David Ramsay (watchmaker)

Last updated

David Ramsay (died c. 1653), was a Scottish clockmaker who worked for James VI and I and Charles I of England.

Born in Scotland, he was from the family of Ramsay of Dalhousie. His son William (fl. 1660) wrote that when King James succeeded to the crown of England in 1603, "he sent into France for my father, who was then there, and made him page of the bedchamber and groom of the privy chamber, and keeper of all his majesties' clocks and watches. This I mention that by some he hath bin termed no better than a watch maker. ... It's confest his ingenuity led him to understand any piece of work in that nature ... and therefore the king conferred that place upon him". [1]

On 25 November 1613 he was appointed clockmaker-extraordinary to the king with a pension of £50 a year, and in March 1616 a warrant was issued for the payment to him of £234 and 10 shillings for the purchase and repair of clocks and watches for the king. On 26 November 1618 he was appointed chief clockmaker, and on 27 July 1619 letters of denization were granted to him. Various other warrants were passed for payments for his services, and in one which bears date 17 March 1627 he is described as "David Ramsay, esq., our clockmaker and page of our bedchamber". His early works are marked "David Ramsay, Scotus".

On the incorporation of the Clockmakers' Company in 1631 Ramsay became the first master, but he probably took very little part in the work of the society. Upon taking the oath before the lord mayor he was described as "of the city of London", but the city records do not furnish any evidence that he was a freeman. Walter Scott introduces the character David Ramsay, without any strict regard for historical accuracy, in the opening chapter of The Fortunes of Nigel as the keeper of a shop "a few yards to the eastward of Temple Bar".

Ramsay was also a student of the occult sciences. In William Lilly's Life and Times (1715), an amusing account is given of an attempt made in 1634 by Ramsay and others to discover hidden treasure in Westminster Abbey by means of the divining rod, when the operations were interrupted by fierce blasts of wind, attributed by the terrified spectators to demons, who were, however, promptly exorcised. [2] Sir Edward Coke, writing to Secretary Windebanke, on 9 May 1639, about a demand for money which it was inconvenient to meet, says: "If, now, David Ramsay can co-operate with his philosopher's stone, he would do a good service". There are also entries in the Calendars of State Papers, dated 28 July 1628 and 13 August 1635, relating to hidden treasure which Ramsay proposed to discover. A manuscript in the British Library Sloane Collection, No. 1046, bearing the title "Liber Philosophicus, de divinis mysteriis, de Deo, Hominibus, anima, meteoris", is attributed to him on insufficient authority.

Ramsay was also an inventor, and between 1618 and 1638 he obtained eight patents (Nos. 6, 21, 49, 50, 53, 68, 78, 117). Although the full titles of these patents are given in the indexes published by the commissioners of patents, no information as to the precise nature of the inventions is extant. They relate to ploughing land, fertilising barren ground, raising water by fire, propelling ships and boats, manufacture of saltpetre, making tapestry without a loom, refining copper, bleaching wax, separating gold and silver from the base metals, dyeing fabrics, heating boilers, kilns for drying and burning bricks and tiles, and smelting and refining iron by means of coal. [3] In his later years he fell into poverty, and in 1641, while a prisoner for debt, he petitioned the House of Lords for payment of six years' arrears of his pension as groom of the privy chamber. [4] Towards the payment of those arrears the committee for advance of money, by an order dated 13 January 1645, granted him one third of the money arising from his discovery of delinquents' estates. [5] It would appear from this that he had joined the parliamentary party. On 11 Feb. 1651 there is a note in the proceedings of the council of state that a petition of David Ramsay was referred to the mint committee. [6]

Specimens of Ramsay's watches are to be found in the British Museum, in South Kensington Museum [7] and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. [8] A watch belonging to Mrs. Holmes of Gawdy Hall, Norfolk, is described in ‘Norfolk Archæology’ (vi. 2). A technical description of several specimens is given in Britten's ‘Former Clock and Watch Makers,’ . His son William, in the dedication to his father of his Vox Stellarum (1652), refers to the latter's pecuniary difficulties, which gave "occasion to some inferior-spirited people not to value you according to what you both are by nature and in yourself".

The date of Ramsay's death is unknown, but he appears to have been living in 1653, the postscript of his son's Astrologia Restaurata being dated 17 January 1653, "from my study in my father's house in Holborn, within two doors of the Wounded Hart, near the King's Gate".

