Tolled

The Time

When you look upon the dear departed pictured in this album, meditate about the motto inscribed above the moon dial of my great-great-great-grandfather's grandfather clock: Time shows the way of life's decay.

The clock was made by William Lawson (1735-1805) of Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, half way between Liverpool and Manchester. Also called Newton in Makerfield, the town was listed in the Domesday Book. Lawson was clockmaker there from 1760 until his death.

Horological features listed in the last three paragraphs date the clock to 1770 or shortly after. It was probably bought by William Bromilow, colliery owner, of Merton Park, St. Helens, four miles west of Newton. His son, James Bromilow, who lived in Newton, would have inherited the clock and passed on to his daughter Annie, the wife of my great-grandfather, Major-General Edward McLaughlin. It next went to his son George, then to his grand-daughter Sheila, my mother, and finally to me.

The clock keeps time accurately to within one minute a week. A couple of times a year the weather may change so greatly that the clock needs to be regulated. This is done by means of a unique arrangement depending on a pendulum bob covered with wood in place of the usual brass. To change the length of the pendulum, instead of turning the rating nut on which a normal bob rests, one slides the bob up or down the wooden shaft. When the optimal position is found, the bob is retained against the shaft by tightening a central wooden screw.

The dial showing the phases of the moon enabled people to plan for night travel only during a full moon, in the hope that bright moonlight would make it easier to find the way and discourage highwaymen. This moon dial, which is a disk bearing two paintings of the moon, makes a one half rotation every lunar month (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 3 seconds). The ½ engraved on the rim of the dial marks the half day at the end of the month. For more information click here.

The motto not only makes CRAZY use of capital letters but also has an apostrophe before the final s of the wrong word — shew's instead of life's. The clock was recently restored to pristine condition by Dean Armentrout, of Laguna Beach, California, a graduate of West Dean College in Sussex, England, which gave me his name. American-trained restorers should not be trusted with European clocks. One messed up the calendar on mine; another took five years to fabricate the missing chimes on a friend's French mantel clock.

My longcase clock has a 13-inch broken arch brass dial plate with question-mark rococo spandrels and Liverpool-style checkered center. It is signed Lawson Newton on two pierced foliate plaques applied to the bevel-edged moon masks. The silvered chapter ring is inscribed with an annular calendar, dotted minutes, and the very large 5 minute marks common among clocks of North England provenance.

The eight-day four-pillar rack and bell striking movement has an anchor escapement. As shown on the right, the going train is offset far from the center, which would have allowed for the easy addition of a seconds dial if the original purchaser had requested one.

The simple mahogany Lancashire Chippendale case has a paneled plinth with canted corners, shaped trunk door flanked by fluted pilasters, fluted hood pillars and blind swan neck cresting with center finial.

© 2006 G. Harry McLaughlin.
Reproduction or transmission, in whole or in part, for other than personal use is prohibited without advance permission from Dr. G. H. McLaughlin.