Celebrating 250 Years

GATWARDJEWELLERS | HITCHIN

1760-2010

Original etching by F L B Griggs, 1860

Watercolour by Alice Mary Lucas, 1880

1760

Watercolour by M Sworder, 1960

Sepia pen & ink by H W Connell, 1974

2010

Hitchin Railway Station circa 1850

Kershaws Coach 1800s

Gatwards was about time...From the beginning, Gatwards was about time. What is time? In the early days, only churches, great houses and a privileged few owned their own watches and clocks. In 1797, Parliament even saw fit to tax those private individuals who did own their own timepieces and watch and clockmakers and those who dealt in such things were obliged to pay a licence fee to do so. The tax nearly destroyed the watch and clock making industry, but it was so unpopular that it was repealed after only nine months

In the mid eighteenth century, none of today’s nanotechnology was available, so how did anyone know the correct time? In the area surrounding Hitchin, it was almost certainly “Gatward time”.

When someone said ”I’ll meet you this afternoon”, they would have meant when the sun was past its meridian – there was no way of knowing the precise time unless you were within earshot of a church, although sun-dials and the stars undoubtedly played their part.

The early Gatwards would go out to the great houses in a pony and trap – St. Paul’s Walden Bury, Brocket Hall and Hitchin Priory among others – to wind and, perhaps more importantly, to set the correct time of all their clocks, maintaining and repairing them as necessary. Perhaps it was at St Pauls Walden Bury that the Gatwards first met the Bowes-Lyons family. The late Queen Mother often came into the shop with her two young daughters, the Princesses Elizabeth & Margaret, accompanied by her own mother, the Countess of Strathmore.

With the advent of Kershaws Coach in the early 1800’s, time would have been brought down from London by way of carriage clocks. The arrival of the railway in Hitchin in the mid-1800s made time even more accessible, but although the clock winding tradition was only discontinued after the first world war, Gatwards continues to supply and maintain fine timepieces.

The Gatwards

Benjamin Gatward 1767 - 1837

James Gatward 1710 - Unknown

John Gatward 1796 - 1865

Cornelius Gatward 1824 - 1893

Bradly Gatward 1856 - 1947 Willson Gatward

1901 - 1960

Anna Gatward 1943 - Present

Lisa Gatward 1948 - Present

St. Mary’s Hitchin

James Gatward 1710 - Unknown

The family are generally thought to have descended from Oliver Gatward, described as a gentleman, who was born in Coveney, Cambridgeshire in 1534.

The business, however, was founded by James Gatward, who opened his shop in Hitchin as a watch & clockmaker in 1760 when George II, the last British monarch to personally lead his troops into battle, was in the last year of his reign. Catherine the Great was about to become Czarina of Russia and a 6 year old child prodigy, Mozart was touring Europe. Closer to home, Louis XV of France was still enjoying the splendours of Versailles and the horrors of the French Revolution were still twenty years away. Unfortunately, very little is known about those early years of the Gatward’s in Hitchin.

Eight-day long case clock by Benjamin Gatward Inscription on flagon presented in memory of Benjamin Gatward by his great-grandson

Flagon presented in memory of Benjamin

Gatward by his great-grandson

Benjamin Gatward 1767 - 1837

Benjamin Gatward was the first member of the family to serve a formal apprenticeship, probably in London, before returning to Hitchin to take over from his father. A strict Baptist, he was the 1st Minister of the Bethel chapel in Hitchin Hill and the family still have the chalice and goblet presented and inscribed to his memory. Despite this, he was a notorious smoker and was often to be seen with his churchwarden pipe in the doorway of his shop!

He must have been a well-known figure in Hitchin – a contemporary description on him reads as follows: “From his watchmaker’s shop came Benjamin Gatward, a short, thick-set man, rather knock kneed, with very large calves and a round bald head. He was of a very grave countenance, as befitted a Baptist lay-preacher and the father of seventeen children.

He was married 3 times and fathered the 17 children by his first two wives. Four of his sons followed him into watch and clock making, but it was his eldest son, John, who

followed him into the Hitchin business, the other three setting up businesses in Saffron Walden, Welwyn and Huntingdon. Both father and sons are mentioned in G.H. Baillie’s Watch & Clockmakers of the World and/or Loomes.

