Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 1.djvu/143

 working at them with his own hands. In 1850 he published a clearly written and instructive work, 'A Rudimentary Treatise on Clock and Watchmaldng.' It passed through eight editions, with some changes of title, becoming in 1903 'A Rudimentary Treatise on Clocks, Watches and Bells, with a new preface and a new list of great bells and an appendix on weathercocks.' His articles on clocks, watches and bells in the ' Encyclopaedia Britannica,' which were reprinted separately, were based on this work. He designed the great clock for the International Exhibition of 1851, made by Edward John Dent [q. v.]; it is now at King's Cross railway station. In the same year he undertook, in conjunction with (Sir) George Biddell Airy [q. v. Suppl. I] and Dent, the construction of the great clock for the clock-tower in the Houses of Parliament, Westminster. The design was his, as an inscription records, and it included his new gravity escapement, in which a pendulum weighing 6 cwt. is kept going by a scape wheel weighing little more than a quarter of an ounce; this is known as the 'double three-legged gravity escapement,' and was inserted in 1859. Grimthorpe also prepared the specifications for the bell commonly called 'Big Ben,' after Sir Benjamin Hall, commissioner of public works. The clock and 'Big Ben,' like most of Grimthorpe's undertakings, involved him in fierce controversies, and he waged battle for sixteen years with the office of public works, with Sir Charles Barry [q. v.] the architect, with Sir George Airy, who withdrew from the undertaking, and others. In the libel action, Stainbank v. Beckett, turning on the soundness of the bell, he was cast in 200l. damages (1859). (For an excellent, if disputatious account of the Westminster clock, see Rudimentary Treatise, 8th edit.; also the Journal of the Soc. of Arts, 13 Jan. 1854, and the Horological Journal, xv.). Grimthorpe was elected president of the Horological Institute in 1868, on condition that he should not attend dinners, and was annually re-elected, though not always without opposition. In the preface to the eighth edition of the 'Rudimentary treatise' he stated that he had 'either directly or indirectly' designed over forty clocks, 'including those at Westminster and St. Paul's (with the great peal of bells), and in many other cathedrals and churches, as well as town-halls, railways stations and others in several of our colonies.' The new clock at St. Paul's Cathedral, which was constructed after his specifications, was finished in 1893; he said of its makers, Messrs. John Smith of Derby, that they 'would clock you in the best way and as near eternity as possible' ('s Memorials of St. Paul's Cathedral, 430-4). Grimthorpe's services and advice were always gratuitously given, and no municipal council or country clergyman, who approached him with due deference on the subject of clocks or bells, ever appealed to him in vain.

In 1852 Grimthorpe invented an ingenious lock, but it proved to be too elaborate for commercial success; it does not appear to have been patented. The wide scope of his scientific knowledge was further proved by a clever little handbook, 'Astronomy without Mathematics' (1865).

He died at Batch Wood, St. Albans, on 29 April 1905, after a short illness, aggravated by a fall. He was interred by his wife's side in the north-west side of the burial-ground of St. Albans Cathedral. His personal estate was valued at 1,562,500l., and he left a complicated will with many codicils which was the cause of prolonged litigation. He had married on 7 Oct. 1845 Fanny Catherine (d. 1901), daughter of Dr. John Lonsdale [q. v.], bishop of Lichfield. Leaving no issue, he was succeeded in the baronetcy and in the peerage (by special remainder) by his nephew, Ernest William Beckett, born 25 Nov. 1856, who had been M.P. for the Whitby division of Yorkshire since 1885.

Lord Grimthorpe, who owed his peerage to his activity in ecclesiastical matters, combined with his architectural skill and mechanical genius, possessed a manly intellect and varied talents. If he won his position at the bar by his self-assertive personality rather than by learning, his knowledge of horology was unquestioned, and he had a genuine grasp of architectural principles, though he was inclined to be ruthless in carrying them out. His mind, unfortunately, was given to cavil, and, troubled by no doubts on any subject, he rushed into print, often without provocation. In his ecclesiastical controversies he at times appeared in an unamiable light. His faults were, however, outweighed by the strength of his friendships, the largeness of his generosity, and his kindness towards those who stood in need of help. He was tall and stern of aspect and was always faithful to early Victorian costume. Besides the works cited Grimthorpe wrote his father-in-law's biography, 'The Life of John Lonsdale, Bishop of Lichfield, with some of his Writings' (1868); and