A List of Church, Turret and Musical Clocks, Manufactured by John Moore & Sons. (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781514858967)

This booklet is a list of church, turret and musical clocks, manufactured by John Moore & Sons. It was published in 1877 and was a promotional piece of literature. This list has been known about in the horological world, but recently a copy in pristine condition turned up and has been used to produce this facsimile. The sections are Some Considerations on Church Clocks, a list of church and turret clocks, a list of turret clocks, and a list of turret timepieces. There must be something approaching 1,000 turret clocks listed and it is stated that 15,180 domestic clocks had been made. There are a few illustrations but none of turret clocks. The earliest turret clock is Milford haven of 1803. Famous clocks include St Ann's Limehouse 1839 that had four 12 feet dials, Christchurch Priory, York Minster and Bermondsey. The clock at Bermondsey was the subject of a dispute and had to be removed. Clocks were supplied to Spain, Mexico, Russia, Panama, India, the West Indies, Australia, South Africa, Madagascar and many other countries. The list spans 36 pages. One branch of the Moore family ran a business making ventilators. A leaflet on Moore ventilators came with the list and has been reproduced in the booklet. A brief history of the Moores has been added by Chris McKay who edited the publication. This tells how the company of John Moore & Sons was a prolific maker of domestic and turret clocks in the 19th century. The catalogue that follows records they had made 15,180 domestic clocks up to January 1877. In the same period they produced approaching 1,000 turret clocks as well. Research by Keith Scobie Youngs of the Cumbria Clock Company has revealed that John Moore was apprenticed to Richard Willcock in 1785 who had been an apprentice to Aynsworth Thwaites. Keith has searched the records of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers and has not found any information about the apprenticeship of John Handley.In the early 1790's Benjamin Handley (born 1770) had a workshop at 38 Clerkenwell Close. By 1801 John Moore joined Benjamin Handley but Handley died in 1819 leaving Moore running the company. John Moore became sole proprietor of 38 Clerkenwell Close in 1820. In 1824 John Moore got a 31 year lease on 38 - 39 Clerkenwell Close and knocked the two premises into one.John Moore had two sons, Benjamin and Josiah; John died in 1835 and the sons carried on the business. It appears that Benjamin concentrated on the clock side and Josiah ran a sideline making ventilators. These were glass louvres, glass circles with petal shaped holes and rotating ones to go on the top of buildings.Benjamin had two sons, William and Edwin. William died in 1889 and Edwin carried on into the 20th century as a watch manufacturer. Josiah also had two sons, Henry and Alfred. Henry worked on the clock business and died in 1899 and Alfred who ran the ventilator business, he died in 1920.In reality, Nos 38 & 39 Clerkenwell Close were probably a bit less in size than a modern detached house. The 1851 census reveals Benjamin Moore's family of six and a servant lived here. There were probably 20 men working there plus all the tooling as well. It must have been very congested. British History Online show a photo of the building in 1910.A poor photocopy of this catalogue was known but when I acquired a version that was in near unopened condition I thought it worthwhile to reproduce this as a facsimile. The original is 4.5 inches by 6.75 inches. In this reproduction the pages are about 20% larger than the original. The booklet dates from early 1877. With it came two leaflets, one advertising ventilators and the other an order form for the same. These have been added on pages 45 to 47.Chris McKay.

Author: Chris McKay
ISBN-10: 1514858967
ISBN-13: 9781514858967
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 07/06/2015
Pages: 50
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.15lbs
Size: 7.99h x 5.24w x 0.12d