Thomas Tompion and George Graham - Fleet Street, London, UK
N 51° 30.848 W 000° 06.454
30U E 700690 N 5710967
This blue plaque, probably erected by the City of London as it is in their style, marks the location where two clockmakers, Thomas Tompion and George Graham, lived. The plaque is attached to a building on the south side of Fleet Street.
Waymark Code: WMP2QZ
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/18/2015
Views: 3
The Westminster Abbey website tells us about Thomas Tompion:
Thomas Tompion, called the finest English clockmaker of all time, is buried in the centre part of the nave of Westminster Abbey. The inscription on his stone (which has been re-cut) reads:
“Here lies the body of Mr Tho.Tompion who departed this life the 20th of November 1713 in the 75th year of his age. Also the body of George Graham of London watchmaker and F.R.S. who curious inventions do honour to ye British genius whose accurate performances are ye standard of mechanic skill. He died ye XVI of November MDCCLI in the LXXXVIII year of his age”.
Tompion was born in 1639 at Northill in Bedfordshire, a son of Thomas, a blacksmith, and his wife Margaret. Nothing is known of his early life and education but by the 1670s he was making turret and long-case clocks for the nobility. He was admitted to the Clockmakers’ Company and he worked on projects with the scientist Robert Hooke although he was never elected to the Royal Society. He supplied the original clocks for the Royal Observatory at Greenwich. His niece Elizabeth married clockmaker George Graham who inherited Tompion’s business in 1713. Graham, as the inscription shows, was buried with Tompion in 1751.
The Westminster Abbey website also tells us about George Graham:
George Graham, clock and instrument maker, was a son of George Graham (d.1679) and his wife Isobel. He was probably born in 1673 near Carlisle. George was apprenticed as a clockmaker in London and later joined Thomas Tompion’s workshop. He married Tompion’s niece Elizabeth on 25 September 1704 but there were no children. They inherited Thomas’ business in 1713 and George continued to make precision clocks and watches. He also made an important contribution to astronomy, supplying the most accurate instruments in Europe, and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He died on 16 November 1751 and was buried in Tompion’s grave in the nave. This was one of the few original gravestones retained when the nave was re-paved in 1835. The inscription has been re-cut and reads:
“Here lies the body of Mr Tho.Tompion who departed this life the 20th of November 1713 in the 75th year of his age. Also the body of George Graham of London watchmaker and F.R.S. whose curious inventions do honour to ye British genius whose accurate performances are ye standard of mechanic skill. He died ye XVI of November MDCCLI in the LXXVIII year of his age.”