A petition dated 21 June 1661, there is a petition of Sir Theophilus Gilby and Mary, widow of a David Ramsay, who states that she raised troops for the king's service "at Duke Hamilton's coming into England", since which time she has been sequestered and plundered. But she may possibly have been the widow of another David Ramsay, a courtier. It can be difficult to distinguish the clockmaker and this courtier in some contemporary records. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Harrison</span> English clockmaker (1693–1776)

John Harrison was an English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham-Louis Breguet</span> Inventor of the wristwatch (1747–1823)

Abraham-Louis Breguet, born in Neuchâtel, then a Prussian principality, was a horologist who made many innovations in the course of a career in watchmaking industry. He was the founder of the Breguet company, which is now the luxury watch division of the Swiss Swatch Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worshipful Company of Clockmakers</span> Livery company of the City of London

The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers was established under a royal charter granted by King Charles I in 1631. It ranks sixty-first among the livery companies of the City of London, and comes under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council. The company established a library and its museum in 1813, which is the oldest specific collection of clocks and watches worldwide. This is administered by the company's affiliated charity, the Clockmakers' Charity, and is presently housed on the second floor of London's Science Museum. The modern aims of the company and its museum are charitable and educational, in particular to promote and preserve clockmaking and watchmaking, which as of 2019 were added to the HCA Red List of Endangered Crafts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watchmaker</span> Artisan who makes and repairs watches

A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand. Modern watchmakers, when required to repair older watches, for which replacement parts may not be available, must have fabrication skills, and can typically manufacture replacements for many of the parts found in a watch. The term clockmaker refers to an equivalent occupation specializing in clocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clockmaker</span> Artisan who makes and repairs clocks

A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches. Clockmakers must be able to read blueprints and instructions for numerous types of clocks and time pieces that vary from antique clocks to modern time pieces in order to fix and make clocks or watches. The trade requires fine motor coordination as clockmakers must frequently work on devices with small gears and fine machinery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield</span> English aristocrat, soldier and courtier

Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, PC was an English aristocrat, soldier and courtier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Arnold (watchmaker)</span> 18th-century English watchmaker and inventor

John Arnold was an English watchmaker and inventor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clockmakers' Museum</span> The Museum of the Clockmakers Company

The Clockmakers’ Museum in London, England, is believed to be the oldest collection specifically of clocks and watches in the world. The collection belongs to and is administered by the Clockmakers’ Charity, affiliated to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, founded in 1631 by Royal Charter. Since 2015 it has been housed in a gallery provided by the Science Museum in South Kensington, having formerly been located in the Guildhall complex in the City of London since 1874, where it first opened to the public. Admission is free.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Tompion</span> English clockmaker (1639–1713)

Thomas Tompion, FRS (1639–1713) was an English clockmaker, watchmaker and mechanician who is still regarded to this day as the "Father of English Clockmaking". Tompion's work includes some of the most historic and important clocks and watches in the world, and can command very high prices whenever outstanding examples appear at auction. A plaque commemorates the house he shared on Fleet Street in London with his equally famous pupil and successor George Graham.

Anthony Hungerford (1614/15?–1657) was a Colonel in the English Parliamentary army who fought in Ireland during the War of the Three Kingdoms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Quare</span> British clockmaker

Daniel Quare was an English clockmaker and instrument maker who invented a repeating watch movement in 1680 and a portable barometer in 1695.

William Monson, 1st Viscount Monson was one of the Regicides of King Charles I of England.

The town of Calais, France, was in English hands from 1347 to 1558. During this historical period the task of the treasurer, in conjunction with the Captain of Calais, was keeping the defences in order, supplying victuals and paying the garrison. The treasurer was responsible for raising revenue from the Company of the Staple of Calais, which was required to contribute towards the expenses of defence.

Bartholomew Newsam, was clockmaker to Queen Elizabeth I, probably born at York.

Edward East (1602–1696) was watchmaker and clockmaker to King Charles I of England. He was a notable horologist who succeeded David Ramsay. East was trained as a goldsmith, and he was a founding member of the London Clockmakers Company in 1631.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Windmills</span>

Joseph Windmills (c1640-1724), was an eminent London watch- and clockmaker who, with his son Thomas, produced outstanding timepieces between 1671 and 1737.

Peter Bower was an English clockmaker who settled in Wiltshire during the late 1730s, and established his working career in the village of Redlynch.

Daniel Delander, also known as De Lander or Delaunder, was a notable London clock and watch maker coming from a dynasty of clockmakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Ramsay (astrologer)</span> English physician and astrologer

William Ramsay or William Ramesey was a Scottish-English physician and astrologer.

References

"Ramsay, David (d.1653?)"  . Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

  1. William Ramesay, Astrologia Restaurata (1653), Preface to the Reader, p. 28.
  2. William Lilly, Life and Times (1715), p. 32.
  3. Cal. State Papers, 1619, 1622–3–5.
  4. HMC 4th Report, p. 110a.
  5. Cal. of Committee for Advance of Money, i, p. 40.
  6. Cal. State Papers, 1651–2, p. 140.
  7. "Watch - Victoria & Albert Museum - Search the Collections". Collections.vam.ac.uk. 25 August 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  8. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Watch". Metmuseum.org. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  9. Calendar of State Papers Domestic.
Attribution

Wikisource-logo.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : "Ramsay, David (d.1653?)". Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.