Last person to hand-make grandfather clock at Northallerton

Now horology historian David Severs gets in touch to point out that Frank’s father, George Finley Clarkson, was known as “the last person to make a grandfather clock by hand at Northallerton”.

George was born in 1838 into a family of shoemakers but served his apprenticeship to a clockmaker, Thompson Cade, in the town so that he was able to set himself up in business in 1860. He started off living above his shop at 185 High Street – now a Greggs pastie shop near the Tickle Toby Inn – before moving in 1868 to 211 High Street, which is now part of the old supermarket complex opposite the town hall.

A wallclock by GF Clarkson of Northallerton

The reason George was the last grandfather clockmaker was that tastes were changing. In the middle of the 19th Century, people were moving away from tall timepieces to pocket-sized watches.

No example of one of his grandfathers is known to survive, although Dr Severs has discovered that ten of his wallclocks do along with three of his watches. He seems to have assembled them with movements from the continent or the US before selling them rather than making them from scratch.

A watch by GF Clarkson of Northallerton

George and his wife Mary had three sons who grew up above the High Street shop. Samuel became a silversmith in Hull, George Henry became a silversmith in Sunderland, while Frank took on his father’s workshop opposite the town hall. There he made his tiny pieces – one-twelfth the usual size – for Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House which is on display throughout its centenary year in Windsor Castle.

A barometer by GF Clarkson of Northallerton when it was in a Thomas Watson's auction in Darlington

Meanwhile, Dr Severs still has a few copies of his books about the clockmakers of Northallerton, Bedale and Ripon, and he is really keen to find examples of clocks and watches made in those towns plus Stokesley. To contact him, email davidfsevers@outlook.com.