Guild members came together to celebrate John Harrison in style at a memorable evening in the State Room at Number 11 Downing Street on Thursday 28 November.
Harrison experts Jonathan Betts and Andrew King each gave a speech, sharing their knowledge and passion for the man who created the most important clock ever made – H4.
The marine timekeeper, along with other important pieces that shaped the modern world of timekeeping and navigation, was on loan from the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, as part of the ‘Celebrating John Harrison and the Quest for Longitude at Sea’ series of events. It was displayed in one of two ‘showcases’ for guests to view. Andrew also brought along a copy of ‘H4’ which was made for the Granada feature film, ‘Longitude’ and had an insurance indemnity of £2,000,000!
The evening got underway at 6.30pm as guests started to arrive going through a police checkpoint and security scan in Downing Street before reaching the door of Number 11.
Once inside and divested of coats, hats, bags and mobile phones they were shown to the State Room. The evening was greatly over subscribed and sadly only about a third of members who applied to come were able to get a ticket.
Andrew said the life and work of this exceptional horologist had been the inspiration for the Granada film Longitude and added that: ‘Harrison had the mind of a genius and H4 weighed no more than the brain of the man who conceived it.’ He described his first attempts of creating an accurate sea going timekeeper – H1, H2 and H3 – as all too heavy to work at sea. In H4, he put all the knowledge he had gained in making the previous models and came up with a completely different concept.
Andrew added: ‘Finally for Harrison, all the days, weeks, months, and years of work and research finally came together and it was a magical moment.’
Jonathan said that over the last half a century or so, there has been a renaissance in interest in Harrison’s life and work, and since Humphrey Quill’s biography published in 1966, there have been a number of publications telling Harrison’s story.
‘Perhaps most notably Dava Sobel’s book Longitude, published in 1995 which, although criticised by some for over-dramatising the story, has in fact, in terms of sheer numbers of followers, done more to celebrate Harrison’s achievement than any other author,’ he added.
‘In 1752, Harrison famously created a new type of experimental watch movement, employing a heavier, larger watch balance that beat even faster and, most importantly, swung with a larger amplitude. This watch, made to his design by London watchmaker John Jefferys, astonished him with its improved performance and gave him the clue he needed to a successful design. Taking the idea of a new, high-energy balance and building on it, H4 was the result.’
Andrew Canter, of Mr WatchMaster said: ‘It was a honour and a privilege to be invited to the heart of Government with the BWCMG for a special evening to see, up close, one of the most important timepieces ever made – John Harrison’s H4 chronometer, and hear from our eminent friends about the extraordinary timepiece.’
James Stratton, of Bonhams, said: ‘What an incredible evening at Downing Street to celebrate John Harrison. Jonanathan Betts and Andrew King shared their knowledge with such passion and everyone from the BWCMG should be proud for making it a magnificent event. It was an evening that all of us who were fortunate enough to be there will never forget.’
In H4 – the fourth of Harrison’s marine timekeepers – a portable timekeeper had finally been created that could run at sea, thus solving the problem of finding longitude, which in turn saved hundreds of lives. It featured numerous innovations that are still used in watchmaking today.
The evening also provided a chance for the UK’s various horological organisations to get together, with representatives from the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, Master Keith ScobieYoungs; the Antiquarian Horological Society, Chairman James Nye; the British Horological Insititute, President Alan Burtoft; and the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers, CEO Alistair Audsley
At 7pm, Paul Roberson, the main organiser of the event, welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending and said he hoped they would have a wonderful evening.
Andrew King was first on the podium and congratulated the Guild on organising such a magnificent evening to celebrate the technical excellency brought by John Harrison.
He spoke about where Harrison found his inspiration and outlined his early years and working life, describing how his philosophy for making a high precison timepiece flew in the face of everything that was considered sacrosanct to clockmakers, both of his day and the world we live in now.
Jonathan Betts followed opening his talk with… ‘I think it’s fair to say that H4 is generally accepted as the most significant timekeeper in history, the first truly accurate portable timekeeper. It was of course the watch which finally proved to a sceptical world that a portable timekeeper really could enable accurate longitude determination at sea, and gained for John Harrison the majority of the great reward, offered by the British government by Act of Parliament in 1714, for a solution to finding the longitude at sea.
‘But H4 is so much more than this – it was not just the first practical marine chronometer, but the first of all portable precision timekeepers, the true father of all the precision mechanical watches we used to wear in our pockets and on our wrists.’
Jonathan went on to talk about those who, over the years, have sought to downplay Harrison’s achievements, including the scientific establishment of the day who could not believe that something on the scale of a watch could ever succeed, as watches were notoriously poor timekeepers. He highlighted one of Harrison’s greatest achievements, which was to realise that the problem with watches at that time was the oscillating balance which was too light and small in diameter, and was very susceptible to changes in impulse delivered to it by the movement.
A lively question and answers session followed with Jonathan imparting more of his wealth of knowledge. Following the talks, canapés were served and there was a chance to network before the evening came to an end at 8.30pm. Due to security protocol, members weren’t allowed to use phones inside, however, they were allowed to take pictures of themselves outside the famous doors of Number 10 and 11 – some even met Larry the Cat! Following the event, many Guild members got in touch.
Colin Andrews said: ‘What an incredible privilege, as one of the Directors of BWCMG, to visit Downing Street to view and celebrate the world’s most important watch.’
Anne Baker, of the National Benevolent Society of Watch and Clock Makers, added: ‘Thank you to everyone who contributed to making the evening so enjoyable. We were so pleased to be able to attend and it was lovely to meet up with members of the Guild – and I am sure that there are many great photos outside the famous doors, making their way to family albums!
A special thank you to Chris Sandamas at No 11; Amy and Colin Andrews and Charlotte Hall for helping on the night; and Matthew Durbin for taking photos.