The clock in the coach house at Ickleford Manor constructed and installed in 1807 is one of the earliest examples of a Gatward clock still in existence.

Some 50 years ago, an old silver verge pair case pocket watch was found in a dry stone wall in Wales bearing the name B. Gatward, Hitchin. When wound up, it still went perfectly and was sent back to Hitchin. The family purchased it, but it was later stolen and has never been recovered which is very sad.

Across the water, America was fighting for Independence and Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette went to the guillotine - not that that would have impinged on a small rural market town such as Hitchin.

Chalice in memory of Benjamin Gatward

Perpetual calendar watch paper, inserted into pocket watch backs after a repair

Early Gatward’s advertisement

Early Gatward advertisement

Banjo barometer Stick barometer Eight-day long case clock

Silver Full Hunter Pocket Watch. Verge Escapement, 1834

John Gatward 1796 - 1865

Benjamin’s son John was quite a character – a leading Baptist, he was a well-known sportsman & cricketer, but his real passion was fishing! A quote from R. Hine’s “History of Hitchin” reads as follows: “John Gatward, the leading Baptist, developed an unholy passion for angling. For a time, he kept his guilty secret to himself and, lest he should lead the weaker brethren astray, he visited his favourite streams, like Nicodemus, at night. If he wanted a whole day’s angling he would ‘drive out on business’ with a barometer stuck out prominently in the gig to be returned, duly rectified to a country customer; but the barometer was usually to be seen to come back at night along with Gatward’s fishing rod and catch!”

Two of his daughters, Charlotte and Eliza both married Newtons – descendants of Sir Isaac Newton’s uncle, Robert Newton.

By the mid 1800’s, the railway had arrived and Hitchin had become a thriving market

town. To satisfy the demand for all manner of manufactured items, John opened an ironmongers in Cock Street (now High Street) running it in parallel with the family business. This made sense as he had two sons, Cornelius, who trained as a watchmaker and followed him into the business, and John, who ran the ironmongers, living above the premises. In 1853 the ironmongers was completely destroyed by fire, claiming the life of Mrs. John Gatward who allegedly went back into the premises to rescue her gold watch.

The ironmongers was subsequently re-built and extended to include a foundry which stretched back to Paynes Park. Manhole covers etc. with Gatward on them were still to be seen in Hitchin until quite recently.

In the meantime, Napoleon was busy invading Russia and Beethoven was hard at work composing.

Mahogany eight-day strike

Yew eight-day timepiece

Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, 1897

Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, 1887

View from Gatwards jewellers to Gatward Ironmongers

View of Cock Street (now High Street) showing Gatward Ironmongers

18ct English Lever, 1871 Silver Chain Fusee, 1874

18ct English Lever, 1866

Cornelius Gatward 1824 - 1893

By the time Cornelius inherited the business, the industrial revolution was in full flow and the young Queen Victoria was about to ascend the throne.

Whereas we had hitherto only been tenants of Gatward’s premises, we have to thank Cornelius for securing them for posterity. In 1876 he purchased them, together with the adjacent Whaley’s hairdressers for the princely sum of £1,300.

The building itself is an unbelievable rabbit warren with numerous staircases, different floor levels and concealed doorways. Dating from the medieval period, tales abound of secret passages going from the Priory to the Church etc., but if they exist, we have never found them. The cellars, now heavily shored up, extend right under the Market Place. We have always understood that the building was originally an old drovers’ inn and certainly in the cellar, hollows in the wall suggest they could have held beer barrels, but there is no documentary evidence to support this theory.

Both the Crimean war and the American Civil War raged while Cornelius pursued the business in Hitchin. His other claim to fame was that he was the first member of the Gatward family to sell jewellery, now such an important part of the business, as well as watches and clocks.

Advertisement placed by Cornelius Gatward advertising Pianofortes in addition to Watches, Clocks and Jewellery!

