Grandfather clocks

Grandfather clocks

A clock supposedly made in 1750 by Poignard, but probably by an ancestor of one of the Poignands shown in the list on this page

Many old Jersey houses have a 'grandfather' or long-case clock apparently made in the island, but the great majority were probably manufactured elsewhere, although their cases may well have been made in Jersey

A Jersey room setting with a long case clock

Quite often the face of the clock will bear the mark of a Jersey 'clock maker', but closer examination will reveal an English maker's name hidden behind the mechanism.

The earliest long-case clock bearing the word 'Jersey' is dated about 1690, but an examination of the register of apprentices of the Company of Clockmakers from 1631 to 1931 does not reveal any Jersey names. An English Act of Parliament of 1698 required every clock dial to be signed with the 'name and place of abode' of the maker, and in Jersey's case, this was invariably taken to be the person responsible for the final assembly of the clock.

So the 1690 clock is engraved 'Henry de la Fauille, Jersey'. He was a Huguenot watchmaker who settled in Jersey and married Marguerite Aubin. Their son Abraham was apprenticed in 1716 to Henry Aubin, probably his mother's brother, the London goldsmith.

The following is a list, compiled by R Falle and Richard Mayne, of names which have been found on 'grandfather' clocks in Jersey: