Quigley’s Leather Shop (or, Works), a place I mentioned in a recent column, existed for many years at the head of Beaufort St. (east off Wharncliffe, north of Oxford) inside Saunby Mill beside the Thames River.
[“This is my $5 belt (1969) from Quigley’s”: GH]
I’ve been told the Mill burned down in the 1980s by the daughter of one of the brothers who worked there, and who were following in their father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. This from a recent email:
"An old acquaintance sent me your article on Quigley Leathers with Dan Russo's letter. My name is Mary Anne Quigley Lenio. Harry Quigley was my father. The article sure brought back memories. Now my father along with his brothers Mal and Jack indeed took over the family business started by my grandfather Harry Quigley. He had passed away by the time I was born in 1953. My father Harry, whom I suspect worked with Chuck Russo (Dan’s father), branched off and started Quigley Leather products in the late 1950's and early 1960's... Mal and Jack never left the tannery. It burned down in the 1980's and both Jack and Mal died not long after..I really think it broke their hearts... "
I thanked Mary Anne for her email - then saved it to a growing file - and mentioned that a reproduction of a painting of Saunby’s Mill by Londoner Ken Jackson was for sale on Kijiji. I checked re the sale yesterday, and someone had just put a bid on it! Today, the ad is gone.
Stink. I was thinking about buying the reproduction myself. If I find that Mary Anne bought it I’ll have to say, “Me and my big mouth!”
***
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2 comments:
When we emigrated from the USA in 1970, I worked on Saturdays cleaning 'the shop' as we called it. Both my uncles, Jack and Mal Quigley were proprietors (Harry, another brother and partner died in 1964). My grandfather, Thomas Henry Quigley, founded Quigley Welting in the heart of the Depression. QW, was famous throughout Canada and the USA for making a variety of finished leather products ie Sam Brown belts for various Police Agencies. They branched into custom retailing in the mid 1960's and made their mark with the growing counterculture ie hippies, with fringed leather wrist bands, purses and the fashionable wide belts for jeans (such as the one you've displayed)
Hi Eddie,
Thank you for your comment, another entry for my Quigley File. Barely a hint of the old Quigley building/Saunders Mill remains beside the Thames R. here in London, Ont. A few locals likely have a belt such as mine ($5 was a good price, even in 1969) and I met a woman in her 90s w the thinner female version of my belt. Hopefully a rare print of the mill was purchased by a family member after I gave out information about its sale.
I notice the time stamp on your comment, i.e., 1:53 AM. I picture you firing it off after a long day at work, perhaps while you're waiting for another batch of craft beer to settle down. I always like hearing from people who love or are a significant part of the growing craft beer scene. If my younger son and I do not go to Scotland in the fall (re Combined Operations, WW2 organization) we will head your way. Your seasonal Miraculous IPA is right up our alley. Thanks again for your comment. Cheers, Gord Harrison
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