Raymond Saunders (clockmaker)

Last updated

Raymond Saunders (Feb. 7, 1940 to Nov. 23, 2024) was a Canadian clockmaker who has designed and built more than 150 customized clocks that mainly serve as tourist-attracting public artworks. In 1977 he was commissioned to build a steam clock for the Gastown district of Vancouver, Canada. [1] The Gastown clock may be the first steam clock ever built although there is evidence that 19th century British engineer John Inshaw made a steam clock after which was named a Birmingham pub. Saunders has since built six different public steam clocks for clients such as the city of Otaru, Japan, and the Indiana State Museum. He has also built a clock for Vancouver's York House School's 78th birthday in 2010.

In 2019, Saunders was badly injured in a fall and became semi-retired. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gastown</span> Neighbourhood in Vancouver, Canada

Gastown is the original settlement that became the core of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and a national historic site and a neighbourhood in the northwest section of the Downtown Eastside, adjacent to Downtown Vancouver.

<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">John Deighton</span>

John Deighton, better known as "Gassy Jack", was a bar-owner in British Columbia. The Gastown neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia takes its name from him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambie Street</span> Street in Vancouver, Canada

Cambie Street is a street in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is named for Henry John Cambie, chief surveyor of the Canadian Pacific Railway's western division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9 O'Clock Gun</span> Cannon in Vancouver that fires daily

The 9 O'Clock Gun is a cannon located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, that is ordinarily fired daily at 21:00 (9 p.m.) PT.

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

Storyeum was a short-lived tourist attraction, located at 142 Water Street, Vancouver. Storyeum was located in the largely touristy area of the Gastown neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Storyeum offered up a live, interactive, educational, re-creation of British Columbia's history through special effects, actors and actresses in a 65-minute show.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotel Europe (Vancouver)</span> Former: Hotel, Current: Low-income residential in Vancouver, British Columbia

Hotel Europe is a six-story heritage building located at 43 Powell Street in the Gastown area of Vancouver, British Columbia. The building was commissioned by hotelier Angelo Calori and built in 1908-1909 by Parr and Fee Architects. Situated on a triangular lot, the building is designed in the flatiron style. It was the first reinforced concrete structure to be built in Canada and the earliest fireproof hotel in Western Canada. Contractors had to be brought in from Cincinnati, Ohio for the necessary expertise; the Ferro-Concrete Construction Company began this project six years after constructing the first tall concrete building in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Vancouver</span> Neighbourhood of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada

Downtown Vancouver is the central business district and the city centre neighbourhood of Vancouver, Canada, on the northwestern shore of the Burrard Peninsula in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. It occupies most of the north shore of the False Creek inlet, which cuts into the Burrard Peninsula creating the Downtown Peninsula, where the West End neighbourhood and Stanley Park are also located.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steam clock</span> Clock powered by a steam engine

A steam clock is a clock which is fully or partially powered by a steam engine. Only a few functioning steam clocks exist, most designed and built by Canadian horologist Raymond Saunders for display in urban public spaces. Steam clocks built by Saunders are located in Otaru, Japan; Indianapolis, United States; and the Canadian cities of Vancouver, Whistler and Port Coquitlam, all in British Columbia. Steam clocks by other makers are installed in St Helier, Jersey and at the Chelsea Farmers' Market in London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water Street (Vancouver)</span> Street in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Water Street is a street in the Gastown area of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is named for its proximity to the water, in this case the south shore of Burrard Inlet, and was briefly known as Front Street. Water Street is popular amongst tourists; its most famous landmark is the steam clock.

Creative Energy is a private district heating company. The company was founded on November 1, 1968, by group of engineers with a desire to lower heating bills for buildings and reduce the amount of pollution being created to provide heat downtown. In 2014, Central Heat Distribution was rebranded as Creative Energy and began taking on additional district heating projects in Vancouver and Toronto.

This is a timeline of the history of Vancouver.

Granville was the name from 1870 to 1886 for what would become the townsite of Vancouver, British Columbia. The townsite included the original settlement of Gastown.

The Global Relay Gastown Grand Prix is a criterium cycling race held in Gastown, the oldest neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. James Anglican Church (Vancouver)</span> Church in British Columbia, Canada

St. James' Anglican Church is a unique church building in the Diocese of New Westminster of the Anglican Church of Canada located at the north-east corner of East Cordova Street and Gore Avenue in the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada's Downtown Eastside district of the Strathcona neighbourhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of Vancouver</span>

The architecture of Vancouver and the Greater Vancouver area consists of a variety of modern architectural styles, such as the 20th-century Edwardian and the 21st-century modernist styles. Initially, the city architects embraced styles developed in Europe and the United States, with only limited local variation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of John Deighton</span> Statue formerly in Vancouver

A statue of John Deighton was commissioned in 1970 and was sculpted by Vern Simpson. Its location moved to various spots in Vancouver's Gastown neighborhood, in British Columbia, Canada. It was finally installed at a spot near where Deighton had opened the Globe Saloon in 1867. On February 14, 2022, the statue was toppled by protesters.

References

  1. Explorer Publishing (2008). Vancouver Residents' Guide. Explorer Publishing. pp. 225–. ISBN   978-9948-03-384-4.
  2. Vancouver Sun. "Prominent Vancouver clockmaker on mend, must learn to walk again after fall from ladder".