Listed as being from Heaton in Bolton, in 1712 he applied to the court to move to Wigan.
In his earlier rejected petition he spells his name Aspinall, but in other instances it is given Aspinwall. He describes himself as a clockmaker ”being a young man, Unmarryed, and of considerable Visible Estate.”
In his successful petition was marked, “Wee admitt him a Freeman of this Corporation paying five pounds in ten dayes to Baylif Langshawe and Bayliff Mather.”
He paid his £5 and was duly sworn. It is all the more surprising, there fore, that he figures in the Corporation records for a bare half-dozen years, his last appearance being at Michaelmas, 1717, when he is appointed for the second time to serve for one year as “ Gatewaiter ” for the Market Place.
His clocks are marked as James Aspinall de Wigan.
Awaiting Picture: