JAMES MCCABE NO.447

An engraved gilt-brass eight-day desk chronometer, London, circa 1856. The case made by Thomas Cole, the movement probably by his brother James Ferguson Cole. The 4¾-inch silvered dial signed and numbered James McCabe, Royal Exchange, London, No.447, large diameter subsidiary seconds dial at VI and state-of-wind dial beneath XII, finely pierced blued steel fleur-delys hands, the chain fusee movement with maintaining power, Earnshaw’s spring detent escapement mounted on a sub-frame and with cut bimetallic balance and free-sprung blued steel helical spring with terminal curves, signed and numbered on the backplate Jas. McCabe, Royal Exchange, London, No.447, the glazed bowl mounted in an elaborate pierced and foliate engraved gimbal with a trunnion-style setting, the waisted supports with mirror-backed and glazed silvered panels engraved with the monogram and arms of John Walter III, the heavily cast stand inset with a bevelled mirror, the whole finely chased and engraved with leaves and flowers 20cm by 25cm by 20.5cm; 8in by 9¾in by 8in.

Plate 1: The crest and monogram were added when given as a wedding present to the grandson of John Walter (1738 – 1812) the founder in 1785 of The Times. This grandson John Walter III (1818 – 1894) married as his second wife Flora Munro Macnab in 1861. The clock bears her monogram and his arms. The cage work surrounding the dial is seen on Cole carriage clocks. The arms and crest A stork drinking out of a whelk shell are those of John Walter III of Bearwood. Burke’s General Armory, Walter of Bearwood.

John Walter (II) (1776-1847), established the great newspaper of which his father had sown the seed, was born on the 23rd of February 1776, and was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School and Trinity College, Oxford. About 1798 he was associated with his elder brother Walter in the management of his father’s business, and in 1803 became not only sole manager but also editor of The Times. The second John Walter was a very remarkable man. His greatness must be measured by the work he did. He found The Times one of a number of unconsidered journals whose opinions counted for little, and whose intelligence lagged far behind official reports, the accuracy of which they had no independent means of checking. He found it unregarded by the great except when a stringent law of libel enabled them to inflict vindictive punishment in the pillory and in prison for what in our days is ordinary political criticism. He left it in 1847 a great organ of public opinion, deferred to and even feared throughout Europe, consulted and courted by cabinet ministers at home, and in intimate relations with the best sources of independent information in every European capital... for the collection of news. These are the things that went to the making of The Times, and the measure of the greatness of the second John Walter is that he supplied them all.

John Walter (III) (1818-1894), his eldest son, was born at Printing-house Square in 1818, and was educated at Eton and Exeter College, Oxford, being called to the bar in 1847. On leaving Oxford he took part in the business management of The Times, and on his father’s death became sole manager, though he devolved part of the work on Mr Mowbray Morris. He was a man of scholarly tastes and serious religious views, and his conscientious character had a marked influence on the tone of the paper. It was under him that the successive improvements in the printing machinery, begun by his father in 1814, at last reached the stage of the “Walter Press” in 1869, the pioneer of modern newspaper printing-presses…He was twice married, first in 1842 to Emily Frances Court (d.1858), and secondly in 1861 to Flora Macnab.

JOHN HAWKINS

Plate 2: A Thomas Cole cased, designed and gimballed library desk, eight - day chronometer. The movement probably supplied by his brother James Ferguson Cole to the retailers James McCabe. their number 447. Circa 1856

William and Mary Court Cupboard

Oak Joined Press Cupboard of superb quality and being a Marriage present of South Lancashire origin. Initials of the couple and the date of 1697 putting it firmly in the William and Mary period.

Carved with stylised dragons and tulips in acknowledgment of the new King William. Circa 1697. Height 168cm, Width 149cm, Depth 58cm $6,500

Harvey Wilkins

Westbury Antiques

119 High Street, Avoca 3467

P 613 54653406

M 0412 949 721 or 0412917382 info@westburyantiques.com.au www.westburyantiques.com.au

Find us on Instagram

STUNNING VIEWS across Port Phillip Bay, Swan Bay, the Heads & Mornington Peninsula 11 WINE SHOW TROPHIES recently awarded from 5 wine shows, with 5 different wines

THE CELLAR DOOR is open 7 days a week 11.30am - 4pm for tastings & wine sales

THE RESTAURANT is open for lunch Wednesday - Sunday offering locally sourced produce

Established in 1952, Rutherford has earned a reputation for rare and unique jewellery, silver and pearls.

From a humble beginning in country Victoria, the founder Mr Bruce Rutherford (1926 - 2014) pursued his passion for antiques and fine jewellery leading to the establishment of a well respected Melbourne-based jewellery business with stores on the prestigious Paris End of Collins Street and Burke Road, Camberwell. rutherford.com.au