The Bytown Times VOLUME 40 NO. 1 JANUARY 26, 2020 ISSN 1712—2799 Celebrating 40 Years of The Bytown Times!! (See the story on Page 6) NOVEMBER MEETING HIGHLIGHTS INSIDE THIS ISSUE November Meeting Highlights 1-3 Forty-five members and guests attended the Ottawa Valley Watch and Clock Club November meeting at the Pinecrest November Meeting Photos 4 Recreation Centre. Annual Wine and Cheese Social 5 Feature Presentation 40 Years of The Bytown Times 6-7 Our feature presentation, “Colchester Clock and Watch Makers 1710-1850” was given by Robert St-Louis. As we Annual Trash & Treasure Auction 7 have come to expect from Robert, his presentation was thor- Did You Know? 7 oughly researched and well presented with numerous slides. Robert started with a brief history of watch and clock making Clock Museum News 8-10 in England and in particular the evolution of the trade in Fabulous Finds 11-12 “provincial” centres such as Colchester—50 miles from Lon- don. He went on to describe one of his key sources for infor- Grandfather Clock for Sale 12 mation, the book “Clock and Watchmaking in Colchester” by Editor and President’s Corners 12 Bernard Mason. To illustrate his talk, Rob- ert focused his research on the fascinating story of six horologists who oper- ated between the 17th and 19th centuries. The six horologists were all linked over time as each took over the business of his predecessor. (One only apprenticed to the busi- ness and didn’t take it A Timeline of the Colchester over.) The six were: Jere- Clock and Watchmakers my Spurgin, John Smorth- wait, William Cooper, Nathaniel Hedge 3, Nathaniel Hedge 4, and Joseph Bannister. Cooper was the apprentice who didn’t Robert St-Louis Presenting his talk on buy out the business, but was linked to the dynasty none-the- Colchester Watch and Clock Makers less as an apprentice. He opened his own business later but Our next meeting…. died penniless. Pinecrest Recreation Centre Robert gave a brief biography of each of these gentlemen, 2250 Torquay Ave, including their relationship to the others, details of their per- Ottawa, ON sonal lives and some amusing anecdotes. Most interesting 1:00 PM, January 26, 2020 was his description of the evolution in clock and watchmaking ********* through these linked businesses over the decades, illustrated Annual Trash & Treasure Auction by photos of some of their known time pieces. It was fasci- nating to see the evolution in the technology as the business ********* Show and Tell progressed. Cont’d P. 2 Anything Horological Page 2 THE BYTOWN TIMES Page 2 CHAPTER OFFICERS President : Auditor: Don Purchase [email protected] Jean Paul Tourigny Vice President: Immediate Past President: Kevin West [email protected] Daniel Burgoyne Editor ByTown Times Treasurer: Gary Fox [email protected] Ray Springer Secretary Education & Workshop Chairman: Paul Sonnichsen [email protected] NOVEMBER MEETING HIGHLIGHTS (CONT’D) From P. 1 Robert displayed some examples of the clocks and watches made by these makers. As his talk concluded, he was bombarded by questions from the members. A PDF version of his presentation may be found on the club web site at……. http://ottawaclocksandwatches.ca/images/Education/Colchester_Makers_1710-1850_final_Dec_2019.pdf Colchester Clocks and Watches From the left 1)A Lantern Clock by Smorthwait, 2) A 30-hour tall case clock movement by Hedge, 3) A Watch attributed to Hedge and Bannister, and 4) A clock with a dead beat escapement by Bannister Show and Tell Jon Ruhland kicked off Show and Tell with a presentation of his single handed Lantern clock made in France in the 18th Century. The clock fea- Jon with tured Cycloidal cheeks which, according to Jon, were not strictly necessary his since the clock was weight driven which provided a constant force to the Single- movement. The clock has a Canadian connection as it was brought to Que- handed bec in the 1700’s. Jon found the clock in an antique shop. It had been French Clock owned by two ladies in New York. As found, the clock was black with dirt and oxidation and was missing parts. However, Jon cleaned and repaired it with his usual care. Karen Wakeman showed her father’s Hamilton 992 pocket watch. Her Dad was an mechanic in the Air Force, maintaining the instruments in airplane cockpits. He Karen became interested in watches and fixed them for family and friends. Karen has Wakeman fond memories of her Dad and kept his watch when he passed away, to keep his memory with her. When she first got the watch, she didn’t know how to set the time. She contacted our own Mel Nash and he provided the easy directions. Page 3 VOLUME 40 NO. 