Thomas Tompion, the most highly respected English
clockmaker, was born at Ickwell Green, Bedfordshire in 1639
He moved to London and joined the Clockmakers’ Company
as a Free Brother in 1671.
In 1674 he set up his workshop at t he
sign of The Dial and Three Crowns in Water Lane, on the cor ner
of Fleet Street, and shortly afterwards met Dr.
Robert Hooke
the leading physicist and mathematician of his day
Through
Dr.
Hooke, Tompion came to the notice of Charles II and
from this time held an unrivalled position in English horology
He devised a numbering system for his clocks and watches
between 1680 and 1685 which was continued after his death
in 1713, by his successor George Graham
partnership continued until 1707 or 1708 but then, for an
unknown reason, it was suddenly terminated.
Banger left
Tompion’s business and although he continued in the trade,
very little is known of him until he died intestate in 1719.
He
was 55 years old.
Whatever the reason for the spilt, it was
clearly acrimonious as Tompion left a legacy to his neice,
Margaret, in his will, stipulating that Edward Banger was to
have no claim on the inheritance.
Clock number 454 dates just prior to the break up of the
partnership.
A golden age when Thomas Tompion and
Edward Banger were producing some of their highest
quality work.
Significantly smaller than their standard sized
clocks, the present clock has a jewel-like quality and is an
example of the very finest English clockmaking of all time.
Incorporating Tompion’s own quarter repeating system, this
clock would have been a prized possesion of its original owner,
demonstating the very latest early 18th century horological
technology.
After more than three hundred years, the skills
of its makers have scarcely been bettered and continue to
influence clockmakers in the twenty first century.
Edward Banger was born in Somerset in 1668 and was
apprenticed to Thomas Tompion, through Joseph Ashby,
in 1687.
Banger married Tompion’s niece, Margaret Kent,
in December 1694 and completed his apprenticeship to
become Free of the Clockmakers’ Company in July 1695.
Edward Banger was clearly a talented maker and in aroun d
1700/1701, Tompion took him into partnership, both of
their names then appearing on their clock and watches.
T he
64