Father Time

by Lizzy Sharpe, Museum Assistant - Collections

For this New Year’s Eve, Dover Museum looks to Father Time as we approach the final hours of the year. The beginning of Father Time (Chronos) is thought to appear with the Ancient Greek God of Time Chronos becoming associated with the Titan god Cronos, who had the attribute of a harvester's scythe or sickle. Renaissance depictions of Father Time saw additions of wings and an hourglass.

Mid-17^th century pocket calendar watch

From Dover Museum’s collection, Father Time is present on the time keeping device itself: a mid-17^th century pocket calendar watch. In the centre, the hour circle has a rotating gold disc decorated with the winged figure of Father Time holding a scythe on a sandblasted background. Father Time points to the hour with his outstretched arm serving as a watch hand.

This watch is also a calendar watch. The watch has a fixed outer circle that graduates from 1 to 31. A thin disc rotates bearing a fleur-de-lys shaped index on the lower left side to indicate the day of the month. On this example, the dial would have required being adjusted by hand for months with shorter days to mark the correct day.  

Watch movement with Samuel Betts Londini engraved on the back plate

The watchmaker’s name is engraved on the back plate of the watch movement “Samuel Betts Londini”, Samuel Betts of London (d. before 1675). Samuel Betts was an early member of the Clockmakers' Company. The Clockmakers' Company was founded in 1631 under royal charter by King Charles I as a dedicated representative body to support and promote the craft and trade of watch and clockmaking as it was starting to flourish in London.

The calendar watch has been in Dover Museum’s collection since the 19^th century. Dover Museum’s records show that the previous owner of the calendar watch was a Mr. Thomas Mummery. This is possibly the same Thomas Mummery who was a 19^th century watch and clock maker, seller and repairer in Snargate Street, Dover. A round wall time piece c.1850 of Thomas Mummery’s own work is situated in the Court Room in Dover’s Maison Dieu. 

Court Room, Maison Dieu Dover 

The calendar watch can be seen among other examples of watches, cases and movements in the top floor gallery of Dover Museum. Dover Museum’s collection of clocks, watches, cases and movements span across centuries each with their own features and stories as they pass time through different hands. Watch this space for more features on timekeeping devices from the museum’s collection in 2025.