1 JANUARY 26, 2020 NOVEMBER MEETING HIGHLIGHTS (CONT’D) Ian Philips followed up with a presentation of his family heirloom mantle clock. It has a beautiful time and strike movement made by Benjamin Vulliamy from London, cir- ca 1775. The case appears to be made of rosewood. The brass dial has decorative embossing at the bottom . The heavy brass movement is visible through glass on both sides of the case. It has fusees on both the time and strike sides of the mechanism. The clock does run a bit but soon stops, so Ian is hoping to repair it. Ian Philips and his Benjamin Vulliamy Clock Clay Knowlton has an interest in clocks with a dual purpose. He presented one such timepiece that is both decorative and func- tional. The clock operates with a battery powered quartz movement in its circular base. In place of the hands, there is a decorative fan attached to the centre arbour. As the clock movement runs, the fan moves slowly with the short edge indicating the hour and the long edge the minutes. The numbers are marked on the base. It is a curious device which takes some time to figure out! Clay Knowlton’s Next up, Bernie Murphy showed a clock that he has personalized Bernie’s fan clock laser etched for the club. It has a quartz movement with a wooden dial that clock with has been laser etched with the club name. Bernie has donated it the club to the club for display whenever the club has a booth at a show. Thanks, Bernie name Last but not least, John Roger demonstrated his beautiful hand made wooden works clock. John, an engi- neer by profession has been interested in clocks since he was a teen. His aunt and uncle had over two hun- dred clocks in their collection which inspired his interest and curiosity. So, when he moved out on his own, he bought his first, a grandfather clock, and has expanded his collection considerably since then. His wood- en works clock was an exercise in patience and dedication. The wheels (except the great wheel) are made from maple and the decorative pieces from walnut. The great wheel is made from Baltic birch plywood. The clock has a six day, four wheel spring driven movement with a dead beat escapement. John made full scale drawings of the clock gears and used them as a guide while he cut the teeth by hand with a scroll saw. He tuned the shape of each tooth with a small sander and sealed each wheel (except the teeth) with a natural oil. He burnished the teeth to provide a smoother operation, but there were issues with the clock stopping until he found a 400 grit sandpaper impregnated with wax that he used on the teeth. That improved the run time dramatically. John’s talk generated great interest and he was kept on stage for quite some time answer- ing questions! John Roger (far left) and his beautiful wooden works clock—made by hand THE BYTOWN TIMES Page 4 NOVEMBER MEETING PHOTOS Our next reading is Tom Devey Jan Selles and Bill Jarvis having a laugh Maynard Dokken and Paul Williams from the book of Is collecting (Nice ‘stache, Jan!) eying the photographer membership dues! Don (Purchase) Miklos Valsamas is Doug Peever and Paul Sonnichsen Daniel Burgoyne and Robert St-Louis always smiling considering a serious point having a moment SOME RANDOM SHOTS Page 5 VOLUME 40 NO. 1 JANUARY 26, 2020 2019 WINE AND CHEESE SOCIAL The 2019 Wine and Cheese Social, held on Saturday, November 16, was another great success. Over 20 members and guests attended at the beautiful home of Paul and Mary Sonnichsen . If you haven’t been to Sonnichsen manor, you have missed a real treat. Their home is right on the Rideau River and has a wall of windows facing the river. If it wasn’t so chilly that day, we would have all been out on their balcony taking in the fresh air and the view! There was an excellent selection of wines to choose from and Mary set a wonderful table of treats for all to enjoy. With a bit of exploration, you could find Paul’s workshop, which left many a guest drooling over the fabulous tools in his arsenal. There was a huge Cuckoo Clock with all sorts of automata attached to a test stand. Paul had it running and the piece was fantastic. Many thanks to Paul and Mary for being such great hosts!! THE BYTOWN TIMES Page 6 40 YEARS OF “THE BYTOWN TIMES” 1979 was a big year for the Ottawa Valley Watch and Clock Club. We became chapter number 111 of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors AND it was the inaugural year for our club newsletter— the first issue was published in September 1979! Over the forty years, there have been just four editors for the newsletter, Peter Bomford, Ben Roberts, Erin Fox and, yours truly, Gary Fox.