Courtenay Adrian Ilbert (1888–1956), was a British civil engineer interested in

horology Chronometry or horology () is the science studying the measurement of time and timekeeping. Chronometry enables the establishment of standard measurements of time, which have applications in a broad range of social and scientific areas. ''Hor ...

, and a collector of watches. Ilbert lived for a time at 10 Milner Street,

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

, the old ground floor drawing room once housed the Ilbert Collection of clocks, watches, marine chronometers and sundials. He brought together the most important collection of watches ever achieved by a private collector. In 1958, after his death, his collection was acquired by the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. Initially, the collection had been put up for auction, but was saved for the public by a private donation to the British Museum for this purpose and the auction was subsequently cancelled. The collection, now known as the Ilbert collection, includes the Earnshaw 509 chronometer, one of only three surviving out of a complement of 22 from the

Second voyage of HMS Beagle The second voyage of HMS ''Beagle'', from 27 December 1831 to 2 October 1836, was the second survey expedition of HMS Beagle, HMS ''Beagle'', made under her newest commander, Robert FitzRoy. FitzRoy had thought of the advantages of having someo ...

, which famously took

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

around the world.David Thompson, Saul Peckham, ''The History of Watches'', p.9, Abbeville, 2008 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilbert, Courtenay Adrian 1888 births 1956 deaths English civil engineers Horology Prehistory and Europe objects in the British Museum