Drury Family ~ Watchmakers In 1600s In Uk

This lantern clock by James Drury is one of his earlier clocks
dating from about 1700 or just before.
The alarm disc shows it was originally fitted with alarm work,
which was removed later.


This closeup of the dial centre shows the very fine engraving,
which at this period takes the form of entwined foliage.
The radiating strokes in the corners and on the alarm disc are unusual
and are perhaps a mark of his individuality.

 

DRURY
The ‘Clockmakers’

PAGE 1 OF 4

The ‘Clockmakers’ Several of Joseph Drury’s (b.? d.1703) children
left the area to be apprenticed to various trades in London
and one in particular, James Drury, was a clockmaker
as were several of his sons.

The clocks made by the family are today extremely valuable
with one notable item made by one of his son’s selling for £713,000
in 2010 at Sotherby’s (see catalogue entry).

Whilst James was apprenticed as a clockmaker his brother Benjamin
was apprenticed into the Plumber’s Company in London in 1692
and is thought to have returned to Kenilworth later
as he is shown in the burial register in 1745.

His elder brother, Joseph, was apprenticed in the Founder’s Company in London
in 1671 to Richard Meakins and became a founder worker in Hackney,
where he himself took several apprentices through that Company
between 1681 and 1721.

Joseph married Deborah Brooks in 1707,
by whom he had a single child named Sarah,
born in 1709, who was married in 1728
to Thomas Gardiner but died shortly afterwards,
leaving Joseph and Deborah childless.

Joseph Drury, the founder, died in July 1738,
and his brother James Drury, the clockmaker,
acted as executor.

However Joseph's widow, Deborah, was herself already seriously ill
and she died in December of that same year, 1738.

She left only a token bequest to her son-in-law, Thomas Gardiner,
and everything else went to the children of her brother-in-law,
clockmaker James Drury, i.e. Joseph the leatherseller, John,
who continued his father's clock business and Sarah,
now wife of Samuel Hoole who was a watchmaker in London.

They had at least one son John (b.1727 d.1803)
who was a well known translator in London in the late 18th century.

James Drury was apprenticed in the Clockmakers' Company
in December 1687 to Francis Hill and freed in April 1695.

The 1687 record states that he was the son of Joseph Drury,
but that part has then been crossed out. Francis Hill
was a little-known clockmaker and his work is known today
through only a single example of a lantern clock,
yet he followed the clock trade for thirty years or more.

Presumably he spent much of his life as a journeyman.

By the terms of his bond an apprentice was forbidden to marry,
which for many young men meant that as soon as they had their freedom
from apprenticeship, they were desperate to tie the knot.

A marriage record on the 21st December 1695, just months
after his freedom date, shows James Drury marrying at Allhallows London Wall
to Joanna Forby.

This was the more likely because in 1695 Francis Hill was recorded
as working in Half Moon Alley
(of which there were actually seven at that time in London!),
being the one located in Cripplegate Without Ward,
White Cross Precinct, which was pretty well adjacent to Allhallows parish.

It looks as if James Drury was still working as a journeyman for Francis Hill in 1695.

In 1697 James signed the Association Oath of allegiance to the King
on the list of Clockmakers' Company signatories.

All freemen were required to do this, though a few members
of extreme conscience, such as Quakers, refused to sign,
as they would not to swear oaths.

James was a religious non-conformist or in the words of Wm.Best,
the vicar at Kenilworth – a Dissentor
– like his brother Richard and presumably his father Joseph.

It was not until 1698 that James took his first apprentice.

A tradesman was not allowed to take on an apprentice
until he had his own premises, because of course the apprentices 'lived in''
with the master's family.

There were always exceptions, especially among the wealthier
or more powerful members, some of whose journeymen
took their own apprentices although still living in their employer's house,
a device whereby one master might employ several journeymen
each with two or three apprentices - in other words a small factory.

