 2014,
exists to nurture the general aims of the Society
with the emphasis on the development of
younger curators, professionals and scholars. The
Appeal Fund will contribute half of this projects
first year costs to encourage match funding. The
Furniture History Society will provide advice and
art historical expertise to The Dictionary of British
and Irish Furniture Makers Online primarily via its
Editorial Panel:
Lisa White, Hon. Editorial Secretary
Wolf Burchard
Olivia Fryman
Simon Swynfen Jervis
Sarah Medlam
Sir Hugh Roberts
Christopher Rowell
The Institute of Historical Research, in the
School of Advanced Study, University of London,
was founded in 1921 and exists to promote and
facilitate research as the UKs national centre for
history. Website: www.history.ac.uk. It has a
renowned library and hosts specialist research
centres, including the Victoria County History
and the Centre for Metropolitan History. The
Institute has particular expertise in digitisation
and the creation of online resources for historians.
Its Director is Professor Lawrence Goldman and
the Director of the Centre for Metropolitan
History, which is the home of this project, is
Professor Matthew Davies. The Centre for
Metropolitan History is a natural partner for the
Furniture History Society because its historical
interest in furniture makers is complementary:
the evidence provided by the history of furniture
for social, economic, regional and metropolitan
history. This research interest is matched by
technical expertise in the creation and
maintenance of databases. Even before the project
has been launched there is already a close
relationship between the FHS and the IHR and a
determination to make things happen. To lead the
project within the Centre for Metropolitan
History, a Junior Research Fellow will be
appointed, who will probably be a recent PhD
student in a relevant area of study. The new
appointee will work closely with Dr. Mark Merry,
a specialist in digital history, under the
supervision of Professor Matthew Davies,
Director of the Centre for Metropolitan History.
Professor Davies and the Chairman of the
Furniture History Society will be in overall
control of the development of the Dictionary of
British Furniture Makers Online.
Christopher Rowell,
Chairman, The Furniture History Society
Professor Matthew Davies,
Director of the Centre for Metropolitan History,
The Institute of Historical Research,
University of London