W&MHS Autumn Meeting - Grosmont - 5th October 2024

 

Our first speaker, Dennis Radage, told us about the early use of chronometers in charting the Pacific Northwest, a vast region including present-day British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.

 

Captain James Cook was the first European to use chronometers in this region. On his second voyage to the Pacific, Cook used K1, a chronometer copied from Harrison H4, by Larcum Kendall. During this voyage, to determine whether a temperate southern continent existed, Cook found K1 to be an invaluable tool for navigation, referring to it as his “trusty friend”. Cook continued to rely on K1 during his third voyage to the Pacific, which sought to locate the elusive Northwest Passage.

 

A young George Vancouver accompanied Cook on both his second and third voyages to the Pacific. During these expeditions, Vancouver received training in navigation from Cook and gained first hand experience of the importance of chronometers for accurate charting and exploration.

 

Following Cook’s death, Vancouver, now a captain, was commissioned by the British Admiralty to chart the Pacific Northwest, His orders included surveying the coastline between 30 degrees north and 60 degrees north, however, he actually surveyed from San Francisco to Alaska. Among the chronometers carried by Vancouver’s expedition were Arnold 176, Arnold 82 and Kendall K3. Vancouver's expedition reached Nootka Sound in 1792. During each surveying stop, the chronometers were rated. The results revealed that Arnold 82 had consistently outperformed the other timepieces throughout the voyage.

 

Vancouver's meticulous surveys and the resulting maps of the Pacific Northwest remain largely accurate even by today’s standards. This accomplishment speaks to the precision of his methods and the accuracy of the chronometers used. Vancouver's contribution to the exploration of the Pacific Northwest extended beyond chart-making; he also named over 400 geographical features in the region, many of which, like Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood, and Burrard Inlet, still bear his chosen designations. Vancouver died relatively young, at the age of 40, in 1798. Despite his untimely death, his legacy as a skilled navigator and explorer lives on, where his name graces a major city, an island, and numerous geographical features.

 

Vancouver’s chronometer, Arnold 176, is currently housed in the Vancouver Maritime Museum. This historically significant timepiece was acquired in 1981 for the sum of £39,000

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Our second speaker, Brian Coles described his research into answering a question originating from our website, about a longcase clock by "William Winston, Brecon".

With the aid of slides he began by describing the case features of the clock in question, noting its caddy top, slender case, long door, lack of a mask around the dial, and the case height of about 6' 9". The movement, a single handed ‘posted frame’ 30 hour clock with no date indication, had a very standard 10 inch brass dial with silvered chapter ring, quarter markers in the hour circle and floating fleur-de-lis half hour markers; the spandrels were C&W no.37 pattern. The movement had four turned brass pillars and a conventional lantern clock centre bar and cross-shaped front and rear uprights. Together, speaker and audience checked the engraved signature to ensure that the slightly worn lettering had been read correctly, then we examined details of the dial, hand design, spandrels, wheelwork and collets, hammer spring, counter and backcock.

The movement and hand had the appearance of one from the 1720s to 40s, but the dial, spandrels and case suggested a date of around 1760; yet the case, dial and movement appeared very original and to belong together. There is no record of Winston in Wales Clocks and Clockmakers! Searching farther afield, (Watch and Clockmakers of the World 21st century edition) Brian found a reference to ‘William Winston 1770’ working in Hereford. Fortunately there is an excellent reference source to this area in Herefordshire Clock and Watchmakers, by Branston and Eisel (2005), and there are further references to William Winston in British Clockmakers and Watchmakers Apprentice Records 1710-1810, by Dennis Moore (2003).

From information in these volumes, a clearer picture began to emerge. Winston’s master, Thomas Stansbury, had learned his trade in the 1720s. It seems that after completing his apprenticeship in 1760, Winston set up in Brecon, about 40 miles away from his former master (setting up elsewhere was a common practice).  However, soon afterwards, Winston was back in business in Hereford, taking on an apprentice there in July 1766, and taking over his former master’s business, after his death, in 1771.

Are there any more ‘William Winston, Brecon’ clocks ‘out there’, we wondered?

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Our afternoon speaker was Anna Rolls, Curator of the Clockmakers Museum and Archive. Her talk highlighted recent work to increase public access to the materials held, and to celebrating the people and stories behind the collection.

 

She started with a brief history of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, tracing its origins back to medieval trade guilds and emphasised the significance of the company's Charter of Incorporation, granted by Charles I in 1631. The Charter outlined the company's rights and privileges. Anna then talked about the Museum and Archive, outlining its purpose, the range of collections held, and recent efforts to improve public access through digitisation and online cataloguing.

 

Anna discussed notable acquisitions and benefactors, highlighting Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy's key role in establishing the museum, and the generosity of donors like Ann Seymour Damer. She recounted the intriguing story of Damer's donation of a watch that survived a fire, showcasing the museum's commitment to preserving items with fascinating provenances. She also discussed the donation from the Lucking family, descendants of chronometer maker John Roger Arnold, which provide valuable insights into the Arnold family's life and work.

 

Another part of her talk focused on the discovery and significance of the Vulliamy papers, fragments of business records found hidden in Royal Collection items.