Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Vice, 1800s
A wheelwright’s spoke vice was used to hold the wheel hub firmly while the spokes were hammered into the wheel hub, then the spokes would be joined to the wooden wheel felloe before finally the metal flat tyre, or later the rubber tyre, would be attached to the felloe.
A wheelwright’s spoke vice would have been very necessary for blacksmiths circa 1800s-1920s as it would have been used in the manufacture and repair of carts, wagons, coaches and other horse-drawn vehicles.
This wheelwright’s spoke vice was once used by Harry Goodall of H. Goodall & Sons Pty. Ltd. corner of McKinnon and High Streets, Terang. Victoria.
Henry Goodall & Sons
Henry Goodall (1870-1936) was proprietor of garages as H. Goodall & Sons Pty. Ltd., at both Terang (McKinnon and High Streets) and Mortlake (Dunlop Street). His business was in operation in at least in 1916 and perhaps well before, considering the date of the tyre bender and its use for wagons with wooden wheels. It was still in operation in 1953, chasing up debtors in Mount Gambier Court.
Amongst the employees of H. Goodall & Sons Pty. Ltd. was Ernie Entwistle, a blacksmith (a soldier who died in 1916) and Alfred Hodgetts, radio expert (killed in a fatal accident in 1943, when he was in his early 30s).
Henry Goodall was involved in the community as a Justice of Peace, a deputy coroner, President of the Mortlake Hospital, trustee of the Soldiers’ Memorial Hall, and as a prominent Freemason. He and his wife had two sons (Charles and John) and one daughter (Mrs. Chas. Newton, of Skipton).
The wheelwright’s spoke vice is significant as it demonstrates how blacksmiths or wheelwrights could make new metal rims for wagon wheels for carts, wagons, stage coaches and carriages over a 135 years ago. The machine is a part of our social history as it demonstrates part of the process of making wagon wheels, which played an important part in aiding the continuation of daily transport needs that people had at the time, such as farming, personal transport and commercial activities.
The tool is locally significant as it was used by a local company in Terang and Mortlake in their blacksmith, wheelwright and garage business.
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