Statement sent to the Church Wardens, 1851

Skeleton Clock, Circa 1890

Close-up of engraving on Skeleton Clock

Advertisement placed by Bradly Gatward

Bradly Gatward 1856 - 1947

Cornelius left the business to his eldest son, Bradly, whose main passion in life was music. He clocked up 55 years as organist at Tilehouse Street Baptist chapel and his knowledge of church organs was legendary. When the family went on holiday, Bradly would play and then write reports on all the local organs while his wife attended to their six children. He lived for his music and as long as there was enough in the till to feed his brood for the next week, woe betide anyone who dared disturb his reveries! To this day there is a spyhole in the staircase leading down from the flat above the shop and if Bradly didn’t like the look of whoever had come into the shop, he wouldn’t go down to serve them! He was also a keen sportsman – as an untrained athlete, he managed to run a 2 minute half-mile.

He used to sell pianos from what was Barhams gun shop in Tilehouse Street and later from the shop adjoining Gatwards – now Pizza Express. In fact, the engraved

glass inner door on the Sun Street side of our premises (not visible from the outside) still reads “musical instruments”. Apparently we also sold such miscellaneous items as sewing machines and umbrellas together with old English porcelain. This was Bradly’s other passion and one on which he was such an authority it was said he could identify a piece blindfold, purely by the feel.

Bradly was the last member of the family who actually made clocks – although we believe he only made about 7.

During his long life, Bradly saw Queen Victoria celebrate both her Golden and Diamond Jubilees and the shop was suitably decorated to mark the occasions. (See photograph on the following page). Two years before his death, the holocaust was drawing to a close and the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima heralding the beginning of the nuclear age. Skeleton Clock, Circa 1890

Hitchin Fire Brigade outside The Sun Hotel Sun Street looking towards Market Place, Circa 1900

Proclamation. King Edward VIIHitchin Town Square

YeomanryMafeking Day in Bucklersbury

Hitchin High Street looking towards The Corn Exchange, 1882 - 1898Gatwards of Hitchin

Willson Gatward third from the right, back row

Proclamation of King George V 1910

Willson outside Gatwards of Hitchin 1935

Willson Gatward 1901 - 1960

When Willson became involved with the business however, the storm clouds were already gathering with both World Wars and the Great Depression all looming on the horizon. Somehow we survived. During the 2nd world war, Gatwards used the extensive workshop and the machinery to make small parts for an aviation instrument company.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Willson was a noted musician and sportsman. He was an accomplished organist and pianist and was also known to play the drums or tenor saxophone in local bands. People used to say Willson Gatward could get a tune out of anything! He enjoyed playing football, tennis, cricket and badminton and was an excellent shot.

At the time he inherited the business, only the first small area was a showroom. The central area housed a large workshop, the end section was a hairdressers and everywhere else was office space. Willson knocked right through to incorporate both the workshop and the adjacent hairdressers into the extensive showroom that exists today.

Like his father before him, he was trained at the bench, but his particular love was antique silver, a subject on which he was very knowledgeable.

Willson died aged only 59 leaving his two daughters, Anna & Lisa still at school. His widow, Sylvia, immediately took up the mantle, ably assisted by Ray Edwards who had worked with Willson as manager for many years.

By the time of the Millennium in 2000, the Gatward family had been in business in Hitchin for 240 years. To Mark the occasion and their long association with the town, Anna and Lisa donated the clock which stands in the centre of the Market Place, to the people and town of Hitchin.

Anna Gatward FGA 1943 - Present

When her father died aged only 59, Anna was still at school and at that time had no intention of going into the family business. She loved dancing and had always intended to pursue a theatrical career. The unexpected loss of her father saw her return to school for a further year to pursue foreign languages on a part time basis so that she could begin working in the shop. A brief spell on the professional stage followed but she soon returned to Hitchin to take her place in the family business in earnest.

The 1960’s were eventful years, President Kennedy was assassinated and in 1969, the first man landed on the moon. The Beatles had taken the world by storm, but despite the “external temptations” of the Swinging Sixties, Anna, who had become fascinated with the world of gemstones, decided to study further and gained her Fellowship of the Gemmological Association with Distinction.

