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<DIV>As a new member of this group I obviously have looked back through the=
=20
archive to see if anything interesting has been written. My eyes fell=
on=20
the messages about the Harrisons. Bearing in mind this is a site for =
those=20
interested in bell history, I would like to correct a few misconceptions an=
d=20
slurs. First of all the Harrison dynasty did not start and finish with Jame=
s=20
3.<BR>James 1 of Barrow on Humber the bellhanger, brother of John of Chrono=
meter=20
fame, mostly used Lester & Pack bells, However towards the end of his l=
ife=20
he cast a number of bells, notably six for Hawkshead and in 1766 six for Ma=
sham,=20
of these the fifth has been replaced at Hawkshead I believe by Taylors and =
the=20
treble at Masham.<BR>He was followed by James 2 who did not follow the busi=
ness=20
and Henry who probably cast the bells attributed to his father. Henry cast =
a=20
five at Wath augmented by Shaws in 1901 of these I think two remain the oth=
ers=20
been recast by Warners.<BR>We then come to James 3 of Barton who did a lot =
to=20
destroy the reputation of the Harrisons. His most notable casting being =
220;The=20
Major” at Newcastle and the “interesting” ring at Castlet=
on, he advocated the=20
squat profile to give a deeper note for less metal. He was a talented clock=
maker=20
he together with James 4 invented an improved detached escapement and an=20
expanding fly which both received medals from “The Society for the pr=
omotion of=20
Arts” The improved detached escapement was the first true gravi=
ty=20
escapement. <BR>Lastly the Harrisons did not cast all their bells to the sq=
uat=20
profile advocated by James 3 The bells here at Masham are of conventional=20
profile similar to a Lester & Pack and do NOT sound “Awfull”=
; remember listen=20
to the bells not people you meet in pubs. They are a fine mellow old style =
ring.=20
So David if you want to be taken seriously as a bell historian remember fac=
ts=20
are more important than hearsay and fiction.<BR>Yours Ian=20
Johnson</DIV></BODY></HTML>