There were many individual sellers of weight-driven clocks in British North America in the decades before Canadian federation in 1867. Some lived in the old provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Some lived in the 1830s in Upper Canada (U.C., now part of southern Ontario) and Lower Canada (L.C., now southern Quebec). Upper Canada and Lower Canada were combined to form the Province of Canada in 1841. For example, look for clock labels with names such as: Horace Burr, Dundas, U.C.; H. Utley & Co., Niagara Falls, U.C.; and Porter Kimball, Stanstead, L.C.
After 1841, the western part of the new Province of Canada was often referred to as Canada West (C.W., again southern Ontario). In particular, watch for thirty-hour and eight-day weight driven clocks made by Seth Thomas in Plymouth, Connecticut in the 1850s and 1860s for Leeds County, C.W. peddlars such as T.L. Abel, B.B Bartlett, S.J. Southworth, A.H. Brown, and W.H. Vantassel (Brockville, C.W.). The seller's name is found on the label on the inside back of the clock.
Similar clocks from the same 1850s/1860s period are found for the sellers J.M. Patterson (Hamilton, C.W.) and R.W. Patterson & Co. (Toronto, C.W.).
For information about these and many more sellers of clocks in the early days of Canada, check the Canadian Books section of our web site for books about Canadian clockmakers. |
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