Riversdale Clocks

John Jefferys (1701 – 1754) was an English clockmaker and watchmaker. His parents, John and Jane Jefferys lived in a house called Darbies in the village of Midgham in the parish of Thatcham in Berkshire. His father was a wool merchant. His maternal grandparents were William and Bridgett Yeats. He had at least five brothers…

John Smith (1770-1816) was a clockmaker born in Pittenweem, Fife, Scotland. His most famous clock is in the possession of the Duke of Buccleuch. It is reported to have four dials and shows days of the week and days of the month. The clock can play eight old Scots tunes and every three hours initiates…

Raymond Saunders is a Canadian clockmaker who has designed and built more than 150 customized clocks that mainly serve as tourist-attracting public artworks. In 1977 he was commissioned to build a steam clock for the Gastown district of Vancouver, Canada. The Gastown clock may be the first steam clock ever built, although there is evidence…

John Benson was a famous English clock maker who worked and lived in Whitehaven. He became a highly skilled and much respected clock maker, and his work was mainly in brass dial 8-day clocks with rolling moons for the upper market. Many have centre calendar work and simple rise/fall, ebb/flow, tidal indicators, and include clocks…

John Ellicott (London, 1706-1772), was an eminent English clock and watchmaker of the 18th century. His father, a Cornishman, John Ellicott (-1733), was also a clockmaker and had been admitted to the Clockmakers’ Company in 1696. John Ellicott (Jnr) conducted business first from Austin Friars Street EC2 and later from Swithin’s Alley, Royal Exchange, and…

George Graham (7 July 1673 – 20 November 1751) was an English clockmaker, inventor, and geophysicist, and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was born in Kirklinton, Cumberland. A Friend (Quaker) like his mentor Thomas Tompion, Graham left Cumberland in 1688 for London to work with Tompion. He later married Tompion’s niece, Elizabeth Tompion.…

Image by/from Ukhistorysoc John Tolson (1691-1737) was important if elusive English clockmaker and watchmaker of the early eighteenth century who, while not particularly remarkable for his invention, is noteworthy because of the fine quality of his clocks and watches. The style of his early longcase clocks owes much to Thomas Tompion, and the delicate functionality…

Edward East (1602-1696) was a watchmaker and clockmaker to Charles I of England. He was a notable horologist who succeeded David Ramsay. Edward East – Biography. East was apprenticed in 1618 to Richard Rogers in the Goldsmiths’ Company. He was one of the ten original assistants named in the charter of incorporation of the Clockmakers’ Company, and…

Image by/from Andrewrabbott James Woolley or James Wolley (ca.1695 – 22 November 1786) was a watch and clockmaker from Codnor, Derbyshire. He was born ca 1695, the son of Samuel Woolley and Abigail Pinegar. He made turret clocks, one of which was installed in the Nottingham Exchange, which he gifted to the Nottingham Corporation, and…