05 April 2017

Any Watchmakers in your family tree?


Any Watchmakers in your family tree?

Just the other week I mentioned an 19th century collateral ancestor, John Ne(i)lson, watchmaker, who was Scottish born and lived in Limerick and Dublin for a bit in FREE Access to Irish Records at FindMyPast (13-17 March 2017).

A couple of days later, Ancestry blogged about Explore “Cogsworth” Actor Ian McKellen’s Family History of Watch Makers.

After two references to watchmakers in as many days, I knew it was time to do a bit of research on whether any records exist dedicated to watchmakers; the Ancestry piece mentioned census records and I talked about directories.

Another place to look are newspaper archives.  Watchmakers (sometimes also operated as jewelers) were always advertising their services to get new clients!

Maybe your watchmaker left an archive? Check Archivegrid.

There were publications dedicated to watchmakers et al such as The Watchmaker & jeweler, silversmith & optician, published in London (UK), whose archives are found via Internet Archive.

Maybe there is a guild or association that they belonged to like The British Watch & Clockmakers’ Guild or The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers (UK).

Has a book been published about watchmakers that is relevant?  Maybe Watchmakers and Clockmakers of the World or Pennsylvania clockmakers and watchmakers, 1660-1900 or The silversmiths of Georgia : together with watchmakers and jewelers, 1733-1850 or Old Clocks and Watches & Their Makers, or similar.

Has someone created a resource listing those who practiced the trade such as UK & Irish Clock and Watch Makers (c1600-c1940).


Or a national archive, such as the Smithsonian Learning Lab on Clock and watch makers might contain ledgers and other relevant material.


Hopefully you now have enough suggestions that you can start delving into your watchmaking ancestors!


If you have already researched your watchmaking ancestors, what resource(s) have you found helpful?





Editor’s Note: John was also mentioned in the post, Forget What You Know & Challenge Assumptions -- You MIght Just Knock Down that Brick Wall!







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to [email protected]. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Want to learn more about interacting with the blog, please read Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Follow NGS via Facebook, Flipboard, Google+, Twitter, YouTube

No comments:

Post a Comment