The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers was established under a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

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. The company established a library and its

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

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 A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in ...

. 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 Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of Ki ...

on 22 October 2015. The museum was first established in 1813, and was housed at London's

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

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 Guildhall Library is a public reference library specialising in subjects relevant to London. It is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical heart of London, England. The libra ...

. The museum collection includes John Harrison's sea watch H5, once personally tested by

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

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. 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 h ...

, later James I of England. The noted 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 A grant of arms or a governmental issuance of arms are actions, by a lawful authority such as an officer of arms or State Herald, conferring on a person and his or her descendants the right to bear a particular coat of arms or armorial bearings. ...

from the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sover ...

in January 1672. In 1766, the

Court of Aldermen The Court of Aldermen forms part of the senior governance of the City of London Corporation. It comprises twenty-five aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor (becoming senior alderman during his year of office). The Cou ...

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 The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

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 Educational Trust in supporting education in horology.

Affiliations

The Clockmakers Company is formally affiliated with the

Antiquarian Horological Society The Antiquarian Horological Society, abbreviated to AHS, is the UK-based learned society for scholars and enthusiasts of horology. Its administrative office is at 4 Lovat Lane, a listed building close to the Monument, in the City of London. In ...

, the UCL Observatory, HMS ''Protector'', the Royal Navy's Ice Patrol Ship, HMS ''Archer'', a P264 Class University Royal Naval Unit based in Edinburgh, and 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 *1699, Henry Thornton *1700, Charles Gretton *1702, Joseph Windmills *1703,

Thomas Tompion Thomas Tompion, FRS (1639–1713) was an English clockmaker, watchmaker and mechanician who is still regarded to this day as the "Father of English Clockmaking". Tompion's work includes some of the most historic and important clocks and wat ...

*1708,

Daniel Quare Daniel Quare (1648 or 1649 – 21 March 1724) was an English clockmaker and instrument maker who invented a repeating watch movement in 1680 and a portable barometer in 1695. Early life Daniel Quare's origins are obscure. He was possibly a nat ...

*1717 Nathaniel Chamberlain *1718, Thomas Windmills *1795, 1812 Harry Potter *1810, 1811 Paul Philipp Barraud *1817,

John Roger Arnold John Arnold (1736 – 11 August 1799) was an English watchmaker and inventor. John Arnold was the first to design a watch that was both practical and accurate, and also brought the term "chronometer" into use in its modern sense, meaning a pre ...

*1821, 1823, 1825, 1827, 1847 Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy *1855, 1862

Charles Frodsham Charles Frodsham (15 April 1810 – 11 January 1871) was a distinguished English horologist, establishing the firm of Charles Frodsham & Co, which remains in existence as the longest continuously trading firm of chronometer manufacturers in the ...

*1893, 1894 Revd. Henry Leonard Nelthropp *1902, 1914 William Henry Mahoney Christie KCB FRS *1922, 1931 Sir

Frank Watson Dyson Sir Frank Watson Dyson, KBE, FRS, FRSE (8 January 1868 – 25 May 1939) was an English astronomer and the ninth Astronomer Royal who is remembered today largely for introducing time signals ("pips") from Greenwich, England, and for the role ...

KBE FRS FRSE *1926,

Hugh Rotherham Hugh Rotherham (16 March 1861 – 24 February 1939) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for a wide variety of amateur teams between 1880 and 1903, including the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the Gentlemen, and a single fi ...

*1932 Sir Francis Newbolt KC FCS *1946, Lord Iliffe of Yattendon GBE *1949, 1954 Sir Harold Spencer Jones KBE FRS FRSE PRAS *1950, William Hamilton Shortt FBHI *1959,

Viscount Falmouth Viscount Falmouth is a title that has been created twice, first in the Peerage of England, and then in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first creation came in the Peerage of England in 1674 for George FitzRoy, an illegitimate son of King ...

*1960,

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3 February 1851 – 24 March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay. He was also an English amateur cricketer, mainly active ...

*1969, Sir

Richard van der Riet Woolley Sir Richard van der Riet Woolley OBE FRS (24 April 1906 – 24 December 1986) was an English astronomer who became the eleventh Astronomer Royal. His mother's maiden name was Van der Riet. Biography Woolley was born in Weymouth, Dorset ...

OBE FRS *1974, Sir

Frank Chalton Francis Sir Frank Chalton Francis (5 October 1901 – 15 September 1988) was an English academic librarian and curator. Almost all his working life was at the British Museum, first as an Assistant Keeper in the Department of Printed Books, and later as ...

KCB *1976, Sir Hugh Wontner GBE CVO *1980, George Daniels CBE DSc FBHI FSA AHCI *1986,

*1989,

Lord Murton of Lindisfarne Henry Oscar Murton, Baron Murton of Lindisfarne (8 May 1914 – 5 July 2009) was a British Conservative Party politician. Career Murton was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and educated at Uppingham School. He joined the Territorial Army with a c ...

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, 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 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,

File:John Arnold.jpg, John Arnold File:Charles Frodsham.gif,

References

External links

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