Hilkiah Bedford Hilkiah Bedford was an instrument maker based in London. He specialised in the manufacture of fine precision instruments including rules, quadrants, standard sundials, and portable universal ring dials. We know that he made clocks too, but only a handful have survived. In 1632, Bedford was born to Quaker parents in Lincolnshire. His father was a ‘gentleman’ by the name of Thomas Bedford. In 1646, Hilkiah was apprenticed in the Stationers’ Company to John Thompson, a mathematical instrument maker. In 1654, he was made a Free Brother of that Company. A couple years later, in 1656, at the age of 24, he married Mary Gardner, who just 14 years of age. He may have continued to work under John Thompson during the two years it took him to become a journeyman. Sometime around 1656, Bedford set up his first premises at the Sign of the Globe near Holborn-Conduit. Around 1663, he moved his workshop to Hosier Lane near West Smithfield, working there until 1666, when these premises were destroyed in the Great Fire of London. After this misfortune, he managed to set up another shop on Fleet Street ‘near the end of Fetter Lane’. Between 1656 and 1671, Bedford took on various apprentices through the Stationers’ Company. In 1668, he joined a second, the Clockmakers’ Company, eventually taking on three apprentices through that guild. In the late 1660s, the dual catastrophes of the Great Plague and the Great Fire brought London to an economic standstill. There was a shortage of brass, which greatly affected the businesses of instrument makers and clockmakers, and all of the City guilds were desperate for funds. Horologist Brian Loomes suggests that this is probably why the Clockmakers’ Company held a meeting on 24 February 1668 at which they decided to compel as many as twenty mathematical instrument makers, Bedford among them, to join their Company.[1] Bedford and his fellow instrument makers who joined the Company were not allowed to join as Freeman, because they were already members of other Companies. Instead, they were admitted as lower-status Brothers. Despite only being only a Brother, Bedford was of such high standing that the Clockmakers made him a Custodian of the Standard Measure, a role reserved for senior members. As a Custodian, Bedford was responsible for holding clock and instrument makers accountable to the trading standards set and controlled by the Clockmakers’ Company. These included verification that instrument makers were not using substandard, incorrect rulers. Loomes explains that Custodians could enter a premises of anyone in the trade at any time, and without notice, ‘to uncover, confiscate and deface inadequate work in clocks and watches’.[2] These searches were referred to as the ‘walks’ or ‘four walks’. In April of 1668, Bedford carried out the Company’s first such search of instrument makers’ premises. One of Bedford’s standard rulers for laying out sundials is at the Science Museum (Inventory Number: 2986377). It was made in 1657 and is signed H Bedford by Holborn conduit: As described by George Serle in his "Dialling Universal". There is also a signed sundial made by Bedford around 1663 (coming soon to Clocktime).[3] This is the only known instrument produced at his Hosier Lane premises (destroyed by the Great Fire) that has survived. It is dated to 1663 because we know that Bedford was working at Hosier Lane between that year and 1666. Further, it is unlikely that sundials were being produced in London amidst the brass shortage following the waves of plague that swept through the city’s population between 1665 and 1670. Thus, a manufacture date of 1663 or 1664 is probable. This sundial was probably engraved by Bedford himself, as instrument makers were also usually engravers. There has been discussion about whether or not Bedford made clocks prior to joining the Clockmakers’ Company. This is highly unlikely, as the Company regulated against non-members signing and selling their own clock in the City of London. Thus, prior to 1668, when Bedford became a member of the Company, he would not have evaded punishment for trading clocks in London. Only a few of Bedford’s clocks survive, and these were all probably all made after 1668. Examples of these surviving Bedford clocks include his walnut architectural longcase made around 1670 (mentioned above and coming soon to Clocktime).[4] There is also a lantern clock that is signed Hilkiah Bedford in Fleet Street Londini.[5] We know that Bedford did not take up residence on Fleet Street until September of 1666, after the Great Fire. Thus, we can confidently date this clock to sometime shortly after the last quarter of that year. There has also been discussion about whether or not Bedford continued to make instruments after joining the Clockmakers’ Company. The consensus is that he did. After all, sundials were requisite equipment for all clockmakers and clock owners, because all such timepieces had to have their time set locally by using a sundial. There is only a small amount of evidence for clockmakers making their own sundials.[6 Presumably, given Bedford’s reputation and status, his skills as an instrument maker were probably in high demand. Hilkiah Bedford died on 6 May 1689 and was buried at St. Dunstan’s in Fleet Street. End Notes [1] Loomes 2013. [2] Ibid. [3] Carter 2021b, Catalogue No. 8; Loomes 2013; Taylor et al. 2020, Exhibit No. 4:2. [4] Carter 2021b, Catalogue No. 13; Darken 2001; Dawson et al. 1994, 238–239, figs 319–320 [5] Loomes 2013. [6] Sundials made by established clockmakers from this period are rare. Examples are the Pelham Tompion Sundial (Carter 2021a, Catalogue No. 29) and the Duke of Kent Sundial (Carter 2022, Catalogue No. 28; Taylor 2018, Exhibit No. 114; Taylor et al. 2019, Exhibit No. 4: 4), both by Thomas Tompion and coming soon to Clocktime. References Carter, J. 2021a. The John C Taylor Collection: Part I (Selling Exhibition Catalogue, Carter Marsh & Co.). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Carter, J. 2021b. The John C Taylor Collection: Part II (Selling Exhibition Catalogue, Carter Marsh & Co.). Winchester: Carter Marsh & Co. Darken, J. 2001. ‘Short notes on a clock by Hilkiah Bedford’ in Antiquarian Horology June: 184–186. Dawson, P. G., C. B. Drover and D. W. Parkes. 1994 [1982]. Early English Clocks: A discussion of domestic clocks up to the beginning of the eighteenth century. Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors’ Club. Loomes, B. © 2013. Hilkiah Bedford and a Charles II sundial. Ihttps://www.brianloomes.com/collecting/bedfordsundial/index.html Taylor, J. C. 2018. Innovation & Collaboration: Exhibition guide. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Taylor, J. C. and K. Leith (with contributions by T. Phillipson). 2019. The Luxury of Time: Clocks from 1550–1750. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Taylor, J. C. and K. Leith (with contributions from T. Phillipson and K. Neate). 2020. The Luxury of Time: Clocks from 1500–1800. Isle of Man: Fromanteel Ltd. Further Reading Shaw Myers, Joanna. 1991. ‘Did royal friendship alter Quaker influence on English history?’ in Quaker History 80:2, 100–107.