But we can guess from this that by 1698 James Drury
had set up in business on his own in his own premises.

This was probably in Little Moorfields in the parish of St. Stephen's Coleman Street,
not far from the home of his former master, Francis Hill.

 

PAGE 2 OF 4

James’s apprentices were: September 1698 John Sutton April 1701 Henry Stanbury, son of Robert Stanbury of Berkswell, Warwickshire, miller - freed July 1709. December 1706 Thomas Woods - free July 1714 April 1708 Samuel Henry Smith - free January 1715/16 October 1713 Thomas Ladbrooke, son of John Ladbrooke of Coventry, Warwickshire, yeoman April 1717 Peter Crook, son of Peter Crook, Citizen and Carpenter, of London Date unspecified, his son, James Drury, born about 1699, - free January 1720/21 May 1723 Joseph Goodyear, son of Joseph Goodyear, shoemaker, of St. Bride's parish, London July 1726 James Loftus, son of John Loftus deceased. It is interesting to note the two Warwickshire youths amongst them and we often find that masters took on lads from their own home locality, in this case Warwickshire. His own son, Joseph, born about 1700, was apprenticed in 1714 through the Leathersellers' Company to John Delafield for seven years. Joseph was married in 1722 to Hannah Sutton and died in 1752. He seems not to have been involved in the clock business and appears to have died childless. In 1728 James was made Master of the Clockmakers' Company. In 1731 he is said to have become clerk to the Company. His work is known through watches, longcase clocks and lantern clocks and his work is sometimes signed 'Jam. Drury London', and sometimes 'James Drury, London'. On the 11th September 1732 James made his will. He was described as of the Parish of St. Stephen in Coleman Street, clockmaker. Not that he was ill, for he lived a further eight years or so. He died in 1740, his will being proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on the 18th March 1739/40 and his will is available for viewing at the National Archives in London. Like his nonconformity this was probably just a measure of the meticulous nature of a man, who wanted things mapped out as carefully as possible. This was perhaps a trait that nonconformists learned to acquire as they trod their way carefully through a society that was legally and socially hostile to them. The will is disappointingly uninformative, as he leaves everything to his wife, Joanna, "having beforehand made provision for my children", whom, to the great irritation of researchers such as me, he does not even name! He specified he was to be buried in the burying ground at Bunhill Fields ("commonly called 'Tindall's Ground') at as little cost and charges as may be". Nonconformist James was having nothing to do with a showy funeral, no bequests to buy mourning rings for remembrance. His austerity no doubt arose from his religion, and approached that of the Quakers, who believed in leaving no trace behind at their passing, even to the point of not erecting tombstones, as they saw that as vanity. The name 'Bunhill Fields' burial ground derives from Bonehill Fields, this being an area of wasteland outside the city where the residual unburned bones of cremated corpses had once been dumped. At the time of the Great Plague in 1665 the London Corporation designated this waste land as a burying place for the surplus corpses as churchyards overflowed, but eventually it was purchased by a Mr. Tindall, and was sometimes called 'Tindall's Burying Ground'. Nonconformists were not permitted burial in consecrated ground. As this land was never consecrated, it soon became a preferred burying place for nonconformists, particularly those from a well-to-do background - there were other nonconformist burial grounds for the poor. James's desire for burial there, confirms his nonconformity and his financial status

 

