The Bracebridges were watchmakers active in the late eighteenth
and throughout the nineteenth centuries.
Traditional horological reference resources – Britten’s , Baillie’s and
Loomes – list three makers with this name, but I have identified five, in three
generations.
The
line begins with Edward. Britten’s
records working dates of 1799–1818, with the address, 8 Red Lion Street,
Clerkenwell. Baillie adds that Edward
was in partnership with William Pleace.
There is little more than can be said about Edward. The earliest possible reference to him is
October 1766, when an Edward Bracebridge gave evidence in an Old Bailey trial
concerning a larceny in Clerkenwell.
Given the locality and that the profession of a fellow witness, James
Upjohn, is given as a watchmaker, it is likely that this is ‘our’
Bracebridge. Certainly relevant is a Sun
Life Insurance record from 1787 which refers to cover for the beer copper of
one Alex. Ruff, ‘at Mr Bracebridge’s
Watchmaker opp., the small pox hospital in Cold Bath Fields’, (an area
close to the Mount Pleasant Royal Mail centre).
The Hospital was demolished and replaced by a prison which opened in
1794. This institution, incidentally,
represents a link to one of Edward’s sons in the early nineteenth century.
I
believe Edward had two sons, James and Edward Charles. James would have been born circa 1788-92 and
died circa 1849. This documentary
reference to James is from the Sussex Advertiser, 27 March 1826:
Cornelius
Muzzell’s Affairs: Notice is hereby Given, that Cornelius Muzzell, of Horsham,
in the county of Sussex, Clock and Silversmith, hath, by indenture bearing date
the 5th day of November, 1825, assigned all his Estate and Effects
to James Troup, of Cheapside, in the city of London, Silversmith; James
Bracebridge of Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell, in the county of Middlesex,
Watchmaker and Edward Walker, of Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell aforesaid,
Ironmonger, in trust for themselves, and such other Creditors of the said
Cornelius Muzzell, as shall, on or before the 5th day of May next,
agree to accept the Dividend or Composition arising under the trusts of the
said Assignment, in full of their respective debts, - And further Notice is
hereby given, that the said Deed of Assignment is left at our Office for the
inspection and signature of the Creditors.
Sheppard, Thomas and Lepard.
Cloak Lane, London, 18th March 1826.
Another
reference is of much greater horological significance. When Pierre-Frederick Ingold attempted to set
up industrialised watch production in 1842 he encountered staunch opposition
from London’s traditional watchmaking trade.
Rather than seeing Ingold’s British
Watch & Clock Company as an important element in combating the
insurgent Swiss and American industries, the Trade perceived it as a further
threat and petitioned Parliament for legislation to deny Ingold’s right to
raise capital for the new company.
James took a prominent part
in a meeting of the Clockmakers, as reported in Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, 2 April 1843. The previous Tuesday over 2,000 tradespeople
met at the Crown and Anchor, “to take into consideration the best means to be
adopted in reference to a bill now lying before Parliament to incorporate a new
company calling themselves The British Watch & Clock-making Company . . “ He opened the meeting and seconded the
resolution, which was to oppose the establishment of the proposed new company –
this posture being maintained and Ingold’s initiative eventually defeated.
Edward
Charles was born circa 1790, evidenced by a record of admission to St Paul’s
School in 1800, his age being shown as ten.
At the age of twenty Edward Charles attained the Freedom of London, a
privilege passed on to him by convention as a result of his father’s
entitlement to the honour.
Edward
Charles’s name appears on a list of jurors for a very significant London trial
in 1820. His suitability to sit on the
jury was successfully challenged by the Crown and he therefore took no part in
the proceedings. However, this trial,
(of the ‘Cato Street conspirators’), is of general interest as it resulted in
the last instance of men found guilty of treason being subject to an execution
in which they were hanged and beheaded, (a diminution of the ‘hanged, drawn and
quartered’ punishment which had originated in the reign of Henry III). They had been confined in the Cold Bath
prison mentioned above in connection with Edward.
That
Edward Charles – in partnership with brother James - was occupying the familiar
Red Lion Street premises is confirmed by an entry in the 1825 issue of Pigot’s
Directory. That he was prospering is
perhaps suggested by his having his – and his wife, Philippa’s – portrait
painted in 1839 by John Samuel Agar, an artist of moderate repute and for a
time President of the Society of Engravers.
The
business, styled as Edward Charles Bracebridge & Co is evident in various
directories with the dates 1851-81. The
primary address remained 8 Red Lion Street, in 1862 a shop was trading at 119
New Bond Street, managed by Charles Roe.
The family residence was 6 Barnsbury Villas, Liverpool Road, Islington.
Edward
Charles and Philippa had two sons, James (James II), circa 1823-92, and Edward
Gilbert, 1822-99. James II proved to be
the more high profile outside the family business itself – he served as
Treasurer to the Watch and Clockmakers Benevolent Institute and was this body’s
representative at the funeral of Charles Frodsham in 1871.
James
himself eventually found his health failing and in the 1 August 1891 issue of
The Watchmaker, Jeweller and Silversmith it was reported:
. .
. Mr. James Bracebridge is retiring from the business which he has carried on
for many years as watch manufacturer in Clerkenwell, under the style of E. C.
Bracebridge and Co. Mr. Bracebridge has
appointed his nephew, Mr. F. Bracebridge Mills, to settle his affairs. There
is, we believe, some likelihood that Mr. T. D. Wright, who for many years has
held the post of manager to Mr. Bracebridge, will continue the business, and in
this event there is no doubt that the reputation the firm has long enjoyed will
be fully maintained in Mr. Wright's hands.
Edward
Gilbert’s role in the business is not clear.
One of the few references to him is a record of a donation of £10.10s.
to the North London Consumption Hospital in 1896, so one might conclude that
he, or a close family member suffered with this condition which was all too
prevalent in late nineteenth century London.
Thomas
Wright formed a partnership with William Craighead to carry on the business at
Red Lion Street from 1891. Wright became
very well known in wider horological circles and it was his proposal for the
format of British Summer Time clocks adjustment that we use to this day.
I have traced eleven extant Bracebridge watches. Attribution to specific members of the family
is difficult because of some missing movement numbers, some re-cases and un
hallmarked cases. At least three sets of
4 digit movement numbers seem to have been used, with an apparently relatively
consistent range between 1823 - #5882 and 1850 - #8935. A five digit #38931 is dated to 1865 and
another, #12741, is in a silver case hallmarked for 1892.
Perhaps the most attractive
is #5882, a repeater in 18ct Gold Case made by Louis Comtesse:
Courtesy of Matthew Barton Ltd
The British Museum holds a Bracebridge movement. Circa1865, this features a Savage-two-pin lever escapement and utilises a keyless winding mechanism:
© Trustees
of the British Museum
