A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



brass mountings ; the plate is inscribed ' Jere- 

 mie East, Londini,' and the work is not later 

 than 1600. The other is a small oval watch 

 with a plain silver dial and one hand ; its date 

 is about 1610. East was living in 1656, when 

 he joined with some other freemen of the 

 Clockmakers' Company in a petition to the 

 Lord Mayor respecting certain disputes as to 

 the management of the company. 



Another skilled maker of this period was 

 William Clay, who appears to have been in 

 business from 1646 to 1670, but of whom 

 very little is known. An engraved metal dial, 

 very fine for this early period, and denoting 

 the minutes in a peculiar way, bears the in- 

 scription, ' William Clay, King's Street, West- 

 minster.' Clay took part in the disputes which 

 occurred in the Clockmakers' Company in 

 1656, and was probably the maker of a watch 

 presented by Cromwell to Colonel Bagnell at 

 the siege of Clonmel. 



Of somewhat earlier date was Richard Harris, 

 who is said to have constructed a turret clock 

 with a pendulum for the church of St. Paul, 

 Covent Garden, which was afterwards de- 

 stroyed by fire. An inscription on an engraved 

 plate in the old vestry-room states that ' The 

 clock fixed in the tower of the said church was 

 the first long pendulum clock in Europe, in- 

 vented and made by Richard Harris of London, 

 although the honour of the invention was 

 assumed by Vincenzio Galilei, A.D. 1649, and 

 also by Huygens in 1657.' 



Richard Bowen, a London maker whose 

 address is not known, but who was in business 

 in the earlier half of the I7th century, was one 

 of the first makers of a keyless watch. In the 

 London Gazette for 10-13 January 1686, there 

 is an advertisement, ' Lost, a watch in black 

 shagreen studded case with a glass in it, having 

 only one Motion and Time pointing to the 

 Hour on the Dial Plate, the spring being 

 wound up without a key, and it opening 

 contrary to all other watches. R. Bowen, 

 Londini, fecit, on the black plate.' Another 

 watch by Bowen is said to have been given by 

 Charles I in 1647, wn 'l e at Carisbrooke, to 

 Colonel Hammond. It is a large silver watch 

 with two cases, the outer one chased and en- 

 graved with a border of flowers and the figure 

 of the king praying, and the words: 'And 

 what I sai to you I sai unto all, Watch.' 



Among the numerous French Protestant 

 refugees who settled in Soho towards the close 

 of the 1 7th century were the Debaufres, a 

 family of very skilful French watchmakers. 

 Peter Debaufre, who was in business in Church 

 Street, Soho, from 1686 to 1720, was admitted 

 into the Clockmakers' Company in 1689, an< ^ 

 in 1704, in conjunction with Nicholas Facio 



and Jacob Debaufre, was granted a patent for 

 the application of jewels to the pivot holes of 

 watches and clocks. A few months later the 

 patentees applied to Parliament for permission 

 to extend the term of their patent, but the 

 Bill was opposed by the Clockmakers' Com- 

 pany 8 on what appears to have been insuffi- 

 cient grounds, and was defeated. In 1704 

 the firm announced by advertisement that 

 jewelled watches were to be seen at their 

 shop ; a watch bearing the name ' Debauffre ' 

 is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

 Peter Debaufre also devised a dead-beat or 

 'club-footed' verge escapement which was 

 adopted with some alterations by several other 

 makers. James Debaufre became connected 

 with the business in 1712 and carried it on at 

 Church Street, Soho, until 1750. 



Another successful Huguenot firm was that 

 of the De Charmes. Simon De Charmes, who 

 was driven over here by the persecution about 

 the year 1688, was admitted as a clockmaker 

 in 1691 and built Grove Hall, Hammersmith, 

 in 1730. The house was occupied by his son 

 David, who lived there till his death in 1783,' 

 and succeeded his father in the business. 



Jonathan Lowndes, who was in business in 

 Pall Mall between 1680 and 1700, was a cele- 

 brated maker of his day. 



Christopher Pinchbeck, son of the inventor 

 of the ' Pinchbeck ' alloy, carried on a success- 

 ful business in Cockspur Street, and is described 

 as clockmaker to the king. In 1766 he is said 

 to have procured for George III the first pocket 

 watch made with a compensation curb. He 

 was elected an honorary freeman of the Clock- 

 makers' Company in 1781, and died in 1783 

 at the age of seventy-three. 



The Perigals were a family of celebrated 

 horologists from which three firms originated. 

 Francis Perigal, the founder, was established 

 from 1740 at the Royal Exchange, where he 

 was succeeded by his son and grandson. 

 Another Francis (1770-94), who was watch- 

 maker to the king, settled in New Bond Street 

 and was succeeded by Perigal & Duterran, 

 'Watchmakers to His Majesty,' from 1810 

 to 1840. Another branch of the family 

 established itself in Coventry Street as John 

 Perigal (1770-1800), and Perigal & Browne 

 (1794-1800). 



Charles Haley (1770-1800), of Wigmore 

 Street, who was admitted to the honorary free- 

 dom of the Clockmakers' Company in 1781, 

 was a celebrated maker, and a patentee of a 

 remontoire escapement for chronometers. 10 



6 Britten, Old Clocks and Watches, 351. 

 T. Faulkner, Hist. ofFulham (1813), 349. 

 10 No. 2,132, 17 Aug. 1796. 



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