Exceedingly Rare 8” Late Victorian English Fusee Dial Timepiece by Arthur Henry Leeson

An exceedingly rare 8” late Victorian period fusee dial clock, by watch and clockmaker Arthur Henry Leeson of High Street, Coleshill, Warwickshire. Born c1869, in Coleshill, Leeson came from a well-known family dynasty of regional clockmakers, going back to his great-grandfather Joseph, who was a distinguished clockmaker during the mid/late seventeen-hundreds in Northampton. • Solid Mahogany hand-turned roundhead with boxed cabinet. • Hinged inspection door located to the side of the box. • Turn-catch regulator door located at the bottom of the box. • The clock retains its original 8” metal dial, with black Roman numerals and Leeson’s details. • Original pair of blued hands, secured with a pinned collet. • Dial protected by glaze mounted in its original brass bezel, incorporating a canted silvered brass fillet to the interior. • 8-day single fusee movement set between rectangular plates and turned pillars, with movement serial number 18991. • Comes with its original brass pendulum bob and a brass winding key. At aged 2, Leeson’s parents moved to Parliament Place, Bury, Lancashire with the rest of their family, and by 1881 the family had relocated again, this time to Harborne, Birmingham, from where Arthur served his horological apprenticeship under his father Henry Leeson. Following successful completion of his apprentiship, Arthur continued to work alongside his father and by c1890, they had moved back to Coleshill, setting-up their workshop and business in the towns High Street. However, in December 1894, Leeson’s father (Henry), passed away seemingly unexpectedly, leaving Arthur to take over the running the family watch and clockmaking business on his own. Leeson never married, yet on the 1901 Census, it indicates that he was living with older Widower Ann Cook, still at High Street, Coleshill. The 1911 Census states that Leeson was by then residing at Cole End, Coleshill; he was still listed as a watch and clockmaker, but there was no mention of Ann Cook. Leeson eventually passed away in early 1924 in Coleshill.