John Field or Feild, clock maker, Evesham, late 1700s

[LesleyB]

Hi all

John Field or Feild, clock maker, Evesham in late 1700s

Been on a google for this chap, and although there are clearly books which may mention him, on Google books they seem to be all snippet or limited view. Pigots on "Historical Directories" web site is too late at 1828/29 - no sign of him at Evesham, Warwickshire, ...suspect he may have died by then.

No sign in 1820 - Evesham Lewis Worcestershire Directory 1820
http://www.parishmouse.com/worcs/2009/4 ... -1820.html
...and strangely no sign in 1791 (as below)
http://www.parishmouse.com/worcs/2009/4 ... -1791.html

Principal Inhabitants of Evesham 1791
Traders, &c.
Fell Mrs. Dealer in China, Glass, and Hosiery

Field George, Gardener

Fisher and Fisher, Wheelwrights

Fisher Stephen, Wheelwright

Warner John, Clock and Watch-maker
Wilkes –, Clock and Watch-maker

Source Universal British Directory 1791

I know nothing about him...other than his name appears to be spelt incorrectly on the grandfather clock I have. Spelt John Feild, Evesham on the engraved clockface, though I suspect it should be Field. I believe the clock dates from 1797 or thereabouts -this was told to me by a clocksmith who fixed the clock about 10-15 years ago.

I've put in a request at the following web site for a look up in the 1791 Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce & Manufacture
http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/wks/
But from the above list, it does not look like he is listed there. I wonder if the clock dates from a little earlier or maybe later...I'd be interested to know a little about him if anyone can turn up anything. Meanwhile I'll keep googling.

Best wishes
Lesley

[garibaldired]

Lesley,

You've probably seen this:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghiribizzo/2852981909/

Best wishes,
Meg

[LesleyB]

Erm...yes, I'd quite forgotten that a pic of the clock had been taken a while back.

[Currie]

Hello Lesley,

He’s a bit elusive, this fellow. I couldn’t find much apart from some Google book bits that look like him. You may have already seen them all by now. There’s “Clockmakers and Watchmakers of Central England”. I suppose the codes C & W could be the obvious but I guess one is just a bigger version of the other. This entry on page 186 has him as: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=MtM ... CC4Q6AEwAA

Field, John
Evesham, Worcs 1780-5 W
Apprenticed in 1769 to James Head. Died in 1785.

There’s nothing more for him on that page as another John Field immediately follows as per the search results http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&t ... =&gs_rfai= Here’s the start of the entry for James Head on page 209 http://books.google.com.au/books?id=MtM ... bWkCg&cd=1

[Head], James
Evesham Worcs 1761-74 C
Took as apprentices: Thomas Marchant in 1761, William Mills 1761, and John Field 1769. Thirty- ……………….

It looks like James Head stopped something, perhaps living, in 1774.

According to this book James Head died 1774 and has a W code. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=BQ7 ... 22&f=false

Here’s John Field in the same book page 108 with a C code
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=BQ7 ... 22&f=false

I don’t know whether apprentice clockmakers ever got to engrave their own name on a clock dial, but assuming he didn’t during the maximum of five years he could have spent with Mr Head I suppose that could narrow down the clock dial etching to between 1774 and 1785? It probably depends on exactly what '1780-5 W' stands for.

Hope that’s useful,
Alan

[LesleyB]

Brilliant Alan - you definately retain your title of "Master Googler" of TS. =D>

So, it seems the clock is from an earlier date than I thought it was. I may have remembered what the clocksmith said wrongly - it is highly likley as 1797 is the date of a coin I was given as a child, and still own, so it is a date burned into my memory. I would not be surprised if it has overwritten all other dates told to me of about the same period (especially given that I was told this about the clock 10-15 years ago!)

Between 1774 and 1785 (probably 1780-85) for the clock seems very likely given what you have found, and there is no way it could be 1797 if Mr "Feild" was deceased by then. It does seem likely that C & W stand for the obvious I reckon, but I note that the page giving the abbreviations used in "Clockmakers of the World" seems to not be included in the google book. But found 'em here, only to letter S, but at least it confirms "C" is clockmaker:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BQ73 ... &q&f=false

I suspect although broadly similar occupations there are likely to be very specialist tasks assocoated wth making one type of timepiece or t'other. Clearly spulling wasn't one of the specialist areas covered tho'

You do wonder...did he engrave it, then stand back and have one of those awful moments of panic, and decide he would just have to let it go, given that it was probably too late to do anything about it, or was he blissfully unaware of the letters having been transposed.

Many thanks for your help Alan

Best wishes
Lesley

You should be able to see the clock face here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20350042@N02/4615651703/

[Currie]

That’s ok Lesley,

It’s a beautiful thing. Is it an Oak case? I guess one of the benefits of him having such a short career is that there is unlikely to be too many surviving examples of his work.

I suppose when you think about it Feild seems more consistent with the sound. Maybe that was the way he always spelt his name and history has changed it. There’s quite a few Feilds on FreeBMD all the way from 1837 to the 1940s. Probably only some of those are misspellings and the rest have settled on Feild. There are 109 Feilds on the 1911 census, and 7 of those are in Worcestershire, so it makes you wonder.

In “British Clockmakers & Watchmakers Apprentice Records: 1710-1810” all I can bring up of relevance is a snippet for the apprentice Thomas Marchant. A search within the book doesn’t produce anything for the apprentices Mills & Field/Feild. It looks like the standard apprenticeship was 7 years but some did less. http://www.google.com.au/books?lr=&ei=D ... rch_anchor

That entry reads: 54/134 Marchant Thomas app, James Head mas, Clockmaker, Evesham, Worcs, 5 Nov 1761, 7 years, £30

All the best,
Alan