A miniature nine-drawer oak watchmaker’s cabinet, tucked away in a clock and watchmaking workshop for many years, looks quite ordinary to the viewer’s eye. It is the type of cabinet typically found in a horological workshop, usually used to house spare parts. On closer inspection, a hidden treasure trove of memories can be found.
Inscribed meticulously on some drawers’ inner backs and sides are dates and entries, just like a mini diary. Many are dates, mainly deaths, some specifying the exact time of death. One entry is the death of Frank’s first wife – ‘Jane Died Tuesday 16th October 1900 at 9:30 am’ – a grim reminder of her unfortunate demise at the age of 28. The cabinet also commemorates the passing of fellow clock and watchmakers. However, it is not just a record of sorrow; interspersed are entries noting a Tattersall’s cash prize, a marriage, a friend becoming a father, a house window bricked up, watch part numbers, and even cryptic messages that invite the reader’s imagination.
Frank, the first timekeeper of the Launceston Town Clock for many years, has more of his story documented on the Hands of Time website. Destiny has it that Frank’s cabinet of memories now rests in the hands of the current timekeeper of the Launceston Town Clock, Graham Mulligan of Clockwise.
© Sallie Mulligan, blog and photos, December 2023