Home People Places Battles Heraldry Dates Community DNA About Contact Donate Games

James Douglas, Clockmaker

This page was last updated on 11 August 2021

Click here to
Print this page

Biography finder

A	B	C	D	E	F	G
H	I	J	K	L	M	N
O	P	Q	R	S	T	U
V	W	X	Y	Z

Index of first names

Douglas clocks

James Douglass of Chertsey ca 1733 - 1805 was a watch and clockmaker. He was born around 1730-1733 to John Douglas(s ).

It seems lilely that the Douglasses originally came from Scotland), though when is uncertain.

James Douglass married Letitia Joyce on 20 May 1761 in Godalming. Letitia, born in 1733, was the daughter of Joshua Joyce (a baker and formerly Warden of Godalming) and Elizabeth, née Chitty.

James, though from Chertsey, had been apprenticed to learn watchmaking from Richard Stedman in Godalming in October 1747. At the time he started this apprenticeship, his future father in law, Joshua Joyce would have be the out going or previous Warden of Godalming. The Guidelines for apprenticeships in the Ordinances of Godalming suggest that apprenticeships should end at 24 years old, so James Douglass could have bee born as early as 1730. He must have met Letitia during this period. However he did not marry her until 7 years after the end of his apprenticeship, in 1761. Four children were born by the end of 1769. Letitia received legacies from the following: – her father in 1760, her uncle William Chitty in 1769, and her unmarried sister Mary Joyce in 1792 See Mary Joyce’s Will. It is noticeable that the latter will is phrased (written as it was after James’s bankruptcy) to safeguard the legacy from external control. Her uncle William was extremely wealthy and powerful, and may have been one of the William’s who was also Warden of Godalming, and a Maltster by trade.

James had an apprentice, James Front(?), on 29 April 1767.

James died at Chertsey in 1805.

James Douglass, 1765-1835 was their son.

See also:
• Douglas watch and clockmakers

Source

Sources for this article include:

Tribe Joyce

Chertsey Museum

Any contributions will be gratefully accepted

Errors and Omissions		The Forum		What's new?
We are looking for your help to improve the accuracy of The Douglas Archives. If you spot errors, or omissions, then please do let us know Contributions Many articles are stubs which would benefit from re-writing. Can you help? Copyright You are not authorized to add this page or any images from this page to Ancestry.com (or its subsidiaries) or other fee-paying sites without our express permission and then, if given, only by including our copyright and a URL link to the web site.		If you have met a brick wall with your research, then posting a notice in the Douglas Archives Forum may be the answer. Or, it may help you find the answer! You may also be able to help others answer their queries. Visit the Douglas Archives Forum. 2 Minute Survey To provide feedback on the website, please take a couple of minutes to complete our survey.		We try to keep everyone up to date with new entries, via our What's New section on the home page. We also use the Community Network to keep researchers abreast of developments in the Douglas Archives. Help with costs Maintaining the three sections of the site has its costs. Any contribution the defray them is very welcome Donate Newsletter If you would like to receive a very occasional newsletter - Sign up! Temporarily withdrawn.

The content of this website is a collection of materials gathered from a variety of sources, some of it unedited.

The webmaster does not intend to claim authorship, but gives credit to the originators for their work.

As work progresses, some of the content may be re-written and presented in a unique format, to which we would then be able to claim ownership.

Discussion and contributions from those more knowledgeable is welcome.

Last modified: Friday, 02 August 2024