Born in Bolton during 1749, John Barry married Sarah Lee in 1811 and he set up shop in Ashburner Street from 1818 to 1824 and then traded as a clockmaker from Newport St in 1841. Prior to that John had been working in a shop at Radcliffe Bridge, which was written Ratcliff, at the time both on his clocks and on his daughter Ann’s Birth in 1814.
A long case clock by John Barry Ratcliffe
Ashburner Street in Bolton
An early 19th century mahogany longcase clock, the
square enamelled dial set with Roman numerals and
five-minute track, with two smaller subsidiary dials,
one for seconds, the other for date, two winding
holes flanked by painted garden birds, garden flowers
to each corner, dial marked ‘Barry, Bolton’ (probably
John), in mahogany case with
brass embellished swan neck top, flat fluted columns
to hood and water fluter columns to body, shaped
door, height approx 215cm.
There is some evidence that John senior dies in 1820, and that following that his son John continued his work, but that does seem unlikely on the basis of the available records to date. (Research continues)