Daniel Ferguson & James Ferguson, both of Inverness

[fordyced]

I own a station clock made for the Highland Railway marked only Ferguson on the face, and am trying to discover more about it. It might have been supplied in 1863 for the opening of the Highland Main Line destined for Blair Atholl or Struan, or 1868/9 for the opening of the new station building at Blair Atholl. The obvious suppliers would be clockmakers in Inverness.

I know of Daniel Ferguson (Nairn 1861 and Inverness by 1866) and James Ferguson (Inverness) and his sucessor businesses. As I understand it, James Ferguson started in 1857 (seen no examples), continued as Ferguson Brothers 1866-1880 (ditto), then Ferguson & McBean (seen examples of their mark F&M).

Would the unqualified 'Ferguson' mark mean that it was supplied by James Ferguson (a) before his business became Ferguson Brothers and/or (b) before Daniel Ferguson came to Inverness? This would mean my clock was supplied pre-1866, hence likely for the 1863 line opening.

(Aside: when Blair Atholl's station building became redundant in 1980s, the extant clock was from PG Wilson, Inverness, which must have been made before 1915 when that business closed. Theoretically it could have been the original of 1868/9 but I don't know exactly when he moved from Keith (prob in 1861) to Inverness (def in 1871).)

Apologies if this is slightly off-topic but if I can get an insight into the workings of these silversmith businesses, I might be able to better pin down the origins of this Ferguson clock.

[dognose]

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

If you can obtain a copy of Highland Gold & Silversmiths by G.P. Moss & A.D. Roe, it has extensive information relating to both Daniel Ferguson and James Ferguson of Inverness.

Trev.