PAGE 3 OF 3

John Drury, son of James, was born about 1699, and was apprenticed to his father in the Clockmakers' Company and freed in 1720. He was a clockmaker and bellfounder and lived in Red Lion Street, in the parish of St. John, Clerkenwell. Presumably the founding business was that passed down from his late uncle Joseph of Hackney and his widow, Deborah. John Drury died in April 1777 a very wealthy man, leaving considerable properties and cash. His son, James, was his main inheritor, together with John's daughters, Margaret wife of John Sturdy, Mary wife of William Trotter, and Joanna wife of Huguenot clockmaker Daniel de St. Leu, whom she had married in 1752 and who died in 1797. His son, James, had been apprenticed to him in 1741 and freed in 1751. It seems young James was a bit of a tearaway in his earlier years, so much so that when his grandmother, Joanna Drury, left James a bequest of £40 in 1748, it was on condition he be of good behaviour: "I give and bequeath unto my son, John Drury, the sum of forty pounds to keep in his hands until his son James shall arrive at the age of twenty one years and then, if he has behaved so well as to deserve it, to give it to him, otherwise to divide it amongst his other children but of his behaviour I appoint his said father to be the sole judge". James's waywardness when an apprentice may explain the odd fact that although he was apprenticed through the Clockmaker's Company to his father, John, he was then 'turned over' (i.e. transferred) to serve a different master, clockmaker Joshua Hassell. Perhaps it was felt that James would be more obedient living under a stranger's roof than working under his own father at home. Presumably James had reformed as John states that in his will of September 1776: "having given to my son all my stock tools and trade for making bells". James continued the clock and bellfounding business till his death in 1811. James's son, James Francis, was apprenticed to his father in 1795 and presumably continued the business after his death, a family of at least four generations in the trade. This lantern clock by James Drury is one of his earlier clocks dating from about 1700 or just before. The alarm disc shows it was originally fitted with alarm work, which was removed later.

This close up of the dial centre shows the very fine engraving, which at this period takes the form of entwined foliage.

The radiating strokes in the corners and on the alarm disc are unusual and are perhaps a mark of his individuality.


Acknowledgement: Much of the information regarding the Clockmakers has been taken from an article produced by Brian Loomes. In large part I have been unable to verify the information given but have no reason to doubt its authenticity as it does fit with some already known facts and several other articles present on the web

 

PAGE 4 of 4

The ‘Clockmakers’ Drury Family Tree

Joseph b.? d.1703
Alice Cheslin b.? d.1698 m.1653

CHILDREN:
Ann b.1660 d.?
Benjamin b.1676 d.1745
Daniel b.1675 d.1676
James b.1667 d.1668
John b.1656 d.1730 & Lydia Hill b.? d.?
Patience b.1664 d.1689
Richard b.1662 d.1729 & Mary b.? d.1709



Joseph b.1657 d.1738 m. m.1686 & Deborah Brooks b.? d.1738 m.170
children:
Sarah b.1709 d.1728 & Thomas Gardiner b.? d.? m.1728
James b.1672 d.1740 & Joanna Forby b.? d.? m.1695

children:
sarah & Samuel Hoole b.? d.? m.?
children:
John Hoole b.1727 d.1803

Joseph b.1700 d.1752 & Hannah Sutton b? d?

John b.1699 d.1777 ? b.? d.? m.?

Joanna b.? d.? & Daniel de St.Leu b.? d.1797 m.1752

James b.? d.1811 ? b.? d.? m.? & ???
children:
James Francis b.?

Margaret b.? d.? & John Sturdy b.? d.? m.?

Mary b.? d.? & William Trotter b.? d.? m.?

Sarah b.? d.?

The Drury Clockmakers Tree (drury-family.co.uk)
http://www.drury-family.co.uk/ClockMakers Tree.pdf

 

Peter (Burchard) Drieu is your 28th great grandfather.
You
susan lynne schwenger

→

Lyn aka Lynda Mae Handy - Schwenger
your mother
your father Muff aka Murray Bruce Schwenger

→

Viola Mae Drury - Handy
her mother
her father James Edward Handy Jr.
(Son of James Edward Handy Sr.
and Ida Eva Morton Russell - Handy
(Daughter of R.J. Russell or Robert J. Russell or Robert James Russell and
Florence Melissa Wall - Russell)

and; James Edward Handy Sr. was:
Son of Edward or NED Handy
and Marion or "Merne" Ruthven - Handy - Satchell

