albert monkhouse cue maker oldham

[beegal]

can anyone tell me about the above as i have just aquired a maple 58inch 17oz cue machine spliced but cant find anything about the manufacturer

[100-uper]

I don't know a great deal about Albert Monkhouse other than having seen a number of cue and billiard table plates which carry his name. He was the son of Tom Monkhouse, a fairly famous professional billiard player, who was at one time the Professional Champion of Oldham. The elder Monkhouse is perhaps best known for giving Tom Reece his first serious tests before the latter graduated to big-time billiards.

Albert died in 1951 aged 67, and is said to have started "in the billiards trade" after leaving school. One of his cues is inscribed "'Albert Monkhouse, Oldham, Established over 60 years," which suggest that he left school and set up in business at about six years old! More likely, his father was doing a bit of manufacturing and he was first employed in this capacity around 1898, although I have no record of this, so it must have been fairly low-key production. His father lived until about 1949, so when the business actually started trading as "Albert Monkhouse" I have no real idea, but would guess in the 1930's. The only address I have for his premises is: 27 St. Domingo Street, Oldham, but can't put any exact dates on this.

I believe the business may have continued after Albert's death as I have seen a cue with his plate which also has a fibre ferrule, which I would normally associate with the 1970's. I have also seen a cue plate inscribed "Merrall + Monkhouse" The Merrall mentioned was F. Merrall & Co. (Manchester), so at some point these companies must have become combined, and I would guess after his death rather than before, but again, I can suggest no dates.

I would also be very interested in some more information on this manufacturer, also if anyone has seen a "Tom Monkhouse" cue!

[beegal]

Thanks For The Info On Albert Monkhouse Very Useful

[dejaymarkymark]

Monkhouse cue

Hi Beegal
I am from Oldham and i remember Monkhouse´s shop on West street. His cues where very popular in and around Oldham in the 70,s and 80,s. The shop closed down sometime in the early to mid 80s if i remember rightly but i was young at the time and hadnt taken up snooker by then. I vaguely remember going in his sports shop as it wasnt just snooker but other sports equipment as well.

Regards

Mark Pollitt

[sharpeye72]

my cue

I have a one peice cue with a makers badge with an L.Monkhouse who I am informed is something to do with albert monkhouse.
I have been searching for info about my cue, if anyone has any it would be of great interest to me.

cheers
ian

[gumusluk]

I have just joined the forum and noticed some threads regarding Merralls and Monkhouses.

As my Father owned both of these companies, I can probably provide some more information.

My Father says that he (and his father) bought Monkhouses in 1966. The two companies never officially joined but he had some cue plates made showing the two company names in the 70's.

When my Grandfather bought Merralls, I understand that it became a limited company with Joe Davis being part of the business. Joe was later bought out.

My Father is a wealth of information regarding Billiards and Snooker in the "old days", if there are any specific questions, I am sure he will be able to remember (even though he is 90 this year!).

John (Hughes).