gland: Newcastle-upon- Tyne-Yorkshire clockmakers: Halifax and the district-Liverpool

amples by those of the provinces. In the present chapter an attempt is made to fill a hiatus in this respect, and by the kindness of those inter

ers, but they had their origin and ofte

hip there. Henry Jones, who was the pupil of Edward East, was the son of a vicar at Southampton. Charles II had a clock made by him. Thomas Mudge was the son of a schoolmaster and was born at Exeter in 1715. Another Exeter man was Jacob Lovelace, who took over thirty years to construct a remarkable clock. The celebrated John Harrison was the son of a carpenter on an estate at Pontefract. It was he who competed for the Government gratuity offered for

enticed to his father, a watchmaker there. Arnold continued what Harrison had begun in the chronometer. We must not exclude the great Dr. Hooke, who was

it to disconcert collectors of examples of local crafts. Of course, it is a statement that cannot be proved, nor can it be disproved. Presumably a clockmaker in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when clockmaking was something more than selling or mending clocks that other people made, did not deliberately set up business and, in a small town where secrecy was impossible, make a practice of putting his name on work he did not execute. That he did not make all the parts himself is admitted. Had he done so,

fied in putting his own name to the clock in its new state. The owner would have had something to say to this interchange of names had there not been some

is far more likely that such a clock is of local make, and that being in a remote part it was not easy to get anyone to paint his name on the dial or engrave it. Had he had it made to order

the taxation of clocks and watches, the following places s

Prescot (a few miles from Liverpool) and Coventry represented the watch industry. We may therefore fa

for it is on record that Thomas Bewick, the wood-engraver, was apprenticed to Ralph Beilby, an engraver at Newcastle, on 1st October 1767 for seven years. His master's business lay in engraving crests and initials on watch seals, teaspoons, sugar-tongs, and other pieces of plate, and the numerals and ornaments on clock dials, together with the maker's name. Here, then, w

ndness of C. Leo Reid, Esq., of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and by the permission of the proprietors of the Newcast

nless otherwise stated. The li

y (Hexham

on (Gateshe

on (Gateshead

nd Hawth

rry (Gates

Bell,

r-le-Street), 1812;

erick,

Covent

atherstone

Fenton

n, 1833 (cloc

on,

eaves,

reaves,

rrison,

awthor

ron,

idspet

chinso

Kirkup

dgard,

hall (Wolsin

r (Gateshe

den, 1

exham)

eacock

awson,

awson

n Ker Reid

hyard, close to work

and Son

ons, 1845 to

ers (Gates

(Sandgate

Smoul

Stockel

l and Stu

Stockel

d Strach

ckle, sen.

ckle, jun.

ield (Gates

ield (Lame

d,

Watson,

ey (Berwick-on-

therston

lson, 1

d Youn

e found on clocks by S. Boverick, William Coventry, William Fenton, Gibson, John Hawthorn, John Wilson, and Christian K. Reid; the latter maker certainly knew

orn at Sowerby in 1669. The name of Ogden is found on many Yorkshire clocks. Thomas Ogden came to Halifax; although the Ogdens seem to have been a Quaker family, one of his clocks is in the Unitarian Chapel vestry. The Ogden type of dial with the phases of the moon,

s a tombstone to the memory of

am some years ago there were some Mason clocks on exhibition, and there were eight generations of Masons

ocks with marquetry cases. One bore

rosperous to issue several tons of halfpenny copper tokens in 1793. By the courtes

ENNY,

l distress was felt. Banks issued notes in excess of their capital. Gold was scarce, and the Bank of England restri

. It is reported that this latter Thomas Lister travelled by coach from Halifax to London to regulate and k

CASE

rt Chippinda

EMENT

twork and maker'

urgeon-Major W. S

E EIGHT-

Weatherilt

, 17

rtesy of George H.

ials a noticeable feature is the absence of the hour circle as being separate from the

ker, made long-case clocks sim

clock in oak case with brass square dial and moon and date lunettes. Titus Banc

died in 1750, made a fine long-c

another maker of fine clocks. A fine exa

rd Midgley, 1720-40, of Halifax, made a number of clocks still treasured locally. Samuel

orkshire makers are worthy of considerable attention by connoisseurs as having a lineage extending back into the periods when clockmaking was at

in 1907 a collection of clocks and watches was made to illustrate the art of the clockmaker in that part of the country. By the kindnes

rleton, 1797, with the Government stamp indicating that the tax of a guinea had been paid. This was in 1797, the first and only year when a tax on watches and clocks was levied. One remembers the fine portrait of Colonel Tarleton in uni

rns by his brother ploughmen of Air (sic) March 9, 1785." Among other makers at Liverpool whose names are found on watches are Fair-clough (about 1800), Edmo

E EIGHT-

Lassell (Toxteth

abou

rtesy of George H.