James Edward Handy Jr., her father
Viola Mae Drury - Handy, her mother

→

Dr. George Walker Herbert Drury or Dr. George W.H. Drury
her father
her mother
Eva "Effie" Teresa Kopitoski - Drury
(Daughter of Michael Kopitoski
Son of Frederick aka Fredrick Kopitoski and Eva Meltowna Kopitovski)
and Emilie aka Amelia Annie Musclow - Kopitoski
(Daughter of John aka Johann Gottfried Musclow AKA MUSENLUS and
Emilie aka Amelia Caroline Friederike Schroeder - Musclow)
→

Charles Alfred Drury
his father
his mother Mary Ann Elizabeth Varley - Drury
→

Richard Drury
his father
his father Elizabeth Bishop - Drury
→

Joseph E. Drury aka J.E.D. of Kenilworth Farm
his father
his wife Ann Heath - Drury
→

Joseph Drury
his father
her mother Lydia Hill - Drury
→

Joseph Drury
his father
his mother Lydia Hill - Drury
→

John Drury
his father
his mother Lydia Hill - Drury
→

Joseph Drury

1630 Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom
Death:	July 05, 1703 (72-73) Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom
Place of Burial:	St Nicholas C Of E Church, Kenilworth, Warwickshire County, United Kingdom

his father
his mother Alice Cheslin - Drury

→

his mother Hannah Home - Drury
Sir John Drury
his father
(Brother of Heveningham Drury;
Sir Robert Thomas William Drury, Jr.;
Parnell Drury;
Catherine Drury;
Jeane Drury - Godfrey;
Frances Drury - Yarmouth;
Audrey Drury - St. John;
Virgina Elizabeth Drury - Oliver;
Mary Drury - Greene;
Elizabeth Drury - Godfrey;
Ann Drury - Toll;
Margaret Drury - Tant - Bloomfield and
Mary Ann Drury - Burchett

his mother Hannah Home - Drury
→

Sir Robert Drury, of Docking
his father
his mother Mary Radcliffe
→

John Drury, of Godwick aka John Drury 111
his father
his mother Eleanor Sidney
→

John Drury, Jr., Esq
his father
his mother elizabeth goldingham - drury
→

John Drury, Esq., of Rougham
his father
his mother Margaret Feltham (alias chapman) - Drury
→

Thomas Drury, Esq., of Rougham
his father
his mother Katherine Whithall
→

Sir William Drury, of Rougham
his father
his mother katherine sywnford
→

Sir Roger Drury, MP
his father
his mother Margaret de Vere de Nauton - Drury
→

Sir Nicholas Drury, Knight of Thurston
his father
his mother Joan Agnes de Saxham - Drury
→

Sir John Drury, of Thruston
his father
his mother Amabilia Newton - Drury
→

Henry FitzJohn Drury
his father

→

John FitzJohn Drury
his father

→

John FitzRobert Drury, de Thurston
his father

→

Robert Fitz Drieu de St. Edmund
his father

→

Sir Richard de St. Edmund
his father

Drieu FitzWalter
his father

→

Walter FitzDrieu
his father

→

Walter Drieu, of Livermere
his father

→

Drieu de Normandy
his father

→

Peter (Burchard) Drieu
his father

Peter (Burchard) Drieu

Gender:	Male
Birth:	circa 1010
Immediate Family:	Father of Drieu St. Edmund and Drieu de Normandy

 

Collecting Antique Clocks James Drury, clockmaker, and his family

Article by:
Brian & Joy Loomes
Pateley Bridge
England
Collecting Antique Clocks: James Drury, clockmaker, and his family (brianloomes.com)
https://www.brianloomes.com/collecting/drury/index.html

James Drury was apprenticed in the Clockmakers' Company in December 1687 to Francis Hill and freed in April 1695.

The 1687 record states that he was the son of Joseph Drury, but that part has then been crossed out.

Was it an error?

Or was it correct but crossed out because the father's name was not usually entered in
Company apprenticeships at that time?

