The Browne Family

of Bristol

Three Remarkable Lantern Clocks

and the Origins of the Bristol

School

by Lee Borrett, UK

Part Two: A Family Workshop Revealed

In Part One, we examined the only known signed lantern clock by Thomas Browne of Bristol, dating from around 1650, and the pioneering research of Sir George White, whose investigation established the origins of the distinctive group now recognised as the Bristol School of lantern clockmaking.

We also considered the important discoveries made by Professor Jonathan Barry from the original Bristol civic records. These establish that Thomas Browne was apprenticed as a smith to his father, James Browne, and his wife Elizabeth in October 1637, but described himself as a watchmaker when obtaining his freedom in November 1643.³

Those discoveries invite us to reconsider the beginnings of the Bristol School. For alongside the signed clock survive two remarkable earlier examples, dating from approximately 1645 and 1642, whose distinctive construction and engraving suggest that the Bristol tradition was already developing during Thomas’s apprenticeship and continued to evolve in the years that followed.

A Developing Bristol Style

The signed clock of c.1650 does not stand alone. When it is compared with a small number of earlier lantern clocks displaying closely related characteristics, it becomes possible to trace what appears to be a developing Bristol style. Changes can be seen in both the materials and construction of these clocks, while several distinctive features recur with remarkable consistency.¹

One particularly interesting example, dating from around 1645 and attributed to Thomas Browne, appears to occupy an intermediate position in this developing sequence. Like the later signed clock, it has an engraved copper dial centre, decorated with scrolling foliage and Tudor roses, together with the characteristic small mask beneath XII and a narrow brass chapter ring. Its frame, however, retains the earlier rounded form of integral corner pillars, rather than the square-based pillars found on the signed clock.¹

Fig. 13. Lantern clock, c.1645, attributed to Thomas Browne of Bristol. Its engraved copper dial and characteristic Bristol details closely relate it to the later signed clock, while its rounded integral corner pillars represent the earlier form of construction. Private collection, photograph by David Norris.

Fig. 14. Showing a close-up of the engraved copper dial centre with garlands and Tudor roses and a whimsical mask beneath XII. These decorative features recur on clocks associated with the Browne workshop and are particularly characteristic of the later work attributed to Thomas Browne. Private collection, photograph by David Norris.

An important chronological point is provided by another clock in the group, dated 1649 and attributed to Thomas Browne. Although not illustrated here, this published example combines an engraved copper dial with square-based integral corner pillars, demonstrating that this later form of frame construction was already in use by 1649.¹ The dated clock therefore provides a particularly useful comparison when considering the probable date of around 1650 assigned to the signed Thomas Browne clock.

Across these clocks several other characteristics recur: narrow chapter rings with floating star half-hour markers; engraved dial centres incorporating garlands and Tudor roses; the small mask beneath XII; long upper dial-fixing lugs; slim waisted hammer springs; small brass collets; and movement bars with characteristically straight arms. None of these features, considered individually, can securely identify a maker. Their repeated appearance in combination, however, provides a persuasive basis for recognising a closely related Bristol group.¹

James Browne and the Civil War Clock

The sequence can be taken back still further. An extraordinary lantern clock dating from around 1642, during the opening years of the English Civil War, displays many of the characteristics subsequently associated with the Bristol group. Unlike the later examples, however, it has a brass rather than copper dial plate, while its frame retains the earlier rounded form of integral corner pillars. Its extremely narrow chapter ring, engraved dial decoration and small mask beneath XII nevertheless establish a striking visual and constructional relationship with the clocks that followed.

When I first studied this clock, the available evidence led me to attribute it to Thomas Browne, and I published it as such in Clocks in May 2021.⁵ At that time, however, the crucial documentary evidence concerning Thomas’s apprenticeship was not known. Professor Jonathan Barry’s subsequent examination of the original Bristol civic records has materially changed the picture.³

Those records establish that on 12 October 1637 Thomas was apprenticed as a smith to his father, James Browne, and James’s wife Elizabeth.³ If the Civil War clock dates, as its construction suggests, from around 1642, Thomas would therefore still have been serving within his father’s workshop when it was made. He did not obtain the Freedom of Bristol until November 1643, when he described himself as a watchmaker.³

This raises an important possibility. Rather than representing the earliest independent work of Thomas Browne, the c.1642 clock may more plausibly have originated in the workshop of James Browne, with the young Thomas working there as his apprentice. If this interpretation is correct, the clock takes the beginnings of the Bristol tradition back a generation and suggests that at least some of the characteristics later associated with Thomas were already developing within the Browne family workshop.³

Fig. 15. Civil War lantern clock, c.1642, now thought most likely to have originated in the workshop of James Browne of Bristol, while his son Thomas was serving his apprenticeship. Its brass dial plate and rounded integral corner pillars represent an earlier stage in the development of the Bristol group. Private collection, photograph by Lee Borrett.

Fig. 16. Close-up of the engraved brass dial centre of the c.1642 Civil War lantern clock attributed to the workshop of James Browne. The garlands, Tudor roses and distinctive little mask beneath XII provide important points of comparison with the decorative features subsequently found on clocks associated with Thomas Browne. Private collection, photograph by Lee Borrett.