In 1974 she married Terry Playle, an industrialist, business consultant and designer. Terry is largely responsible for the interior design of the present shop. On the death of her mother in 1991, Anna became Chairman of Gatwards and continues to work in the family business as the 7th generation.

To celebrate Gatward’s 250th anniversary, Anna & Lisa Gatward presented a specially commissioned double sided seat to the town & people of Hitchin. The back echoes the watch & clock making history of the company and the numerals detail the seven generations of the Gatward family. Hitchin Historical Society kindly donated the two triangular bases, manufactured by the ironmongery side of the family, thus the two sides of the Gatward family have been re-united to mark an historic occasion.

Lisa Gatward 1948 - Present

Lisa was even younger when her father died and so she still had several years of education ahead of her. On leaving school, she took a secretarial course and eventually became secretary to the Chairman of British Aerospace. However, wider horizons beckoned and following a cruise to South Africa with her family, she decided to go to sea. For several years she sailed the world as an officer on the QE2 where she met her future husband, Graham Pheazey, a fellow officer.

While the War in Vietnam continued to rage, they cruised the world together for several years while back at home, Britain entered the European community. Following their marriage, they came ashore - Graham became an art dealer and picture restorer and Lisa returned to Hitchin to take her place alongside her mother & sister in the family business.

Two children, Benjamin and Charlotte followed, the eighth generation. Like her sister, Lisa continues to work in the family business.

Gatward, Hitchin. 2010

Gatwards todayThe early generations of Gatwards would still recognise the business today, although some aspects have changed with the passage of time.

We no longer make the watches and clocks for which we were so well known, but we continue the tradition by stocking many fine watch brands such as Omega, Ebel, Longines etc.

Some things, however, do not change and Gatwards, now in its 7th generation, is still a family business, committed to the highest standards of personal service.

Gatwards has been trusted by the people of Hitchin and the surrounding areas for 250 years to supply and care for their precious possessions. Today, it is not unusual for us to welcome the 2nd or even 3rd generation of the same family into our period premises. Standing on the corner of Hitchin’s historic Market Place, dating from the Medieval times, tales abound of a clock that struck 13 at midnight, secret passages and ghosts, but if they exist we have never found them!

The directors travel widely to source the fine diamonds, gems, jewellery, watches and gifts our discerning clientele expects and the following pages give a flavour of our varied and personally selected stock.

Our qualified and knowledgeable staff take great pride in assisting our clients in their choice - matching people to product is almost an art form at Gatwards!

To mark their 250th anniversary, Gatwards have introduced their own unique Hall-Mark.

Gatwards of Hitchin

Gatwards of Hitchin

Gatwards of Hitchin

Gatwards of Hitchin

Gatwards of Hitchin

Gatwards of Hitchin

Gatwards of Hitchin

100%

75%

25%

5%

JOIN US TO SUPPORT CARE’S WORK TO HELP EMPOWER WOMEN WORLDWIDE.

Christy Turlington wears Cento Collection

Book Gatwards MS09CEN01s.indd 1 25-02-2010 11:31:20

Gatwards of Hitchin

Jewellers have always needed insurance and T H March have insured Gatwards of Hitchin for over 50 years.

Without insurance many jewellery businesses would simply go out of business if they sustained burglary or fire. Over the years, both the level of security and the cover provided have increase dramatically. Basic alarm bells and simple safes have given way to sophisticated electronic systems and safes that exist today. These innovations allow wide cover we need to ensure complete peace of mind and security.

Personal jewellery, which is misunderstood by many insurers, is another speciality of T H March who also act as insurance brokers to many other industries.

T H March & Co Limited Tel: 020 7405 0009

www.thmarch.co.uk

Gatwards of Hitchin

Acknowledgements

First published 2010

With special thanks to

Susan Robinson (nee Gatward) for her pain staken research into the Gatward’s history

All members of the Gatward family for the loan of clocks, watches and Barometers

Hitchin Historical Society

Hitchin Museum

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Gatwards of Hitchin

20 Market Place Hitchin Hertfordshire SG5 1DU

Telephone. 01462 434 273

www.gatwardsofhitchin.co.uk

GATWARDJEWELLERS | HITCHIN