The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers was established under a royal charter granted by King Charles I in 1631. It ranks sixty-first among the livery companies of the City of London, and comes under the jurisdiction of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. The company established a library and its museum in 1813, which is the oldest specific collection of clocks and watches worldwide. This is administered by the company's affiliated charity, the Clockmakers’ Charity, and is presently housed on the second floor of London's Science Museum. The modern aims of the company and its museum are charitable and educational, in particular to promote and preserve clockmaking and watchmaking, which as of 2019 were added to the HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts. The Clockmakers’ Museum, comprising a collection of clocks, watches, portraits and ephemera is housed in a new gallery provided by the Science Museum, officially opened by Princess Anne on 22 October 2015. The museum was first established in 1813, and was housed at London's Guildhall from 1874 to 2014. It claims to be the oldest collection specifically of watches and clocks in the world. Though the collection is now housed in the Clockmakers' Museum in South Kensington, the company's archive and library are however still kept at Guildhall Library. The museum collection includes John Harrison's sea watch H5, once personally tested by King George III.

Motto

The company's motto, ''Tempus Rerum Imperator'', can be translated as ‘Time, the Ruler of All Things’. It appears as an epitaph on the tombstone of former British Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

, a liveryman of the company.

History

Prior to the seventeenth century, clockmaking by native English craftsmen was mostly confined to the production of

turret clocks A turret clock or tower clock is a clock designed to be mounted high in the wall of a building, usually in a clock tower, in public buildings such as churches, university buildings, and town halls. As a public amenity to enable the community to ...

. Domestic clocks and watches were mostly imported or the work of immigrants from the European continent. Because turret clock making involved working in ferrous metal, clockmakers within the City of London tended to be freemen of the Blacksmiths’ Company, though some were members of other livery companies, notably the

Clothworkers The Worshipful Company of Clothworkers was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1528, formed by the amalgamation of its two predecessor companies, the Fullers (incorporated 1480) and the Shearmen (incorporated 1508). It succeeded to the position of t ...

. After the loss of many London clock and watchmakers in the plagues of 1598 and 1603, the trade consolidated and began to grow. The continued influx of newcomers led to resentment from those who had become established in London towards outsiders who came to set up in or near the City and who threatened their market. From 1620 onwards, groups of clockmakers attempted to set up their own guild. The Blacksmiths initially succeeded in opposing these moves. Eventually, however, with the king issuing charters as a means of raising much needed finance at a time when he had prorogued Parliament, the clockmakers succeeded in securing a royal charter, on 22 August 1631, to the distress of the Blacksmiths, who could naturally expect to lose members, and therefore income. The charter gave regulatory authority to the Clockmakers to control the horological trade in the City of London and for a radius of ten miles around. It incorporated a controlling body which should have ‘continuance for ever under the style and name of The Master, Wardens and Fellowship of the Art and Mystery of Clockmaking’. It provided that the fellowship should be governed by a master, three wardens and ten or more assistants who would form the Court. The first master was David Ramsay, a Scot, who had been appointed watchmaker to

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

, later James I of England. The noted clockmaker Edward East (clockmaker), Edward East also formed part of the first court. The original charter is still in the company's possession and is housed with the rest of its library and archive in the Guildhall Library. The company obtained a grant of arms from the College of Arms in January 1672. In 1766, the Court of Aldermen granted the company its livery. The number of liverymen was originally limited at sixty but has been increased in number over the years by approval of the City of London Corporation and currently stands at a maximum of three hundred.

Horological Training and Awards for Excellence

The company bestows three awards for excellence: the Tompion Medal for outstanding achievements in horology, the Harrison Medal for the propagation of horological knowledge and its appreciation, and the Derek Pratt Prize for innovation, ingenuity, elegance, and the highest standards of workmanship and precision performance in the craft and science of time and timekeeping. The company also closely co-operates with the trustees of the George Daniels (watchmaker), George Daniels Educational Trust in supporting education in horology.

Affiliations

The Clockmakers Company is formally affiliated with the Antiquarian Horological Society, the UCL Observatory, HMS Protector (A173), HMS ''Protector'', the Royal Navy's Ice Patrol Ship, HMS Archer, HMS ''Archer'', a P264 Class University Royal Naval Unit based in Edinburgh, and No. 13 Squadron RAF, XIII Squadron RAF.

Masters

City of London, unusually arranged clock - geograph

Those who have been Master of the company include the following: *1631, David Ramsay *1636, Elias Allen *1645, 1652 Edward East (clockmaker), Edward East *1699, Henry Thornton *1700, Charles Gretton *1702, Joseph Windmills *1703, Thomas Tompion *1708, Daniel Quare *1717 Nathaniel Chamberlain *1718, Joseph Windmills, Thomas Windmills *1795, 1812 Harry Potter *1810, 1811 Paul Philipp Barraud *1817, John Roger Arnold *1821, 1823, 1825, 1827, 1847 Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy *1855, 1862 Charles Frodsham *1893, 1894 Revd. Henry Leonard Nelthropp *1902, 1914 William Henry Mahoney Christie KCB FRS *1922, 1931 Sir Frank Watson Dyson KBE FRS FRSE *1926, Hugh Rotherham *1932 Sir Francis Newbolt KC FCS *1946, Edward Iliffe, 1st Baron Iliffe, Lord Iliffe of Yattendon GBE *1949, 1954 Sir Harold Spencer Jones KBE FRS FRSE PRAS *1950, William Hamilton Shortt FBHI *1959, Viscount Falmouth *1960, Baron Harris, Lord Harris *1969, Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley OBE FRS *1974, Sir Frank Chalton Francis KCB *1976, Sir Hugh Wontner GBE CVO *1980, George Daniels (watchmaker), George Daniels CBE DSc FBHI FSA AHCI *1986, Viscount Falmouth *1989, Lord Murton of Lindisfarne OBE TD PC *2000, Alexander Boksenberg CBE FRS *2001, Sir George White, Bt, FSA *2002, Michael Monro Smith *2003, Christopher John Hurrion *2004, Philip John Willoughby *2005, Diana Muriel Uff *2006, David Pennefather, Maj Gen David Anthony Somerset Pennefather CB OBE *2007, David John Poole FBHI *2008, Dr Michael David Sanderson PhD *2009, Cdr Peter John Linstead-Smith OBE RN *2010, Howard Carl Newman FBHI *2011, Andrew Charles Henry Crisford FSA *2012, Mark Westcombe Elliott FCA *2013, Prof Paul Eugene Marcus Jarrett FRCS *2014, Jonathan Betts, Jonathan Daniel Betts MBE FSA FBHI *2015, Philip William Tennant Whyte, Hon FBHI *2016, Robert Michael Justice Stewart *2017, Roy Charles Harris, FBHI *2018, Andrew Lewis James, FRSA, Hon MBHI *2019, Jonathan Edward Hills *2020, Joanna Migdal (Lady White) *2021, Mark H Levy *2022, Dr James Nye, FSA

Company Chaplains and Church

* Reverend Hugh Bearn * St James Garlickhythe

Gallery

File:Wenceslas Hollar - Elias Allen.jpg, Elias Allen File:Thomas Tompion00.jpg, Thomas Tompion File:John Arnold.jpg, John Arnold (watchmaker), John Arnold File:Charles Frodsham.gif, Charles Frodsham

References

External links

The Clockmakers' Company
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worshipful Company Of Clockmakers Livery companies, Clockmakers Horology 1631 establishments in England Time in the United Kingdom Horological organizations British clockmakers