England Occupations, Clocks, Watches, Eyeglasses, Jewellery (National Institute)

Clock and Watch Making
Very early mechanical timepieces and public clocks were made by blacksmiths, and clockmakers were members of the Blacksmiths’ Company before their own was established in 1631. As few people could read and write the demand for domestic clocks was not appreciable until the late 16th century. These new, smaller clocks were made by locksmiths who filed cold iron on benches, rather than by the blacksmiths who hammered out heated metal. At first the wall clock was the standard, but about 1658 an English invention, the longcase (or grandfather) clock made its appearance. The faces were from eight to twelve inches in diameter with cases six to 9 feet or more tall. Smaller versions were known as grandmother clocks. It is probable that cabinet makers made the first cases, but as the trade grew then the specialty of clock case maker developed.

The horology trade, which included both clock and watchmakers, concentrated in Clerkenwell in the London area, especially after the Great Fire of 1666. By the end of the 18th century some eight thousand workers were engaged in the business in Clerkenwell and turned out many of the best machines in the world. Others set up shop in important market towns where there would be a steady stream of gentry and farmers as customers. The craft suffered from the import of Swiss watches and Pitt’s 1797-8 tax on the ownership of clocks, as well as when Gladstone removed tariffs on foreign clocks and watches in 1861.

At first a clock was a machine that published the time, for example by striking a bell, and a watch showed the time. Gradually the term watch became associated with smaller machines carried in the pocket, and the term clock restricted to larger movements whether they struck the hour or not. Watches that strike the hour are called repeating watches (Hurley 1991). In the beginning, watches were actually made by one man, but since the 18th century watchmakers rarely made any of the parts of a watch. They relied on other tradesmen to do this, their skill being in assembling the movements, adjusting the parts and finishing the whole machine.

The history of the clockmakers’ craft is discussed by Wymer (English Town Crafts. A Survey of Their Development from Early Times to the Present Day. Batsford, London, 1949) and Ulyett (British Clocks and Clockmakers. Collins, London, 1947) with smaller accounts by Bailey (The Industrial Heritage of Britain. Ebury Press/Book Club Associates, 1982) and Arnold (All Made by Hand. John Baker, London, 1970). In the Shire series Greenlaw has written on longcase clocks, Wotton on anniversary clocks, and Wotton and Oliver on marble clocks. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a fine collection of watches which formed the basis of a descriptive book by Hayward (English Watches. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office for the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1969). Weiss (Watchmaking in England 1760-1820. Robert Hale, London., 1982) has an extremely detailed history of the trade and descriptions of the how each part was made and how watches were assembled. A briefer description can be found in Hurley (The Book of Trades or Library of the Useful Arts. Vol II. Wiltshire Family History Society, 1991).

Names and information about individual clockmakers and watchmakers can be found in Britten, Wallis and Wallis (Index of British Mathematicians: 1701-1800. Project for Historical Biobibliography, Newcastle upon Tyne. [Has many references to clock- and watch-makers.], 1993), and in the various books on these craftsmen in specific counties, for example Lancashire and Westmorland (Loomes’ Lancashire Clocks and Clockmakers. David and Charles, Exeter. , 1975 and Westmorland Clocks and Clockmakers. David and Charles, Exeter. , 1974), Shropshire (Elliot’s Shropshire Clocks and Clockmakers. Phillimore. , 1979), and Dorset and Channel Islands (Tribe and Whatmore’s Dorset Clocks and Clockmakers, with a Supplement on the Channel Isles.. Tanat Books. , 1981). 300 years of apprentices in the Clockmakers’ Company are listed by Atkins (Register of Apprentices of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers of the City of London from its Incorporation in 1631 to its Tercentenary in 1931 Compiled from the Records of the Company by Charles Edward Atkins, Master in 1897, 1909 and 1928. Clockmakers Company., 1931), and advertisements for watchmakers and clockmakers are given in Buckley and Buckley (Names of British Clockmakers and Watchmakers Working Outside London. Manuscript at Guildhall Library, London. items 4-5, 1937). Clockmakers’ names can often be found in churchwardens’ accounts when they were paid to clean and repair the church clock. Many were nonconformists and they tended to leave wills.

CHART: Examples of Listings of Watchmakers Apprentices from Atkins

Eyeglasses
The optician made spectacles, opera glasses and reading glasses as well as numerous other optical devices and Hurley’s description (The Book of Trades or Library of the Useful Arts. Vol III. Wiltshire Family History Society, 1994) dwells mainly on the latter devices. There are two relevant Shire books: Watson on binoculars, opera glasses and field glasses, and Davidson and MacGregor on spectacles, lorgnettes and monocles. The apprenticeships of the Spectaclemakers’ Company 1666-1800 have been indexed by Webb (London Apprentices Volume 14. Spectaclemakers’ Company 1666-1800; Loriners’ Company 1722-31, 1759-1800. Society of Genealogists, 1998).

CHART: 18th Century Newspaper Items on Watchmakers and Clockmakers

Jewellery
An account of the trade of the jeweller is given by Hurley (The Book of Trades or Library of the Useful Arts.Vol I. Wiltshire Family History Society, 1991), and there are little gems amongst the Shire books: Luthi on sentimental jewellery, James on antique jewellery, and Eckstein and Firkins on both gentlemen’s dress accessories and that essential for ladies’ huge hats, the hatpin. Culme (Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, Jewellers and Allied Traders 1838-1914: From the London Assay Office Registers. Antique Collectors Club., 1987) gives short biographies of jewellers in the London Assay Office Registers 1838-1914.

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