Too much information perhaps?

Later investigation shows that his father was in fact a Joseph Drury.

Francis Hill was a little-known clockmaker.

His work is known today through only a single example of a lantern clock,
yet he followed the clock trade for thirty years or more.

Presumably he spent much of his life as a journeyman.

By the terms of his bond an apprentice was forbidden to marry,
which for many young men meant that as soon as they had their freedom
from apprenticeship, they were desperate to tie the knot.

So when I located a marriage record on the 21st December 1695,
just months after his freedom date, of James Drury marrying at Allhallows London Wall
to Joanna Forby, there was a good chance that it was the right James Drury,
and it later proved to be so.

This was the more likely because in 1695 Francis Hill was recorded as working in Half Moon Alley
(of which there were actually seven at that time in London!), being the one located in Cripplegate Without Ward,
White Cross Precinct, which was pretty well adjacent to Allhallows parish.

It looks as if James Drury was still working as a journeyman for Francis Hill in 1695.

In 1697 James signed the Association Oath of allegiance to the King
on the list of Clockmakers' Company signatories.

All freemen were required to do this, though a few members of extreme conscience,
such as Quakers, refused to sign, as they would not to swear oaths.

1. This lantern clock by James Drury is one of his earlier clocks dating from about 1700 or just before. The alarm disc shows it was originally fitted with alarm work, which was removed later. Click for closer view.​

I was unsuccessful in finding the baptism of any issue of James and Joanna Drury.

I later found out that they were religious nonconformists, which may have been fine
for their consciences, but made life awkward for later researchers like me,
as nonconformist records can be notoriously difficult to find,
even assuming they ever existed. It was not until 1698 that James took his first apprentice.

A tradesman was not allowed to take on an apprentice until he had his own premises,
because of course the apprentices 'lived in'' with the master's family.

There were always exceptions, especially among the wealthier or more powerful members,
some of whose journeymen took their own apprentices although still living in their employer's house,
a device whereby one master might employ several journeymen each with two or three apprentices
in other words a small factory.

But we can guess from this that by 1698 James Drury
had set up in business on his own in his own premises.

This was probably in Little Moorfields in the parish of St. Stephen's Coleman Street,
not far from the home of his former master, Francis Hill.
His apprentices were:

September 1698 John Sutton
April 1701 Henry Stanbury, son of Robert Stanbury of Backswell(?), Warwickshire, miller - freed July 1709.
December 1706 Thomas Woods - free July 1714
April 1708 Samuel Henry Smith - free January 1715/16
October 1713 Thomas Ladbrooke, son of John Ladbrooke of Coventry, Warwickshire, yeoman
April 1717 Peter Crook, son of Peter Crook, Citizen and Carpenter, of London
Date unspecified, his son, James Drury, born about 1699, - free January 1720/21
May 1723 Joseph Goodyear, son of Joseph Goodyear, shoemaker, of St. Bride's parish, London
July 1726 James Loftus, son of John Loftus deceased​

Notice two Warwickshire youths amongst them.

This can be a clue, as we often find that masters took on lads from their own home locality,
and sure enough it later emerged that James himself came from Warwickshire.

His own son, Joseph, born about 1700, was apprenticed in 1714 through the Leathersellers' Company
to John Delafield for seven years.

Joseph was married in 1722 to Hannah Sutton and died in 1752.

He seems not to have been involved in the clock business and appears to have died childless.

In 1728 James was made Master of the Clockmakers' Company.

In 1731 he is said to have become clerk to the Company.

His work is known through watches, longcase clocks and lantern clocks.

His work is sometimes signed 'Jam. Drury London', and sometimes 'James Drury, London'.

On the 11th September 1732 James made his will.

He was described as of the Parish of St. Stephen in Coleman Street, clockmaker.

Not that he was ill, for he lived a further eight years or so.

