Gillows of Lancaster and London

Gillows furniture is referred to by Thackeray and the first Lord Lytton, and in one of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas.

In 1728 Robert Gillow began trading in Lancaster as a joiner, builder, house carpenter, furniture maker and overseas merchant.

[8] Gillows notably made heavy use of mahogany wood, which is indigenous to the Americas, from the early 1730s.

[7] In the early 1740s, Gillow owned a twelfth share of the ship Briget, which he partially used to import mahogany from the West Indies.

[12] In 1769 and 1770, a shop at 176 Oxford Street, London, was sent up by the brothers' cousin, Thomas Gillow (1736–1779), to sell their furniture.

The company won commissions to furnish and decorate public buildings in Australia, South Africa, India, Russia, Germany, France and the United States.

It provided furniture for aristocratic houses, such as Tatton Hall, where some 150 extant pieces complement the work of the architect Lewis William Wyatt.

[19] Waring and Gillow marked their work using a brass plate instead of stamping the piece: in the merger they lost their reputation for quality.

The company survived by fitting out luxury liners until health and safety concerns reduced the use of wood on board ship.

The archive includes their sketches and detailed estimates written in a phonetic north country English.