Family silver goes under the hammer

The longcase clock, made in Oldham by J. Oakes, and part of the sale of contents of Kinnerton Lodge

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Oldham history is woven into the sale of contents of a Regency mansion house, once owned by a local mill magnate, at an auction this month.

Furniture, clocks, pictures, silver, porcelain and glass from Kinnerton Lodge, Chester, will be sold sold by auctioneers Wright Manley on Thursday June 25.

But behind the sale is the story of a wealthy cotton spinning family from Oldham, and a descendant who married her German prisoner of war sweetheart.

Wenda Collinge was the grand-daughter of wealthy Lancashire cotton spinning industrialist James Collinge, a former Mayor of Oldham (1850-52) and founder of one of the town’s biggest spinning mills.

Kinnerton Lodge, a Grade II listed building, was described as a “house and pleasure gardens” rather than a working farm, and was bought by James Collinge in 1855, along with a large estate with several farms and 146 acres of farmland.

The Cheshire house was his country retreat — and while staying there during the Second World War Wenda met German infantryman Erich Fischer at a party organised for the POWs interned at Tarporley.

After his release Erich and Wenda became close and Erich moved to Kinnerton Lodge to help Wenda and her mother run the 420-acre estate. It was a full-time job and Erich was quickly accepted by Wenda’s social circle, enjoying the parties and charitable work at Kinnerton Lodge.

They were devoted to their German shepherd dogs and to each other, eventually becoming Mr and Mrs Fischer-Collinge in 1963.

Wenda died in 2006, aged 92, and Erich died in July last year.

The seven-bedroomed house, coach house, stables, lake and 16-acre estate have already been sold.

Other heirlooms include a longcase clock harking back to the family’s Oldham roots.

The early 19th century inlaid mahogany clock has an arched, painted dial signed by the maker J. Oakes, Oldham, painted with gentleman and his companion in a country landscape, and female figures representing the four seasons.




Mill was first to have power looms



James Collinge joined with John Lancashire to build Commercial Mills in Glodwick Road. They were the first to have power looms in Oldham, and in 1841 they had a workforce of 968, the largest in Lancashire.



Collinge was the second Mayor of the County Borough of Oldham, and died in 1895 in Cheshire, leaving £197,000. The mill ceased production in 1932, and is now demolished.