A hall bench made from the timbers of H.M.S. Foudroyant, 1897

A hall bench made from the timbers of H.M.S. Foudroyant, 1897 This ornate oak hall bench is by Goodall, Lamb and Heighway.  It is of rectangular form with a solid back surmounted by a broken pediment enclosing a copper roundel showing Foudroyant being beached by heavy seas at Blackpool.  The solid base has a hinged seat and two scroll arms.  The back has ‘1798 Foudroyant 1897’ above three panels showing lozenges showing lifebuoys or a wheel and capstan, all with oak leaf and acorn spandrels.  The base with three further panels carved with foliate designs.  English, 1897.

HMS Foudroyant (meaning ‘lightning’) was the 80-gun flagship of Admiral Lord Nelson from 1799-1801.  Although a relatively short command, this was the period when he was involved with the King and Queen of the Two Sicilies against the French and when he met Emma, Lady Hamilton.  The Foudroyant later served in many capacities, including four years in Rio de Janeiro.  In 1892 she was due to be broken up, but instead was saved and restored at considerable cost to the Nation.  In an attempt to recoup some of this expense, she toured the country as a maritime attraction.  On 16th June 1897, while at Blackpool, she was wrecked by a hurricane-force gale.  Enterprising companies quickly created souvenirs from oak and copper salvaged from the hulk which lay on the beach for a considerable time.  

Goodall, Lamb & Heighway were manufacturers of high-quality furniture, upholsterers and carpet warehousemen in Manchester.  The company was formed in 1899 by the merger of three independent cabinet making businesses; E. Goodall & Co., Heighway & Co. and James Lamb.  The firm was situated at 13-17 King Street and 16 Dalton Street in Manchester and continued trading at least into the 1950s.  A newspaper advertisement from 1901 claims ‘Goodall, Lamb & Heighway have a wonderful show of Works of Art and furniture reproduced from Historic Examples in English Oak and Copper salved from the Wreck of the “Foudroyant”’.