After a successful career as an architect and eventual partner in the London practice Hunt Thompson Associates (HTA), Edward transformed his lifelong interest in horology into a new business, buying and selling mainly English and French wall clocks.
Edward had started collecting wall clocks in the late 1960s as they were the most affordable English clocks available to buy. By the time he retired from his architectural practice in 1998, he had amassed one of the finest collections of English dial clocks anywhere.
Like many collectors, Edward became an antique dealer almost by accident.
A lack of wall space in his Camden Town home meant he had to sell his lesser clocks in order to be able to keep better, more recent acquisitions. And so began the cycle of buying and selling his timepieces as a full-time dealer.
Edward had grown up in ‘a clock-conscious household’ with his father who had been a Fellow of the British Horological Institute and from whom, as a 14-year-old, he learned basic bench skills.
He was quite capable of restoring a ‘wrecked ’ English wall clock which he took great pride and pleasure in saving for future generations to enjoy.
Edward was a quiet, gentle man who was overly modest about his abilities and deep knowledge of English dial clocks.
He will be greatly missed by his many friends, colleagues and loyal clients from the antiques fairs he attended over the last 20 years.
By Howard Walwyn
