George Peddle 'Windsor' style chairs manufactured in Tasmania, late 19th and early 20th century

George Peddle was a skilled chairmaker who operated in Tasmania in the late 19th and early 20th century. He is known for producing high-quality Windsor-style chairs that were popular throughout the region.

Windsor chairs are a type of wooden chair characterized by their spindle back and armrests, as well as their solid, often splayed legs. They originated in England in the early 18th century and quickly became popular throughout the British Empire.

Peddle's Windsor chairs were particularly well-crafted, featuring carefully turned spindles and legs, and often incorporating decorative carving and other ornamental details. Many of his more... chairs were made from Tasmanian blackwood, a dense and durable hardwood that was abundant in the region at the time.

Peddle's chairs are considered important examples of Australian furniture design from the late 19th and early 20th century. less...

The "Peddle" chair is unique to Tasmania, named after their maker, Geoge Peddle.

George Peddle came to Australia in 1884, aged 29 from the centre of chair-making in England, High Wycombe. He arrived in Hobart and found employment at Risby's Furniture Factory. After about four years he moved to Launcestion in northern Tasmania and set up a back room workshop in the Windmill Hill area. He moved his workshop to Launceston four years later and worked there until 1894.

His chairs were always made of blackwood, and in the style of the English Windsor chair with which he more... would have been familiar before he emigrated to Australia. As well as the conventional upright chairs, he also made armchairs and rocking chairs.

In 1895 he was joined by his brother in law, Harry Hearn, and they continued the craft in the North East town of Nabowla near Devonport.

Around 1900 he won a contract from the Tasmanian railways to supply chairs and Peddle chairs become a common sight on the railway stations around Tasmania.

George Peddle died in 1933. less...