The origin of the watch industry in Coventry is very obscure due to the lack of documentary evidence. One can only conjecture as to why Coventry became the third watchmaking centre after London and Liverpool.
In its heyday the industry enjoyed great prosperity but there were also recessions which resulted in periods of deep poverty. Nothing is unique about that in an industrial society. What happened to the Coventry watch industry has since happened to other Coventry industries with a similar impact on their workers.
What one can be sure of is that there were a few clockmakers working in Coventry prior to the 1750's. It is known that Coventry, due in part to its geographical location, had for a long time been sited at a cross-roads where goods were manufactured, exchanged and dispatched to all parts of the country.
This made it a suitable place to start an industry which was no doubt stimulated by the technical advances made over a period of time in the clockmaking and watchmaking fields. Some of the most important of these developments throughout Europe are shown below:
1450 Mainspring introduced
1450 Fusee introduced
1540 Screws first used in Germany
1584 Gallieo's pendulum theory
1590 Screws first used in England
1600 First pocket watch
1610 Watch glasses introduced
1620 Gut replaced by chain on fusee
1640 Enamelled dials introduced
1674 Hairsprings first used
1694 Jewel bearings introduced
These developments might well have contributed to the expectation and demand from wealthy gentry for a portable timepiece, ie a pocket watch. Demand has always created the momentum for an industry to expand.
From the records that do exist we are aware of several early Coventry clock and watchmakers. Samuel Watson was sheriff of Coventry in 1686 and was reputed to have built a clock that not only told the time of day but also showed the positions of the planets and signs of the zodiac.
In 1695 John Carte, a watchmaker from Coventry, was working in Lombard Street, London. John Patson and Joseph Huet maintained the clocks in the Market Place, Cross Cheaping and the Grammar School. Huet was paid 20 shillings in 1669 for making a balance wheel and spindle for the school clock. New clocks were provided at the school and New Gate around 1680, the former being made by Benjamin Brockhurst who was elected Mayor in 1708. In 1745 and 1753 George Potter, a watchmaker, was Mayor of Coventry and in fact died in office during 1753.
In 1747 the firm of Vale was established, Samuel Vale serving as Mayor on several separate occasions. The firm subsequently became Vale & Howlette, then Vale, Howlette, Carr & Rotherham. Richard Kevitt Rotherham was a former apprentice of the firm which eventually became Rotherham & Sons. Rotherhams went on to become the major employer and manufacturer and came to enjoy an international reputation. By 1899 they employed 400 - 500 people plus about 200 outworkers and produced 100 watches a day.
By the 19th century other watchmakers enjoyed the prominence of holding office as constables. There were 7 serving as constables in 1802, 9 in 1813, 13 in 1819 and 13 in 1824. The period of greatest expansion of the industry was between 1830 and 1850. In 1851 2000 people were employed in the watch trade. The great majority were small craftsmen specialising in one aspect of the trade but there were 21 larger manufacturers employing 631 people between them.
[ This information is from 'Moments in Time - The history of the Coventry Watch Industry - Volume 1' available from the Coventry Watch Museum Project ]
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