In 2008, upon the death of a great aunt, I inherited from her an antique longcase clock. When we moved house a few years ago, the massive clock—over seven feet tall—was disassembled for transport and then set up in our new home. It has never kept great time since I’ve owned it, always running a little slow and needing winding every four days or so rather than the typical eight days for this type of clock. Knowing the clockworks needed maintenance, we didn’t immediately reconnect the weights and pendulum so the clock sat still and silent in our dining room for over four years. But now, following cleaning and adjustment by a local antique clock expert, it is finally in good working order and we’re once again enjoying its hourly chime.
My clock was made in England, likely in the mid 1800s. Its metal clock face has a painted dial, with flowers in the corners, a colourful landscape in the upper arch, and the hours in Roman numerals. Across the centre of the dial, faded lettering denoting the clock’s place of origin, Kendal, a town in the county of Westmorland, is barely legible. Only a portion of the clockmaker’s name can be discerned, but research into clockmakers in Westmorland suggests it would have been made by William Scales, the patriarch of a family of clockmakers in Kendal, who was born in 1792.
So how did this timepiece find its way to me in Canada? The town of Kendal is the clue to its provenance. My great-great-grandmother, Mary Ann Baty, a single mother of two sons, in 1865 married a man named William Mitchell Gill in Carlisle, Cumberland. He being born in Kendal, Westmorland, it is likely the clock came from his family. Mary Ann’s oldest son, my great-grandfather John Baty, inherited the clock at his mother’s death in 1911 and brought it to Canada when immigrating two years later. After my great-grandparents’ died, the clock went first to their daughter Jessie (my grandmother) before being passed to her younger sister, Phyllis, whose home had more space for such a large item. It then resided for a time with Jessie’s son (my uncle) while Phyllis and her husband were building a new house but eventually came back to her. In 2005, I took possession of the clock when the widowed Phyllis, then age 96, moved into a retirement residence, and it was officially willed to me upon her passing three years later.
Even when my grandmother owned it, the clock was apparently not in great shape. It appears in the background of a photo she sent to her older sister in England on the occasion of my grandparents’ 25th wedding anniversary in 1945. On the back is written: “Taken at our Silver Wedding last June 9th in our dinette. Note the grandfather clock. It is beginning to crumble. I guess it is so old.”
Some 80 years later, this beautiful timepiece has life in it yet. While the clockworks are now functioning well, the wooden case has dried and warped over time, bits of trim are missing, and the glass is cracked. It originally stood on feet that would make it even taller than its current 88 inches so we don’t plan to reinstall those. But we will hopefully be able to find a local craftsman experienced in antique furniture repair to undertake a restoration in order to ensure this treasured timepiece can survive for future generations.
A great Memory Nancy, I do remember the clock.
A lovely story about your clock Nancy , I enjoyed reading about it.