A Browne Family Workshop

Viewed together, the three surviving clocks of c.1642, c.1645 and c.1650 suggest a particularly interesting development in the early Bristol tradition. The earliest has an engraved brass dial and rounded integral pillars; the c.1645 clock retains the rounded pillars but incorporates an engraved copper dial that became such a distinctive feature of the group. By the dated 1649 example, square-based integral pillars had appeared alongside the copper dial, a combination also found on the signed Thomas Browne clock of c.1650.¹

This sequence should not be interpreted as a rigid progression in which one constructional form immediately replaced another. Too few clocks survive for such certainty. Nevertheless, their shared decorative characteristics and constructional features, considered alongside Professor Jonathan Barry’s documentary evidence, suggest that the distinctive Bristol style developed over a period of years rather than appearing fully formed with the signed clock.³

The apprenticeship record of 1637 is particularly significant. Thomas learned his craft within the household and workshop of his father, James Browne. If the attribution of the c.1642 Civil War clock to that workshop is correct, the surviving examples may offer a rare glimpse of a clockmaking tradition developing within a family across two generations.

Fig. 17. Two remarkable early Bristol lantern clocks photographed together. Left: the only known signed lantern clock by Thomas Browne, c.1650, with its engraved copper dial and square-based integral pillars. Right: the earlier Civil War lantern clock, c.1642, with brass dial and rounded integral pillars, now thought most likely to have originated in the workshop of Thomas's father, James Browne. Together, these clocks may represent successive generations of the Browne family workshop during the formative years of the Bristol School. Private collection. Photograph by Lee Borrett.

Seen together, these two remarkable clocks illustrate both the similarities and the differences between the earliest surviving examples associated with the Browne family. Their shared decorative language, despite differences in materials and construction, provides a compelling visual link between the Civil War years and the signed clock of c.1650.¹ ³

Rethinking the Origins of the Bristol School

The term ‘Bristol School’, coined by Sir George White, remains an appropriate description for this distinctive group of early lantern clocks. What the new evidence may change is not the identity of the group, but our understanding of where its tradition began.

Sir George’s pioneering research centred upon Thomas Browne because the surviving signed clock provided the crucial link with Bristol. Professor Jonathan Barry’s examination of the original civic records has now established that Thomas was apprenticed to his father James in 1637, placing him within his father’s working household during the years immediately preceding the English Civil War.³

The c.1642 Civil War clock, with its engraved brass dial, rounded integral pillars and distinctive decorative features, may therefore represent an earlier stage in the development of the Bristol tradition. Although its attribution to James Browne’s workshop cannot yet be regarded as conclusive, the possibility is strengthened by the newly identified documentary evidence.

It would, however, be unwise to attribute every clock sharing these characteristics to James or Thomas Browne. Other craftsmen may have contributed to what became a recognisable regional tradition, and much remains to be discovered about the earliest years of Bristol clockmaking.

Nevertheless, the surviving clocks and archival records together suggest that the Browne family workshop may have occupied an important position in the formative years of the Bristol School, with its distinctive characteristics already emerging during Thomas Browne’s apprenticeship to his father, James.

The Clock That Still Holds the Key

Almost four centuries after it was made, the remarkable lantern clock signed ‘Thomas Browne in Bristoll’ remains at the centre of this story. Its survival enabled Sir George White to identify a distinctive group of early provincial lantern clocks with Bristol and to recognise what he termed the ‘Bristol school of lantern clockmaking’.¹

Professor Jonathan Barry’s newly identified archival evidence has now opened another chapter in that story, raising the possibility that the origins of this important regional tradition may be traced beyond Thomas Browne’s independent career to the workshop of his father, James.³

Much remains to be discovered. Another surviving clock, a previously overlooked document or an unfamiliar constructional detail may yet provide further evidence concerning the craftsmen responsible for these remarkable early timekeepers.

For the present, however, the story continues to return to one extraordinary surviving clock and the simple inscription engraved upon its front fret: ‘Thomas Browne in Bristoll’. A signature that once revealed the identity of a Bristol clockmaker may now help illuminate something even more remarkable — the beginnings of a family workshop tradition and the origins of the Bristol School itself.¹ ³

Fig. 18. The Clock That Still Holds the Key. The only known signed lantern clock by Thomas Browne, c.1650, hanging on the wall almost four centuries years after it was made. Photograph courtesy of Darrell Dipper

Acknowledgements

I am particularly grateful to Professor Jonathan Barry for generously sharing the results of his research into the original Bristol civic records, which has provided important new evidence concerning James and Thomas Browne and prompted the reconsideration of the earliest clock discussed in this article. My thanks are also due to Dr John A. Robey for his advice concerning the technical aspects and early conversion of the signed Thomas Browne clock, and to my clock friend Martin Gould for his continued interest, encouragement and support during my research. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the pioneering work of Sir George White, whose investigation of the signed Thomas Browne clock and related Bristol examples established the foundations upon which the present study has been built.

References

1. George White, English Lantern Clocks (Antique Collectors’ Club, 1989), pp. 222–226; the signed Thomas Browne lantern clock is illustrated as Fig. V/22, p. 223.

2. Lee Borrett, ‘Thomas Browne’s only signed lantern clock and the origin of the Bristol School’, Antiquarian Horology, Vol. 47, No. 2 (June 2026), pp. 246–253.

3. Jonathan Barry, personal correspondence with the author, June 2026, drawing upon his examination of the original Bristol civic records and archival sources.

4. John A. Robey, ‘Lantern Clock Conversions – A Technical Survey’, Antiquarian Horology, Vol. 46, No. 1 (March 2025), pp. 48–68.

5. Lee Borrett, ‘A Civil War Lantern Clock Attributed to Thomas Browne of Bristol’, Clocks, May 2021, pp. 9–13.