AHOGANY EIG

Higginbotham

in door is a no

A. Bromley Sande

"Time is valuable"), Jno. Weatherilt. This clock is illustrated (p. 221). It indicates by the character of its marquetry in the panel of the door and in the base that it belongs to the second period of marquetry contemporary with the influence of Sheraton. In the lunette the phases of the moon are shown. The date of this is about 1780 to 1785. Another clock, illustrated

of Life's Decay," with brass face, lunar movement, and monthly dial with indicator. (This style of dial is a feature of a Shropshire clock illustrated p. 249.) Brown, Liverpool, is found on a mahogany long-case cl

; Archibald Coats (Wigan), 1780; Barr (Bolton), 1790; James Barlow (Oldham), 1775; Be

and Russell, of Carlisle, are often found on grandfather

ng the door decorated with panel in Gothic style, two examples are illustrated (p. 227), o

AHOGANY EIG

(Northwich, C

in door is a no

Messrs. A. B.

E EIGHT-

s of month. Oak case

ll (Birmingham).

ession o

y in London. Other makers are Wilson (Warwick), 1709; John Whitehurst (Derby), 1785-a fine long-case clock by this maker is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; W. Francis (Birmingham), and Thomas Wall (Birmingham), 1798. An exam

e dial; outer case of tortoiseshell, with silver mounts). The name of Hen. Page, Upper Broughton (Notts), is found on a brass clock, and John Kirk was a maker at Epperstone and Skegby before he came to London in 1677 and was admitted as a member of the Clockmakers' Co

Lincoln), No. 61, and a watch with gold case with chased repoussé figur

it is to be hoped that some painstaking horologists will amplif

n the famous long-case clock in the Pump Room at Bath. But apart from this incidental connection of the "father of English watchmaking" with the provinces, there stands Joseph Knibb, of Oxon, who was admitted to the Clockmakers' Company of London in 1677. He worked in L

as being equal, as his employment at the Court shows, to the leading London makers of his day. In the chapter on Marquetry, p. 79, wil

E EIGHT-

ed in m

Knibb (Oxon).

SH MAHOGANY LO

Chinese style of Chippendale.

ckey (War

essrs. D. Sherrat

the battle of the Boyne, and James, the last of the Stuarts, fled into France. It is possible that the fortunes of Joseph Knibb were bound up with Whitehall. At the Revolution in 1689 o

een rendered to the West Country by the Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries. The following list is based

John (E

H. (Bishop'

rd (Ti

rd (Dr

ohn (Hath

d Street (

, Jas. (

in, Hen.

obert (Ha

illiam (T

topher (So

R. (Bea

, Richar

Clement,

(Exon),

(Sidm

James (A

hn (Alv

enry (E

illiam

J. (Barn

ishop's

. (South

Charles (

r (Me

ter (Credit

, Wm.,

William (C

(Chittl

E. (Sout

A. (To

aml. (Ex

, Walte

hn (Farr

cob (Exeter)

, Peter

hn (Barnsta

R. (H

John (Tor

, R. (Ba

ra. (Ho

(Credito

Thomas

Wivelis

ph (Wivel

orge (Lydford

Lydford C

n, Geo.

tools for duplicating p

John S.

A. (Bi

er (E

E. (Bar

r (Hon

idge (D

el (T

South M

im (Tiver

chl. (Sout

hn (Credit

Richar

e clock,

m. (Exete

Peter (B

ch,

, Geo.

I. (

John (T

e records, and old newspapers to amplify local lists such as t

2-13,

pp. 204, 205;

h organ that played, and a series of moving figures striking the hours, and bellringers and other intricate di

Warminster, is illustrated (p. 239), and exhibits provinci

DIAL O

(Blackcock Inn,

7

Museum of Wal

OF THIRTY-

century. Ornamented with designs of v

eching (A

ion of J. C. Daws

OCK WITH RAR

painted decoration, under glass, in spandrel

lop). Brass plate

y of Walter

uetry decoration introduced by Sheraton (illustrated p. 201). There is an instance on record of a clock being sent t

clocks. John Page, of Ipswich, is the maker of a very handsome bracket clock, in date about 1740 (illustrated p. 187). The name of Henry Terold, Ipswich, is found on a round silver watch with chased interlacing bands and silver

stings, are other names found on grandfather clocks of the latter part of the eighteenth century. The dial of a clock by a Sussex maker, Beeching, of Ashburnham, from a thirty-hour cl

a long-case clock by B. C. Vaughan, of Pontypool, and a brass block with movement by "Shenkyn Shon, Black Cock

. This dial is enamelled white, and has a medallion at top representing the figure of Hope with an anchor. The other decoration is interesting as exhibiting the attempt of the provincial maker to simulate in pigment the marquet

CK ILLUSTRA

nted on dial is a noticeable feature. The panel is reminisc

CK ILLUSTRA

woman and pitcher at stream. Spandrel

ntroduced this clock into his novel, Rhys Lewis. The grandmother of the youthful hero of the story had gone to the fair; in her absence the boy took this clock to pieces, so the story goes. But as the hours wore on he found it was easier to take it to pieces than to put it tog

-gold floral design, covered with glass. The two lower spandrels are delicately carv

o collectors. The provincial maker followed his own

outline. The meagre lists may in many cases be said to be noteworthy for their omissions. But want of space has precluded the writer from pursui