Mark Widdows (1818-1889)
Who was Mark Widdows?
Mark Widdows was born in December 1818, in the area sometimes known as “Norwich over the Water” – an area full of medieval housing in courts and yards, and at this time the centre of the weaving industry, for which Norwich was a renowned centre. Handloom weaving was a family trade, which the Widdows family had followed for generations, and was a job which carried out at home. Mark married Frances ‘Fanny’ Thurston in 1835, when they were both aged just 16 and by 1841, when they were living with his parents in Dial Yard, they had two young children.
However, Mark then changed trade and by 1844, he became a cabinet maker, having been admitted as a hereditary Freeman of Norwich in that year and by 1851 he was applying his woodworking skills to making instruments.
He combined his various trades with being a publican from at least 1845 to 1859, as evidenced in various trade directories of the time:
| Year | Address | Occupation / description |
| 1845 | Lamb Inn, 51 Oak St, Coslany | Licensee |
| 1851 | Lamb Inn | Licensee and musical instrument maker |
| 1854 | Lamb Inn | Widdows was the last known licensee of this pub, leaving sometime before 1856. |
| 1856 | Arabian Horse, 70 Oak St, Coslany | Licensee |
| 1858-9 | Shoulder of Mutton, St Andrew’s Hill | Licensee |
| 1861 | Grapes Inn, Colegate St, Coslany | Cabinet maker (his son-in-law is listed as the licensee) |
Mark Widdows’ only appearances in the Norwich newspapers all stem from this period when he was running pubs, and all involve cases of assault, with the accusations flying in both directions. From a detailed report in the Norfolk News (19 September 1857) you get the distinct impression that the magistrates were fed up of these small arguments breaking out into fights. On this occasion, Widdows accused a “solicitor” of assaulting him, but it sounds just as likely to have been the other way round, as the man was trying to serve a writ on Widdows – the case was dismissed.
By 1864 Mark Widdows had put the pub trade behind him and had branched out into building boats from new premises on Ferry Lane, King Street, by the river Wensum, where he lived for the rest of his life.
Not only did he build and fit boats, but he also hired them out to day trippers, as evidenced in a 2004 book called ‘The Trowse Triangle’ published by the Norwich Rivers Heritage group, from which the following quote is taken: ‘Our boat has been booked since last Saturday week from the old schemer Thompson’s at the Ferry, and I don’t think he has one more to let. Charley Wright has not one left; though you might get something at Widdows.’
By 1881, although still living in Ferry Yard, his occupation was given as “musician” – frustratingly, this is the one of only two references to him playing an instrument himself (the other is from his daughter’s marriage record in 1853), and it’s not known what instrument/s he played, or how exactly he made his living from playing music.
Mark Widdows’ family had been in Norwich since at least 1698, so there were quite a few branches of the family, and at least one other contemporary relative was well known for their musical abilities: Charles Widdows (1822-1904) had a long involvement in music-making, operating for over forty years from the City Arms on St Andrew’s Plain, where he was also the publican. A long and detailed obituary was printed in the Eastern Evening News, citing his huge influence on music locally, especially with brass bands: “When music was supposed by both parties to be an indispensable adjunct to Parliamentary and Municipal elections, Mr [Charles] Widdows had the provision of the various bands subscribed for on his side, and on one occasion he was responsible for eleven of them engaged at one contest.” He also led the Police Band and was involved with army volunteer bands.
Mark and his wife both died in 1889, Mark on 25th June, when his daughter Fanny had come up from London to help look after him – he was by then suffering with gangrene. Mark and his wife had had a son (another Mark) but he seems to have died young, his daughter Fanny was living in London with her husband, a bricklayer, and a family of her own, and although in 1881 his unmarried 30 year old daughter Mary Ann was living with them, I can find no further trace of her. So it seems that there was no-one in the next generation to take Mark Widdows’ business into the future.
Dulcimers made by Mark Widdows
Billy Bennington always said Widdows’ dulcimers were head and shoulders above any others he had seen in his seventy years of playing the instrument. Having now seen a number of these and owned one for ten years or so, I would certainly concur with Billy’s opinion. They are beautifully made and the one I have holds its tuning remarkably for a 150 year-old instrument.
There are five Widdows dulcimers identified so far, all of which are marked with Widdows’ name, and all superb examples of the East Anglian dulcimer style.
All are in private hands and for two of them, both of which were found and remain in the eastern counties, we know a lot about the historic owners and players:
Henry Edwards‘ dulcimer (Widdows no. 1) would have quite a story to tell if it could speak, as it travelled to the USA during the First World War period.
Herbert Sadd‘s dulcimer (Widdows no. 2) was owned by a dulcimer player talked about by Billy Bennington, who played a tune he called Herbert Sadd’s Schottische.
Both Henry Edwards and Herbert Sadd were born in the early 1860s and neither were in well-paid jobs. I suspect both instruments would have been bought (and therefore probably made) in the 1880s, when the two owners would have been established enough in their trades and before the financial responsibilities of marriage, and when Mark Widdows was in his sixties. It is of course possible that the instruments were made earlier than that and the two owners bought them second-hand.
Full set of photos and more about these and other dulcimers made by Mark Widdows.
It’s quite possible that Mark Widdows made other instruments apart from dulcimers – perhaps one day something else with his name on it will turn up! It also fascinated me to think that in his latter years he may well have known Alexander Woods who ran the music shop in Lower Goat Lane selling dulcimers – maybe they were even ones made by Mark Widdows himself. See the Woods’ Music Shop page for more information about the dulcimer tuning charts supplied by Woods.
With thanks to John Blackburn from Norwich, whose wife is related to the Widdows, and who got in contact with some family background when he read an article in the Eastern Daily Press which we had written in 2005 – until that point we knew little but the name. The online version of that article also reached Tony Widdows in Australia who provided further information – and these people of course didn’t know until that point what instrument their relative had been making!
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