He died in 1740, his will being proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
on the 18th March 1739/40.

Like his nonconformity this was probably just a measure of the meticulous nature of a man,
who wanted things mapped out as carefully as possible.

This was perhaps a trait that nonconformists learned to acquire as they trod their way
carefully through a society that was legally and socially hostile to them.

The will is disappointingly uninformative, as he leaves everything to his wife, Joanna,
"having beforehand made provision for my children",
whom, to the great irritation of researchers such as me,
he does not even name!

He specified he was to be buried in the burying ground at Bunhill Fields
("commonly called 'Tindall's Ground') at as little cost and charges
as may be".

Nonconformist James was having nothing to do with a showy funeral,
no bequests to buy mourning rings for remembrance.

His austerity no doubt arose from his religion, and approached that of the Quakers,
who believed in leaving no trace behind at their passing,
even to the point of not erecting tombstones, as they saw that as vanity.

This situation always reminds me of Edward East's request in his will of 1688:
"It is my express wish that my executrix bury me privately in the night time
and that she give nothing but Rosemary att my funeral."

East was a Roman Catholic and a quiet burial at night
might give them the privacy to say their own preferred form of words
as well as being out of sight of hostile onlookers, hecklers and worse.

2. This closeup of the dial centre shows the very fine engraving, which at this period takes the form of entwined foliage. The radiating strokes in the corners and on the alarm disc are unusual and are perhaps a mark of his individuality. Click for closer view.​

The name 'Bunhill Fields' burial ground derives from Bonehill Fields,
this being an area of wasteland outside the city where the residual unburned bones
of cremated corpses had once been dumped.

At the time of the Great Plague in 1665 the London Corporation designated this waste land
as a burying place for the surplus corpses as churchyards overflowed,
but eventually it was purchased by a Mr. Tindall,
and was sometimes called 'Tindall's Burying Ground'.

Nonconformists were not permitted burial in consecrated ground.

As this land was never consecrated, it soon became a preferred burying place
for nonconformists, particularly those from a well-to-do background
there were other nonconformist burial grounds for the poor.

James's desire for burial there, confirms his nonconformity and his financial status.

Nonconformists steered a delicate course with the law of the land.

The state obliged everyone to attend church or face punishment,

yet their faiths prevented that. In a world that still believed salvation

was the only way to avoid eternally roasting in the fires of hell,

their particular belief meant that they were damned if they did attend church
and the established church said they were damned if they didn't.

We can read between the lines of James's apparently very understated will.

At this time most nonconformists did not baptise their children in a church
- although they were obliged to marry in one, and normally did so,
as James himself had.

They might or might not have left a written record of the births of their children
in the documents of some chapel.

But as far as the law was concerned difficulty could arise if a child had to prove legitimacy
(e.g. to inherit), as the only acceptable evidence of that would have been an entry in the register of a parish church,
which of course they could not produce.

Bequests to a man's children in his will might be contested if the children
could not produce evidence of baptism from a church register.

So it may have been for that reason that James had already given his children
what he wanted the to have, while he was still living.

A pound in the hand was worth two in the will!

But he took the trouble to mention that he had already provided for them,
because the testamentary custom of London required a person to bestow his 'thirds'
- one third to his children, one third to his wife, and only the final third as he felt inclined.

James mentions that he has already provided for his children,
presumably to stipulate that they have already had their third.

With a lack of baptismal evidence, I was obliged to piece together James Drury's family tree
from the content of wills and apprenticeships.

He was born about 1673 in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, the son of a baker named Joseph Drury.

His younger brother, Benjamin, was apprenticed in London into the Plumbers' Company in 1692,
and we hear no more of him.

His older brother, Joseph, had been apprenticed in the Founders' Company in London in 1671
to Richard Meakins and became a founder working in Hackney,
where he himself took several apprentices through that Company
between 1681 and 1721. Joseph married Deborah Brooks in 1707,
by whom he had a single child named Sarah, born in 1709,
who was married in 1728 to Thomas Gardiner but died shortly afterwards,
leaving Joseph and Deborah childless.

