Alex has spent a lifetime in the sewing industry and is considered one of the foremost experts of pioneering machines and their inventors. He has written extensively for trade magazines, radio, television, books and publications world wide.

William Taylor 1840-?
 

The William Taylor Sewing Machine of 1873

Taylor sewing machine circa 1873

Very little is known about this beautiful machine it is as rare as hens teeth. What we do know is that William Taylor from East Gate, Driffield, East Riding, East Yorkshire, patented this remarkable machine around 1873. William Taylor was a banker's clerk but was also a superb designer. He was granted patent No 37005 and must have been delighted to have patented a complete machine that was unique in design.

What a brilliant designer and engineer was doing hiding in a bank in the centre of this little East Riding town is an enigma that has been lost in the mists of time.

William Taylor launched his bid on the sewing machine industry and the Taylor Sewing Machine Company Ltd was formed. The company that made this superb machine had several shareholders and just a few rumours have survived.

It is believed that the company first started manufacturing the machines in a small engineering foundry in Driffield in the early part of the 1870's. It is possible that his first machine was a much smaller and simpler chain stitch machine as seen here. Unfortunately there is no information that I can find on this model and as he gave sewing lessons to some of his customers he may have just been sitting at a machine in a studio?

His full-size lock stitch machine proudly boasts his name, W. Taylor Patent, across the top arm and patents on the needleplate and has a wonderful tensioning device for perfect stitching. In Denmark the patent was filed by Petersen in Jutland.

The stunning looks, engineering and unique features made this machine stand out from the crowd and in 1878 at the first African International Exhibition in Cape Town, South Africa, it took the prestigious Exhibition Medal for outstanding performance and design.  There is a possibility of another medal in 1881 the year the company collapsed. Amazingly there are still regular textile and machinery exhibitions near there today. The South African International Trade Exhibition or SAITEX is said to be the best trade exhibition in Africa.

The cross belt was one of Williams ideas to allow the machine to turn in the correct direction. This led to another unusual adaptation allowing the needle to be inserted the wrong way and threading of the machine was right to left instead of the usual way.

However around 1879 the British Company collapsed due to poor marketing. The machine was expensive to produce and heavy compared to some of its poorer counterparts like James Weir's 55 shilling machine. Just the fine mahogany box and range of attachments, hemmers, binders and folders that came as standard with the machine cost as much as a cheaper, complete, machine.

However, unlike so many machines of the era, it made a superb smooth and high quality stitch with an elliptical moving shuttle. It was the Rolls Royce of its day.

The elliptical shuttle of the Taylor sewing machine.
Note the timing position of the needle and shuttle, this has to be exact for a perfect stitch!

In a last ditch attempt to save his invention William Taylor transferred the machinery, specialized tooling, castings and parts, at considerable cost, to Hamburg in Germany, no small feat in the 1870's. The idea was to continue manufacture with cheaper overheads and running costs.

Here the factory started to produce the machine but once more but the heavy cost of setting up the new plant and machinery proved just too much. Although the machine was a success in the domestic market with its near perfect stitching through almost any material, they could not cover the huge expenses incurred and pay the shareholders quickly enough.

This finally led to the collapse of the company in 1881 and one of the most sought after machines of the 19th century disappeared.

There are only a handful of the W. Taylor Cross-belt machines still around in the odd museum and private collection and they rarely surface for sale.

The Victorian sewing machine pioneer and inventor William Newton-Wilson of London said that in his opinion the Taylor Cross-belt hand machine was of clumsy appearance! Hey what did he know... Style is a matter of taste. Also he may not have seen the slightly later Hamburg model which had the same base but a beautiful and ornate top casting, different hand wheel, winder and tensioner.

The early Taylor sewing machines had a clumsy harsh base not like the later models

In my opinion I would class the Taylor machine as one of the most impressive machines of the era and the superb prices the machines realise when they do occasionally come up for sale reflect this.

The Taylor Cross-belt sewing machine

The fabulous and rare W. Taylor cross-belt sewing machine of 1873

Fancy a good read: Ena Wilf  & The One-Armed Machinist

A brilliant slice of 1940's life: Spies & Spitfires

Alex's stories are now available to keep. Click on the picture for more information.

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