SHOPS and TRADES
THE HUGGIN CLOCK- and WATCHMAKERS of ASHWELLTHORPE
Six generations of the HUGGIN family lived in Ashwellthorpe during the 17th to 19th Centuries with five family members in three generations becoming clock- and watchmakers. More family history of this Huggin family is given in the Houses and People section, but the following is an outline so that the clock- and watchmaker Huggin family members can be time-lined.
Thomas Huggin Snr, a cordwainer (shoemaker), of Ashwellthorpe died in 1690; he and his wife Joanna had three sons: George the oldest, John, and Thomas the youngest. They also had a daughter Susan(na) who had married John Rudland in Ashwellthorpe in 1684.
Their youngest son - Thomas Huggin Jnr -was probably the Thomas who married Deborah. There was a Thomas and Deborah Huggin(s) who baptised a son Thomas on 7 April 1688 at St John Timberhill, Norwich. Whether this is the same Thomas and Deborah who had a son John baptised in Ashwellthorpe in 1692 is not known for certain, but this 1692 John (below) became the first known generation of the clock- and watchmaker Huggin dynasty in Ashwellthorpe.
The five clock- watchmakers were: John Huggin 1692-1775; his sons John 1723-1788, William 1727-1802 and Barnard 1734-1819; and William's son William 1768-1829.
The Huggin family lived in this building on The Street, the earliest part of which is c. 17th Century timber-frame, plastered, with fragmentary remains of pargetting on the front. It has a steep pantile roof with gabled ends with the north end faced in brick and having a stepped gable [Historic England Grade II Listing] In part of the 18th Century addition, there was a stone above the door of one of the rooms with W.H. 1796 inscribed on it and at the top of one of the chimney breasts, another stone bearing the same legend. At the beginning of the 20th Century, there also remained intact the work bench and shelves in the workroom.
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FIRST GENERATION OF HUGGIN CLOCK- WATCHMAKERS
JOHN HUGGIN Snr, the first known clock-watchmaker – baptised in Ashwellthorpe 1692, married Elizabeth ? some time before 1721 and had eight children, with three sons -John, William and Barnard, becoming clock- or watchmakers.
A clock made by John the Elder is exhibited in the Bridewell Museum (Museum of Norwich) in Norwich – an oak-cased thirty hour longcase clock, 5ft. 10ins. high with a square 11-inch brass dial and urn and scroll spandrels. It was originally a single-handed movement, now two-handed, with a plate frame. Other known examples of his work are an oak 8-day longcase clock dated 1735; a thirty-hour wall striking clock with brass dial; and a watch and a longcase clock made earlier than 1752. He advertised his watches in the Norwich Mercury newspaper in July 1752. John Huggin Snr died in 1775. [see also: 'Norfolk & Norwich Clocks & Clockmakers', Clifford & Yvonne Bird, 1996 Phillimore]
This dated John Huggin clock has been in the same Norfolk family, given as a wedding present many generations ago; made in 1724 with the Phoenix being added to the dial in 1726.
The John Huggin clock pictured below is an early/middle 18th Century 30 hour clock in a medium oak case and is likely, therefore, to be a clock made by John Huggin Snr. It has an early-birdcage movement striking on a bell on the hour. The face has a brass chapter ring with Roman numerals, cast rococo spandrels and a matted brass centre. It also has a petite date aperture. The hood has brass-capped wooden columns and a central brass finial and the case a full-length door with a brass escutcheon.
Images and description by kind permission of Lofthouse Antiques, Abbots Bromley, Staffs
This plain dial is by John Huggin Snr. and believed to be c. 1750.
These two images are of a 1760 John Huggin Snr. 30 hour wall hooded alarm clock, in an oak and pine case with ornamental bracket. The single-handed arch dial has rococo spandrels, silvered chapter ring, alarm disc and matted centre. The plate frame movement has an anchor escapement and a long pendulum. Images by Jeff Darken by kind permission of the Antiquarian Horological Society. Descriptive text by Jeff Darken from "Time and Place:English Country Clocks 1600-1840" (AHS 2007)
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SECOND GENERATION OF HUGGIN CLOCK- WATCHMAKERS
JOHN HUGGIN Jnr, the oldest son of John and Elizabeth Huggin, was born on 5 April 1723 and buried in Ashwellthorpe on 21 December 1788. There are many clocks known to have been made by him. The longcase clock pictured below, photographed by its owner in 2014, is by John Huggin; it might be by John Jnr. – experts would have to confirm.
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WILLIAM HUGGIN Snr, the middle son of John and Elizabeth Huggin, was born on 29 September 1727 in Ashwellthorpe and he married Hannah Oakley here on 11 February 1766. He died in July 1802 and is buried at All Saints' church, Ashwellthorpe. His watches were obviously well-prized as this notice in the Norwich Mercury newspaper of 14 October of 1758 placed by William Barnard, a merchant of Norwich, illustrates. It asked for the return of his watch which he had lost on Tuesday 10 October "between Brazen-Doors and Wrenningham Church" and said that it was "suppos'd to be dropt near the Shepherd's House". He described it as a silver watch with the "maker's name within: Wm. Huggin Ashwellthorpe" and on the "Dial Plate: Wm. Barnard Norwich". He asked that, if found, it should be brought to him, or to William Huggin or to the Printer of the Mercury and offered a reward of One Guinea (£1.05) to the finder, a great deal of money in those days.
The photographs below are of a William Huggin longcase clock (probably William Snr.) which, in 2009, was in USA having been purchased in West Virginia early in the 20th Century. The top of the hood of this clock bears what is known as "whale's tail cresting" evidently often seen on East Anglian clocks.
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BARNARD HUGGIN, the youngest son of John and Elizabeth Huggin,was born on 26 January 1733/34 (i.e. 1734 new calendar) in Ashwellthorpe. Longcase clocks known to have been made by him include one with a brass dial and another with a painted dial. Barnard died in May 1819 and was buried at All Saints' Church, Ashwellthorpe.
The above are photographs, taken in 2013 in The Netherlands, of a painted dial and clock machinery, part of a longcase clock made by Barnard Huggin. The owner thought the clockwork to be too small for the case and believed the wooden casing to be of more recent origin than the dial and mechanism.
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THIRD GENERATION OF HUGGIN CLOCK- WATCHMAKERS
WILLIAM HUGGIN Jnr was baptised on 9 October 1768, the only son of the above William and Hannah Huggin nee Oakley. He died in November 1829 and was buried at All Saints' Church, Ashwellthorpe. There is an example of what is thought to be a William Huggin Jnr. pocket watch in USA in 2009 pictured below – it has a silver case with the assay letter C indicating 1798.
Pictures from the National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors Inc. www.mb.nawcc.org
One example of his work (not illustrated) is an oak
longcase clock with break arch, a 12 inch painted dial and Prince of Wales
feathers in arch made about 1810. It has
an eight-day striking movement, Arabic numerals, minutes at every 5 minutes,
date aperture, signed Wm. Huggin, Ashwellthorpe, with a whale's tail cresting
on hood. Another item known to have been
made by him for a William Linsley of London (a watchcase maker) was: pair case
verge watch, hallmarked 1812, with the case marked with a stag above the
initials WL of William Linsley.
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More on the Huggin family history can be seen within the HOUSES and PEOPLE section
.