JOHN HARRISON
Horologist designer Inventor polymath
John Harrison was a self taught clock maker who made his first wooden clocks in his early 20s.
Harrison developed his ideas and overcame many problems associated with conventional clocks: lubricating oils to reduce friction in the escapement and wheel trains of the mechanism were unreliable and temperature changes also affected its timekeeping capability.
John Harrison designed and built clocks with significant improvements and these were above and beyond any of his contemporaries'. He was able to utilise a matched pair of these clocks to serve as workshop time standard while he set to work on developing his first sea clock.
This was crucial stage for him to eventually solve the Longitude Problem. Harrison's ingenuity secured long distance seafaring in the 18th Century and laid the foundations of the globalisation we see today.
Harrison's clocks today are on public exhibition in London and Leeds - while exhibited, the clocks are naturally "off limits" to physical engagement and personal ownership of a Harrison clock is otherwise impossible.
Expert clockmaker Matthew King, from Time Traveller Clocks set out to make it possible to personally appreciate and own the next best thing: a piece steeped in historical methods, a journey into the mind of Harrison himself and a way to
connect with the amazing history of Harrison today.