Snippets of clock repair history are often discovered, tucked away and hidden, engraved on clock movements. Unbeknown to many, this common practice in the horological industry is a vital record of work undertaken, including repairer names and dates.
A recent restoration job by Clockwise revealed a repair mark that started a journey of sleuthing and discovery to uncover hidden history. The large dial Fusee wall clock was marked ‘Coulson Launceston’. Foster Walter Coulson worked as a watchmaker, jeweller, and optician in Launceston from the late 1880s until his death in 1925. Another important link to Tasmanian history was found on the clock movement. Its mark ‘K Smithson TGR 13/1/1959’ led to finding not a clock or watchmaker by trade but a fitter and turner/ instrument repairer, Ken Smithson, a Tasmanian Government Railways employee. The discovery of the markings on what was most likely a railway station clock unveiled a part of Tasmanian railway history and also a part of Ken Smithson’s life and work.
Kenneth Leslie Smithson was born in Melbourne on 17 October 1923 to Leslie Charles Smithson and Jessie Sylvia (formerly Grant). At 19, he enlisted for war service on 21 February 1943 and served a few years at Adelaide River in the Northern Territory. After the war, Ken married Margaret Hedley in February 1951 at Ormond, a Melbourne suburb. The following month, he commenced work with the Tasmanian Government Railways as a turner and, by 1955, an instrument repairer. He remained in this position until about 1963. The family home was at 17 Quarantine Road in Launceston.
Ken died on 6 November 1969 at the young age of 46. His wife Margaret and children survived him, and his final resting place is at The Launceston Garden of Remembrance at Carr Villa Cemetery in Launceston.
© Sallie Mulligan, November 2024.
References:
National Archives of Australia, Series B883, SN VX135132;
Ancestry: Tasmania Railway Employment Record 1951-1963, Tasmania Electoral Roll 1954, 1968, Find A Grave Index 1969.
The Sun News-Pictorial, 1 March 1951.
Clock photos: Mal Enright & Graham Mulligan 2024.