What’s on
29 Jan
02:00 PM
Until
29 Jan, 03:00 PM
1h
Beyond the Name on the Dial: Tracing Horological Ancestors with James Nye
Online
Clockmakers and watchmakers appear regularly in family trees, yet there are common misconceptions about what they actually did. This talk highlights a wide range of roles undertaken by people involved in making or perhaps selling Britain’s timekeepers—from the guild-regulated world of seventeenth-century London to the dispersed networks of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century specialists whose skills underpinned the nation’s horological industry, and into the world of twentieth-century volume production. Far from being lone artisans, most “makers” were part of tightly-interconnected communities involved in a great division of labour. Charting these networks is essential for understanding horological ancestors, correcting assumptions, and uncovering hidden women, migrants, apprentices and journeymen who rarely appear in standard reference books.
Drawing on a lifetime of research, and often on the extensive resources of the Antiquarian Horological Society (AHS), James will chart the use of some of the most effective tools for genealogists: livery company records, fire-insurance registers, censuses, directories, newspapers, bankruptcy notices, workshop ledgers, daybooks and more. With luck, attendees may discover some new source of information and potential research avenues.
This event is hosted by the Society of Genealogists and takes place over Zoom. Please book via the Society’s website.
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29 Jan