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​Bullock Clock in Germany           Guido Schild    October 2022
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Greetings from Berlin, Germany. It was beautiful to read about the Bullock clockmaker family in Pat Whalley’s article about the Bullock Family. You may be interested to hear that one of the clocks from Box travelled around the world before it landed in Berlin. I attach photos of my clock. ​

​My father used to be a master clockmaker in Germany. He learned his profession in the late 1950s. When Japanese digital watches took over the old mechanical clocks in the 1970s, he specialised in repairing antique watches and clocks.


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​Left: Guido Schild's clock now restored in Berlin
Above: The maker's inscription Jn Bullock, Box

I guess that is from where I got my clock bug and started collecting watches and longcases. It was sometime in the 1970s when
​I bought a Bullock clock in a UK antique store. I brought it home, my dad repaired it and since then it has accompanied the family, as a beautiful reminder of his life and work. Actually, in the mid-90s the clocked travelled with the family to Hong Kong for the handover to China and returned when we came home. Now about 200-years old, it continuous to work beautifully, and when moving to Berlin in 2016 we restored the mahogany wooden case to bring it back to its wonderful 1800s original beauty.
With the help of brother Peter, we lately took the clock apart and I learned the importance of equal step pendulum. We also found some more traces of the makers, such as the clockwork from Walker & Hughes. And on the back of the “calendar wheel” was a “Bullock” signature, and further down it is signed “Box”.
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Having it back to together again and working perfectly, makes it a joy to see that good old workmanship last for centuries. The only pity is that the bell is too loud to run it all the time. ​
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Commentary
The inscription on the face of the clock seems to indicate that it was made by John Bullock (Jn). This is helpful as Pat Whalley identified only two people with this Christian name as local clockmakers, John (born 1798) and John (born 1827)
.[1] John (1827-) seems to have lived in Corsham and Chippenham during the period of the 1850s to 1870s which probably rules out the Box inscription.

The most relevant person to have made the clock was John (born 1798) because he was living in Box village and still working as a clockmaker as late as 1861. It is probable that his house and workshop was at “Millers” on Box High Street because the 1851 census gives his location next to Hardy House and he was still in the centre of the village a decade later.

We welcome comments from any experts to further identify the maker of Guido's fabulous Bullock clock or to add further details or corrections to the suggested commentary identification.
Reference
[1] See dropdown family tree at Bullock Clockmakers - Box People and Places
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