John Benson (clockmaker)
John Benson was a famous English clockmaker who worked and lived in Whitehaven. He became a highly skilled and much respected clockmaker, and his work was mainly in brass dial 8-day clocks with rolling moons for the upper market. Many have centre calendar work and simple rise/fall, ebb/flow, tidal indicators, and include clocks with music, quarter-chiming and astronomical indications. About twenty clocks have been noted by him, including one with quarter chimes and music, all of fine quality, often in superior red walnut or mahogany cases.
Benson was married in 1750 and died in 1798.
His work can be seen in the main hall of 10 Downing Street, the residence of the prime minister, where its chimes irritated Winston Churchill so much that he had the musical machinery turned off. [1] [2]