Grandfather Clocks and Their Long, Longcase History

Grandfather clocks are also known as floor clocks or longcase clocks. In fact, although the first grandfather clocks were made around the mid-1600s, they were not commonly called “grandfather clocks” until after 1875.

What is the history of the grandfather clock?

The true history of grandfather clocks begins back in 1582 when Galileo Galilei first discovered that you could use a pendulum to keep time. It was Galileo, in fact, who drew the first designs for a floor clock. A man named Christiaan Huygens built the first working floor clock by using what Galileo discovered. Of course, it is William Clement who usually gets accredited with the first true grandfather clock.

You might say that William Clement is the “father of grandfather clocks.” The very first clocks did not actually keep time all that well. It was William Clement who helped fix this problem by making the pendulum longer. With a longer pendulum, a floor clock could keep better time. Of course, longer pendulums required longer cases, and this is where the term long case clock came from.

Where did the name "grandfather" clock come from?

The story of the grandfather clock generally goes like this: Once upon a time, in Piercebridge, North Yorkshire, England, there was a lovely lodge known as the George Hotel. Two handsome and loyal bachelor brothers named Jenkins managed the George hotel.

The Jenkins brothers had a beautiful floor clock that stood in the hotel lobby. Hotel guests would often admire the beauty of the clock, and the Jenkins brothers were very proud of it. This particular floor clock kept very good time (which was not terribly usual since the mechanics of long case clocks were still being fixed and improved at the time).

One day, one of the Jenkins brothers died quite suddenly and the old clock started to lose time. Eventually, the old floor clock began to lose an hour a day. When the second brother died, the floor clock stopped working completely. The floor clock was never repaired, and instead it just sat motionless in the hotel lobby.

Around 1875, Henry Work, an American songwriter stayed at the George Hotel while traveling through England. When he asked about the motionless clock, he received the story of the Jenkins brothers. Henry Work decided to write a song about the long case clock. The song lyrics start out, “Oh my grandfather’s clock…”

Nowadays, because of the Jenkins brothers and Henry Work, we refer to long case clocks as grandfather clocks. Grandfather clocks are still very popular in both the United States and England, as well as other countries. They are often cherished heirlooms. After all, why wouldn’t you want to pass on a clock through your family that has such a “family” name like grandfather clock and such a “family” story associated with it about the Jenkins brothers?

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on clocks, please visit Clocks.

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