John Alker
{{Infobox writer
| name = John Alker
| birth_date = 15 April 1775
| occupation = Clock and watch maker
| period =
| spouse =
| death_date = July 1850
| pseudonym =
| birth_place = Wigan, Lancashire
| years_active = 1794-1832
| death_place = Wigan, Lancashire
| image = John Alker Clock.jpg
| caption = Alker of Wigan clock c.1794
| module =
}}
John Alker (1775{{Cite book |title=Wigan Baptisms Register 1754-1778 |date=15 April 1775 |pages=192}}–1850{{Cite book |title=Wigan, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1979 |date=14 July 1850 |pages=198}}) or simply Alker of Wigan, was a long case clock and pocket watch maker and member of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers{{Cite book |last=Hawkes |first=Arthur J |title=The Clockmakers & Watchmakers of Wigan (1650-1850) |year=1950 |pages=69–72}} active in Wigan, Lancashire.{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Edmund |title=Greater Manchester Clocks and Clockmakers |publisher=Mayfield Books |publication-date=25 January 2007}}
Life and career
John Alker, son of James Alker, was baptised on the 15th of April 1775 at All Saints' Church, Wigan. He was first recorded as a clockmaker in his marriage to Margaret Hickman in 1794.{{Cite book |title=Wigan Marriage Registers 1787-1799 |date=21 April 1794 |location=Wigan Archives |pages=141, Entry 566}} John and Margaret would go on to have six children together, with several also becoming reputed clock and watch makers, before her death of consumption in 1808.{{Cite book |title=Wigan Burials 1779-1809 |date=9 December 1808 |location=Wigan Archives |pages=461, Entry 7}}
File:Market Place Wigan - 1860.jpg
From their storefront on Market Place in central Wigan, John and his family would craft intricate longcase clocks for use in the home and large turret clocks for public spaces.{{Cite book |title=Wigan Election Poll Book |date=1832 |location=Lancashire Archives}}{{Cite book |title=Pigot's Directory |year=1832 |pages=Watch and Clock Makers}} In 1813 he installed one such turret clock at St Wilfrid's Church in Ribchester.{{Cite book |title=The History of the Parish of Ribchester in the County of Lancaster |year=1890 |location=Lancashire Archives |pages=Chapter 103}}
John was described as having a preference for the newer fashions of his time, as shown through his use of painted dials.{{Cite book |last=Hawkes |first=Arthur J. |title=The Clockmakers & Watchmakers of Wigan (1650-1850) |year=1950 |pages=70}} A number of his clocks survive, and frequently present features of special interest.{{Cite book |last=Hawkes |first=Arthur J. |title=The Clockmakers & Watchmakers of Wigan (1650-1850) |year=1950 |pages=82}} One of his longcase clocks, dated to around 1830, was featured on Antiques Roadshow and valued between £7,000 and £10,000.
John passed away at his home in Scholes and was buried on the 14th July 1850 at All Saints' Church, Wigan.
Legacy
John Alker began a legacy of clock and watch manufacturing within his family, spanning over 100 years. The original storefront in Wigan was in operation from at least 1794 to 1860,{{Cite news |date=7 December 1860 |title=The Oldest Establishment in the Neighborhood |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001974/18601207/075/0004 |work=Wigan Observer and District Advertiser |pages=4}} being run by John and subsequently his sons and extended family. Eventually expanding to a second store in Chorley that was active until the late 1800's.{{Cite news |date=16 December 1857 |title=Partnerships Dissolved |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002408/18571216/060/0003 |work=Morning Herald (London) |pages=3}}
- Thomas Alker (1794{{Cite book |title=Wigan Baptisms 1779-1799 |date=2 November 1794 |location=Wigan Archives |pages=365}} - 1847{{Cite book |title=Wigan Burials 1847-1848 |date=26 December 1847 |pages=55, Entry 436}}) Son of John Alker. Clockmaker in Wigan.
- Nicholas Alker (1803{{Cite book |title=Wigan Baptisms Register 1799-1812 |date=21 August 1803 |pages=121}} - 1871) Son of John Alker. Watchmaker in Wigan and Chorley.{{Cite news |date=30 January 1864 |title=Serious Charges Against a Chorley Pawn-Broker and Another |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001667/18640130/155/0012 |work=Preston Herald |pages=12}}
- James Alker (1818{{Cite book |title=Wigan Baptisms 1799-1812 |date=3 May 1807 |location=Wigan Archives |pages=236}} - 1889{{Cite book |title=England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915 |date=26 December 1889 |pages=383}}) Son of Thomas Alker. Clockmaker in Wigan and Chorley.
- John Alker (1819 - 1859{{Cite book |title=Wigan Burials Register 1858-1867 |date=7 April 1859 |pages=46, Entry 367}}) Son of Thomas Alker. Clockmaker in Wigan.
- Nicholas Alker (b. 1828{{Cite book |title=Wigan Baptisms Register 1830-1833 |date=1 November 1830 |pages=12, Entry 94}}) Son of Thomas Alker. Watch finisher in Chorley.{{Cite web |date=1901 |title=England Census, Lancashire, Chorley, District 22 |url=https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/7814/images/LANRG13_3938_3942-0161?pId=25262015 |website=Ancestry.com}}
Gallery
File:Alker Clock - 1794.png|Dial and hood of clock by John Alker, c.1794.
File:John Alker00.jpg|Mahogany longcase clock by John Alker, early 1800's.
File:John Alker01.jpg|Example of John Alker's use of painted dials.
File:John Alker keywind watch, c.1800.jpg|Signed John Alker pocket watch, early 1800's.
References
External links
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- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100702014431/http://illumin.usc.edu/article.php?articleID=64&page=1 The Long Case Clock: The Science and Engineering that Goes Into a Grandfather Clock - Jessica Chappell]
- [http://www.clockswatches.com/showindex.php?em=A Historical Clock and Watch Research]
- [http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/stuff/townd1825g.php?opt=townd1825 Edward Baines' Directory of Wigan, 1825]
- [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/A2A/records.aspx?cat=055-q_8-55&cid=-1&Gsm=2008-06-18 Lancashire Quarter Sessions - National Archives]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alker, John}}