Joseph Drury, the founder, died in July 1738, and his brother James Drury, the clockmaker,
acted as executor.

However Joseph's widow, Deborah, was herself already seriously ill
and she died in December of that same year, 1738.

She left only a token bequest to her son-in-law, Thomas Gardiner
, and everything else went to the children of her brother-in-law, clockmaker James Drury,
i.e. Joseph the leatherseller, John, who continued his father's clock business
and Sarah, now wife of Samuel Hoole.

3. This view of the top plate shows the verge escapement, which is in fact a replacement, as the clock had been converted to anchor escapement at some time in the past. Click for closer view.​

John Drury, son of James, was born about 1699, and was apprenticed to his father
in the Clockmakers' Company and freed in 1720.

He was a clockmaker and bellfounder and lived in Red Lion Street,
in the parish of St. John, Clerkenwell.

Presumably the founding business was that passed down from his late uncle Joseph of Hackne
y and his widow, Deborah.

John Drury died in April 1777 a very wealthy man, leaving considerable properties and cash.

His son, James, was his main inheritor, together with John's daughters,
Margaret wife of John Sturdy, Mary wife of William Trotter,
and Joanna wife of Huguenot clockmaker Daniel de St. Leu,
whom she had married in 1752 and who died in 1797.

His son, James, had been apprenticed to him in 1741 and freed in 1751.

It seems young James was a bit of a tearaway in his earlier years,
so much so that when his grandmother, Joanna Drury,
left James a bequest of £40 in 1748, it was on condition he be of good behaviour:
"I give and bequeath unto my son, John Drury, the sum of forty pounds to keep in his hands
until his son James shall arrive at the age of twenty one years
and then, if he has behaved so well as to deserve it, to give it to him,
otherwise to divide it amongst his other children
but of his behaviour I appoint his said father to be the sole judge".

James's waywardness when an apprentice may explain the odd fact that although he was apprenticed
through the Clockmaker's Company to his father, John, he was then 'turned over' (i.e. transferred)
to serve a different master, clockmaker Joshua Hassell.

Perhaps it was felt that James would be more obedient living under a stranger's roof
than working under his own father at home.

Presumably James had reformed as John states that in his will of September 1776:
"having given to my son all my stock tools and trade for making bells".

James continued the clock and bellfounding business till his death in 1811.

James's son, James Francis, was apprenticed to his father in 1795
and presumably continued the business after his death,
a family of at least four generations in the trade.

 

Joseph J.E.D. Drury

Gender:	Male
Birth:	June 29, 1773 Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom
Death:	December 24, 1823 (50) Crown Hill, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada
Immediate Family:	Son of Joseph Drury and Hannah Wood - Drury Husband of Ann Heath - Drury Father of Joseph Drury; James Drury; William Drury; William Drury; Thomas Drury; Richard Drury; Anne or Ann Drury - Sharp; Edmund Drury and Elizabeth Drury - Smith « less Brother of William Drury; Dorothy "Dority" Drury - Rollason; Elizabeth Drury and Hannah Drury

 

Joseph E. Drury aka J.E.D. of Kenilworth Farm is your fourth great grandfather
died December 24, 1823 in Crown Hill, Ontario, Canada
(got lost in a snow storm, and, died in the woods) at 50

 

"My stepmother passed away almost 2 years ago. I found a bunch of watches that she had. I tried to figure out what I could do with them. Instead of replacing the battery, she must have just purchased a new one. Anyway, I took the bands off of them, set each one on the hour, bought this unfinished wood from Michael's, and stained it. I assembled the clock mechanism and then glued the watch faces onto the wood. The pink one at the top is set at 12:00 and so on. It was a creative way to remember her in a functional way. It turned out pretty cool."
VIA-- Diana Sweeney