Clocks
   

“Bedford Times” clock by James Tupman. c.1833

Walnut portable clock mounted in a leather case.

The mechanism and original case were made by James Tupman (active 1806-1842) of Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury.

Before the railway took over, there was a fast, daily coach service that connected Bedford to London call the `Bedford Times`. With the help of this clock, the coach was celebrated for its punctual timekeeping and the clock was used on the coach for 13 years.

An interesting feature on this piece is an ivory plaque beneath the dial which is inscribed with “This timepiece after having travelled with the Bedford Times Coach to London & back everyday except Sunday for many years and having accomplished a distance of nearly 500,000 miles… that Coach being superseded by the irresistible progress of the railway presented to Mrs Higgins the wife of one of he proprietors of that celebrated Coach/ Nov 21 1846”.
 

   
 

Clocks