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The business was renamed
William Potts & Sons Limited as a result of three of William’s sons joining the company, however, after the First World War, two sons started their own clockmaking business, Tom Potts left in 1928 and Charles Potts left in 1930. William Potts & Sons Limited joined the
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In 1862 the business moved to
Guildford Street, Leeds, and later, a workshop for public clocks opened nearby in Cookridge Street. This heralded the most productive and profitable years of the business with large numbers of public clocks being installed both home and abroad for cathedrals, churches,
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Potts' clocks were installed in public buildings, churches, railway stations, workplaces and other premises. According to Potts' register, 1,568 new clocks were installed and 54 of them subsequently transferred to new locations by the company. The total included, 363 quarter-chiming clocks and 510
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near Leeds, to set up his own business. Initially the business was primarily concerned with domestic timepieces, however this gradually expanded into the manufacture and repair of public clocks.
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in 1935, but, as a well-recognised name, Potts retained its identity and the Leeds base. Today the Potts name is still recognised and active in the north of
Britain.
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153:, Australia dates from 1930. Five clocks were exported to India but their locations are not known, two went to Russia and there is an example on the post office in
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in 1897. In 1875 they installed a model of the time ball at
Greenwich in their shop window and received the time signal by electric telegraph.
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and returned to
Cardiff in 2005. It was planned to install the Potts clock as a piece of contemporary art, encased in glass, in
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hour-striking clocks. Many were installed at locations in
Yorkshire, and Leeds had the most, including examples on
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William Potts
Memorial Clock erected by his sons in 1901 in Darlington (his birthplace)
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Town Hall's clock was installed in 1887, and one on the Roman
Catholic Church Hall in
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It is claimed that there are more than 1600 Potts clocks in existence around
England.
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was installed in 1897, but was removed and sold in 1973. The mechanism was taken to
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William Potts was born in
December 1809 and was apprenticed to Samuel Thompson, a
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Characteristic hands and face of a Potts clock (Newcastle Cathedral)
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was a major British manufacturer of public clocks, based in
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Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom
157:. Potts provided the mechanism for a floral clock at
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A Potts clock juts out from the main frontage of the
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town halls, schools, engineering works and railways.
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377:Potts of Leeds – Five Generations of Clockmakers
63:. In 1833, at the age of 24, William moved to
298:"Pierhead clock mechanism returns to Cardiff"
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145:Other clocks were installed further afield,
117:, now in London, which was opened in 1893.
442:Turret clock makers of the United Kingdom
130:. The clock on the Pierhead Building at
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432:Manufacturing companies based in Leeds
223:– via British Newspaper Archive.
213:Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer
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407:Leeds Potts Clocks Heritage Trail
437:Defunct companies based in Leeds
296:Gaskell, Simon (4 April 2011).
447:1833 establishments in England
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159:Belle Vue Zoological Gardens
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16:British clock manufacturer
375:Potts, Michael (2006).
115:Old Town Hall, Richmond
155:Lyttleton, New Zealand
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75:granted the company a
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215:. England. 4 May 1875
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85:Smith of Derby Group
427:English clockmakers
140:Cardiff city centre
128:Leeds Corn Exchange
379:. Mayfield Books.
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208:"Greenwich Time"
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102:Potts clock in
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241:. 24 July 2011
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235:"Clock Visit"
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305:. Retrieved
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189:. Retrieved
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136:Alabama, USA
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104:East Keswick
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307:10 November
40:, England.
416:Categories
358:Potts 2006
346:Potts 2006
334:Potts 2006
322:Potts 2006
284:Potts 2006
272:Potts 2006
260:Potts 2006
245:7 November
165:References
61:clockmaker
58:Darlington
161:in 1936.
151:Melbourne
38:Yorkshire
219:17 March
191:12 April
94:Examples
368:Sources
147:Lerwick
44:History
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65:Pudsey
34:Leeds
381:ISBN
309:2011
247:2011
221:2024
193:2014
126:and
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173:^
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
