Charles Gretton was an English clock and watchmaker during the golden age of English clockmaking.
30 Facts About Charles Gretton
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Charles Gretton was possibly the third youngest of nine or ten children.
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Charles Gretton's mother was Agnes, nee Atterby, and his father was Charles, a cottager, who held pieces of land and livestock.
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Charles Gretton left Claypole for London at the age of 14 to apprentice under Humphrey Downing, a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths.
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Charles Gretton established his first workshop on Fleet Street with John Johnson but in 1678 moved into his own premises, 'The Ship,' in the vicinity of Fleet Street and Fetter Lane.
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Charles Gretton worked during the period which is often called 'The Golden Age of English Clockmaking,' when many innovations were created and the trade flourished.
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Charles Gretton took at least eight apprentices, including his nephew Charles Kemp, John Farewell, and Joseph Antram, the latter of whom became a clockmaker to King George I The best known of Gretton's apprentices was Henry Sully, who after completing his apprenticeship stayed with Gretton as a journeyman for four years rather than the more customary two years.
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Charles Gretton was a prolific maker of clocks and watches for home and abroad.
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Charles Gretton made more watches than clocks, as did many of his contemporaries.
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Charles Gretton continued to make at least clocks until the mid-1720s, when it is believed he retired from clockmaking.
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However, Charles Gretton maintained a strong relationship with the Clockmakers' Company until the very last years of his life.
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Charles Gretton's earliest known extant watch dates to before 1675 and is on display at the British Museum, London.
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Charles Gretton clocks were always of the highest quality, comparable to those of London's best makers.
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Charles Gretton returned to walnut for his late longcase clocks.
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Charles Gretton was an early user of gilt basket-top cases.
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Charles Gretton was an early adopter of mechanisms for silent-pull timepieces, several forms of which are known.
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Charles Gretton was very active in the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers.
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Charles Gretton became a steward in 1684 and a warden in 1688, and he was elected Master of the Company in 1700.
19.
Charles Gretton continued his commitment to the Clockmakers' Company until his late years, when ill health likely prevented his direct participation.
20.
The Clockmakers' Company Court appointed Charles Gretton to represent the Company as a proprietor with the Bank of England in 1714, and he held this position for several years.
21.
Charles Gretton became very successful in business and had the means to acquire wealth and a number of urban and rural properties.
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Charles Gretton had a keen interest in philanthropy, particularly relating to education.
23.
Charles Gretton's will arranged a fund and the structure to establish and maintain a School for Poor Boys, in Claypole, Lincolnshire.
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Charles Gretton was a donating governor at Bridewell Hospital and Christ's Hospital; both engaged in education and training, and both still exist as schools.
25.
Charles Gretton was a Common Councilman for the Ward of Farringdon Without, representing the parish of St Dunstan-in-the-West for many years.
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Charles Gretton served as a tax commissioner, and at times as an adjuster, for Ludgate and for both precincts of the parish of St Martin, Ludgate.
27.
Charles Gretton lived the very last years of his life with Ann at the Houghton home in Milk Street, London.
28.
Charles Gretton married Lucy Uffman in 1700, but she must have died, because Gretton was married again in 1711, this time to Dorothea Wilson.
29.
Charles Gretton became a widower for the third time in 1727.
30.
Besides his beautiful clocks and watches, Charles Gretton left considerable wealth, including at least nine properties.