A very rare, dated, mid 18th century mahogany-crossbanded oak longcase clock with Dutch strike and bolt-and-shutter maintaining powerHenry Hindley, YorkThe inverted bell top with shaped cresting flanked by twin capped pedestals over a stepped multi-part cornice raised on freestanding reeded Doric columns, the long trunk door with mahogany crossbanded edge on a matching panel base and apron. The 12 inch arched brass dial with large subsidiary date dial framed by addorsed dolphin mounts over mask-and-scroll spandrels enclosing the silvered Roman and Arabic chapter ring signed either side of VI, the finely matted centre with running seconds and matted shutters for the maintaining power. The weight driven movement secured to the (replaced) seatboard by twin J-bolts locating into the lower edges of the plates which are united by four typical turned baluster pillars of particularly good colour, the going train with maintaining power engaged via a pull cord below, the striking train with rack striking system on a bell, (originally Dutch striking, now one bell hammer removed). The frontplate with engraved date 1743. The tapering steel rod pendulum with brass faced lenticular bob, and a pair of lead weights. 2.41m (7ft 11ins) high.Footnotes:Henry Hindley was born 'Henry Hindle' in 1699 to Margaret Proctor and Henry Hindle, a blacksmith, in Great Harwood, near to Blackburn. The Hindles were a well-known blacksmith family in Great Harwood, going back at least 150 years. It has been suggested that Henry served his apprenticeship in Wigan and at least two clocks signed Hindley de Wigan and dated to around 1720, are known to exist, which would support this conclusion. It is unknown who his master was; John Burgess, a Wigan clockmaker and gun smith, has been suggested, though there is no concrete proof that this was the case. Henry was the eldest of eleven, possibly twelve children. His sister, Katherine, was around a year his junior, followed by John (1704), Elizabeth (1705), Sarah (possibly another sister, though not confirmed), Mary (1708), Anne (1709), Edith (1711), another Anne (1713), the twins Margaret and Alice (1714), and the youngest of the siblings, Roger, who was born in 1716. By 1731, Hindley was in York, obtaining the Freedom of the City in March of that year. In order to gain Freedom in York, a horologist either had to be apprenticed in York, or pay for their freedom, with gifts being accepted in lieu of payment. Hindley accordingly gifted two specially made eight-day longcase clocks; one for the Mayor of York's home (Mansion House) and another for the Common Hall/Guildhall. He also agreed to maintain both clocks for a year (after which point, he would be paid for servicing them) and was subsequently granted his freedom. At some point, he married a woman named Sarah, and the couple had at least two children, Elizabeth and Joseph. The latter was born around 1728 and would likely have been apprenticed to his father.Hindley originally appears to have lived in Petersgate, before moving in 1741 to the corner of Blake Street and Stonegate. Around the time of his move to York, he seems to have apprenticed his younger brother Roger, though no formal record of this apprenticeship exists. Roger would later move to London, seemingly around the time that Henry moved to Blake Street and Stonegate. His main trade was watch-cap manufacture, and as no finished timepieces are known with his signature, it is assumed he built his career on supplying parts for the trade. He was known to have married, and the couple had at least one son, John. The last known record of this part of the Hindley family is in 1785, where Roger is noted as still an active horologist. In addition to changing residence in 1741, Henry Hindley made the acquaintance of John Smeaton, who would eventually become a London scientific instrument maker and civil engineer, as well as a life-long friend and posthumous promoter of Henry Hindley. During their first meeting, Smeaton references a wheel-cutting engine in Hindley's possession, and of Hindley's own manufacture around this time, which was equipped with an endless screw, and the ability to cut up to 360 teeth. Smeaton was so intrigued with the machine and its manufacture, that he would later deliver a lecture before the Royal Society in 1785, specifically about the machine and Hindley's process for dividing circles. The machine was acquired by a varied string of clockmakers, after Hindley's death, and alternatively run down and restored. It is unknown what eventually became of it.In addition to clocks, around 67 of which are extant (most being longcases, followed by turret clocks and then spring driven clocks) Hindley was known to have made at least two equatorial telescopes. The first was made around 1754, a contemporary opining that the mounting for the telescope was originally made to test the accuracy of Hindley's wheel cutting engine. He advertised the finished telescope for sale in the local newspaper of August that year, though it seemed to generate little interest. The telescope languished until 1761, when it was bought by a landowner, William Constable, to watch the transit of Venus. The second telescope Hindley made appears to have been made on commission for the Duke of Norfolk. Additionally, a pyrometer and rack-driven fusee engine are known to have been made by Hindley. Elizabeth died in 1762, the exact cause being unknown. Sarah followed shortly after, around the end of the same year. Henry continued his business until his death in 1771, reportedly after a 'lingering illness', though he managed to install a turret clock made for St. John's Church in Manchester before his death. One of the last jobs completed before his death, poetically, was the servicing of the clocks he had made for the Manion House and the Guildhall. He was described in his obituary as a 'Clock, Watch, and Mathematical Instrument maker.' Joseph took out a notice the following week, that he would be continuing his father's business. In 1774, shortly after completing work on the Holy Trinity Church's clock in Hull, Joseph also died, apparently in the middle of making an atmospheric steam engine for the same town's waterworks. He was described as a clock and watchmaker, with his obituary declaring him 'a most ingenious man, and esteemed one of the best Mechanics in the North of England.' Joseph had no children, nor did he ever marry, meaning that six months later, all the tools he inherited from his father were sold off, including the famed dividing engine.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
