Holbrook bells and bellfoundries
George Holbrook was perhaps the third major bellfounder in America, after Aaron Hobart and Paul Revere. This page provides some information about Holbrook's work and Holbrook bells, organized as follows:- Extant Holbrook bells, intermingled with an outline of the foundry history
- Links to pages about Holbrook and his work (i.e., history)
Extant bells by George Holbrook
This section presents links to Webpages which mention bells cast by George Holbrook and his descendants. They are listed in approximate chronological order, and grouped according to the changes in the name, the location and/or the proprietorship of the business. (There are gaps in the dates because the chronology given here is based mainly on the inscriptions of dated surviving Holbrook bells.) Actual inscriptions are shown in boldface type when known.Major George Holbrook, Brookfield, Massachusetts, 1797-1810
Born in 1767, George Holbrook was apprenticed to Paul Revere to learn the machinist's and clockmaker's trades. That apprenticeship would long since have been completed by the time Revere cast his first bell, in 1792. Since it was not until 1797 that Holbrook set up an establishment of his own, in this town, it seems safe to presume that he learned the art of casting bells by returning to Revere's employ after earning his rank in the Revolutionary War.- (A few bells survive from this period; none are on the Web yet.)
Major George Holbrook, Medway, Massachusetts, 1816-1820
Holbrook left Brookfield after financial reverses, setling in East Medway after winning a contract to cast a bell for the new meeting house there in 1816.- (A few bells survive from this period; none are on the Web yet.)
George H. Holbrook, Medway, Massachusetts, 1820-1833
Major Holbrook's son, George Handel Holbrook (later Col. Holbrook), took over the bellfoundry business from his father in 1820, and carried it on until shortly before his death in 1875.- GEO H HOLBROOK MEDWAY MASS 1822, Chepachet Meeting House and Free Will Baptist Church, Chepachet, RI. The Website of the church and meetinghouse has an entire well-illustrated page devoted to the history of the acquisition and use of this bell, with an extensive history of the Holbrooks' bellfounding activities.
- By George Handel Holbrook, Medway, Mass. 1828., First Congregational Church, North Attleborough, MA
- 1828 (two bells), Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, CA (follow the tour for more views)
- cast in 1831 by George H. Holbrook in Medway., Federated Church, Orleans, MA.
- George H. Holbrook, 1832, Church on the Common, Brattleboro, MA.
- George H. Holbrook, 1833, Brown University, Providence, RI.
George H. Holbrook, East Medway, Massachusetts, 1834-1859
East Medway was part of the town of Medway. It's not clear why (or precisely when) the Holbrook foundry began using the name East Medway instead of simply Medway on its bells.- 1834, Second Congregational Church, Medway, MA (replacing a Revere bell from about 1814)
- 1839, News article on a bell now at Rockport (MA) High School
- 1842, Lisbon Methodist Church, clock bell.
George H. Holbrook & Son, East Medway, Massachusetts, 1865-1875
- (A few bells survive from this period; none are on the Web yet.)
East Medway was incorporated into the town of Millis in 1885. The town Town Website formerly had a history of the Holbrook factories and bells, but it seems to have disappeared (perhaps by accident).
General historical links
A National List of Holbrook Bells (with sources but not links)These Weblinks lead to pages which put Holbrook's bellfounding into the context of the rest of his life.
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This page was created 2002/09/01 and last revised on 2023/12/02.
Please send comments or questions about this page to csz_stl@swbell.net.