James William Benson (12 April 1826 – 7 October 1878) was an English

scientific instrument A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research. History Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, an ...

maker,

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

, and

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

Early life

James William Benson was born in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

, England. He was the son of William Benson and Phoebe Suckley.

Career

Samuel Suckley Benson (born in 1822 in London) and James William Benson founded the company S. S. & J. W. Benson in 1847. They purchased the premises, and possibly the business interests, of established companies in London at Cornhill and Ludgate Hill, from which they sometimes claimed a date of foundation of 1749.John Culme "The Directory of Gold and Silversmiths, Jewellers and Allied Traders, 1838-1914: From the London Assay Office Registers" Publication Date: 15 Oct 1987 The partnership was dissolved on 27 January 1855 and James William continued in business under the name 'J. W. Benson'. James William Benson died on 7 October 1878, aged 52, and his sons James, Alfred and Arthur took over the running of the business. Throughout its history, J. W. Benson Ltd was official watchmaker to the Admiralty and the War Department and also held a number of royal warrants, being watchmakers to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, the

Tsar of Russia The Tsar of all Russia, formally the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, was the title of the Russian monarch from 1547 to 1721. During this period, the state was a tsardom. The first Russian monarch to be crowned as tsar was Ivan ...

Abu Bakar of Johor Sultan Sir Abu Bakar Al-Khalil Ibrahim Shah ibni Almarhum Maharaja Tun Daeng Ibrahim ( Jawi: ; 3 February 1833 – 4 June 1895) was the Temenggong of Johor. He was the 1st sultan of modern Johor, the 21st Sultan of Johor and the first Mahara ...

and several other royal families. The company's premises were in Cornhill (1847–64),

Ludgate Hill Ludgate Hill is a street and surrounding area, on a small hill in the City of London, England. The street passes through the former site of Ludgate, a city gate that was demolished – along with a gaol attached to it – in 1760. Th ...

(1854-1937),

Old Bond Street Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...

(1872-3), and Royal Exchange (1892-1937), and their original workshop was at 4-5 Horseshoe Court (at the rear of their Ludgate Hill premises). In 1892 J. W. Benson became a limited company and moved to a new 'steam' factory at 38 Belle Sauvage Yard. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the factory was bombed, destroying thousands of timepieces and from this point on the company no longer manufactured its own watches, but still continued as a retailer. The timepieces bearing the company name used high-quality

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

supplied by manufacturers such as, Vertex (Revue),

Universal Genève Universal Genève SA is a Swiss luxury watch company, founded in 1894 as Universal Watch. It is a subsidiary of Breitling SA. Since its beginnings, the company has produced complete watches with in-house movements. Along with neighboring Geneva ...

, Cyma/

Tavannes Tavannes is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Jura bernois (administrative district), Jura bernois administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French- ...

Longines Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Agassiz family, Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss The Swatch G ...

and by the English maker, S. Smith & Sons. J. W. Benson Ltd continued until 1973 at which time the name was sold to the royal jewellers, Garrards.

References

External links

British scientific instrument makers 1826 births 1878 deaths People from Reading, Berkshire {{England-bio-stub