The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers

I did not know the Clockmakers' Museum even existed until I found myself in a group of library students heading to the single room attraction in the Guildhall Library. It is a collection of timekeeping devices that has items dating back to the 17th century. The most unexpected pieces in the collection were the works of art, such as the portrait of a lady and her watch. The main attraction is John Harrison's 5th marine timekeeper pictured in the top right, courtesy of the museum website.

A year ago I would have had no interest in such a museum. It was through a piece of historical fiction on the doomed 1845 Franklin Expedition that I came to appreciate polar exploration. The Terror is about 600 pages too long and more monster-centered than I would have liked, but Dan Simmons captures an authentic sense of time, place, and explorer mentality. It prompted me to research the history of the search for the Northwest Passage, which is where I first came across the problem of determining longitude at sea. The unhappy tale of Henry Hudson sailing blindly with no map and keeping time with a sand hourglass before John Harrison was even born is the image that has stayed with me, even moreso than him and his son drifting aimlessly to an unknown fate after mutiny.

John Harrison solved the longitude problem long before he was satisfied enough with his work to submit it for final appraisal to the Board of Longitude. His first 3 timekeepers were substantially sized. It was not until his friend John Jefferys made him a pocket watch inspired by his larger devices that he realized he could make a small watch that held up against the elements and remained accurate at sea. Jefferys was a freeman with the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. The inspiration for Harrison's H4 is on display at the Clockmakers' Museum.

Proponents of intelligent design always offer up the oft refuted teleological argument to prove the existence of a grand designer. William Paley presented this idea at the start of the 19th century based on the science of the time. The universe seemed too complex to not have been consciously designed by a higher power just as a watch with all its cogs and springs is designed by a watchmaker. Now we know enough about biology and natural selection to see the error of this argument. As it turns out, H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5 have a craftsmanship and a foresight that we lack. In my early exposure to the question of design, I had always been more focused on the universe. The Clockmakers' Museum caused me to finally reflect on the planned complexity of the watch and the genius of the watchmaker.