Francis Barker served his apprenticeship with James & George Simms, instrument makers in London, as a "Dialist" and "Compass Maker", and when he started out in business as F. Barker & Son, it was as a Compass Maker / Dialist, specialising principally in maritime compasses and sundials. It is known that he sold sundials to well-known people, including Charles Dickens and Dr. Livingstone. In 1855 when one of the Simms brothers died, Francis effectively absorbed the Simms business into his own.
Sundials remained a very important part of the Barker business for many decades, and were still being mass produced until the 1950s. The British Sundial Associations have records of many "Barker" sundials on churches, in churchyards and on historic buildings.
Earlier sundials were hand-made and usually signed with the engraved mark "F. Barker & Son - Dialists" or similar, sometimes mentioning Clerkenwell or London, but the vast majority of later Barker sundials (1890 onwards) were unsigned and destined for wholesale and it is not always easy to recognise them. Between 1890 and 1920 F. Barker & Son was probably the most prolific sundial manufacturer in England, if not the whole world, but as most of their items were made for wholesale orders they were often unsigned.
Many shops and instrument makers bought sundials from F. Barker & Son and, as was common in those days, and remains so today, signed the dials as if they were their own. Most, however, remained unsigned.
The dial featured above is recognisable by its classic "Barker" open gnomon, a design that was imitated but never exactly copied by other makers, and by the paper "label" that was still attached to it, and also by anecdotal evidence from the seller's family.
As can be seen from period brochures, in 1902 the company saw the opportunity of creating and marketing sundials made from unusual materials, such as the stone of famous old buildings and bridges that had been demolished. This is covered fairly extensively in the book TRADE MARK LONDON, but I have made a pdf file of 6 pages of Barker Sundial Catalogue pages for download by clicking the following link:
The following illustration shows a truly incredible dial plate attributed to Messrs. Barker of Clerkenwell. This illustration is taken from "The Book of Sundials" by Mrs. Alfred Gatty (aka Margaret Scott Gatty) (1809 - 1873) England and re-edited by H. K. F. Eden (1846 - ) and Eleanor Lloyd London: George Bell & Sons, 1900. Fourth edition. This design is hand-engraved on bronze, and completed c1860.
EQUINOCTIAL SUNDIAL
BY F. BARKER & SON - 1919
This portable equinoctial sundial was mass produced by F. Barker & Son from the late 19th until the early 20th century. This, according to the 1907 Barker catalogue, is the exact model used by Dr. Livingstone on his African journeys.
Most examples of these were sold wholesale to well-known companies such as J. H. Steward, L. Casella, Negretti & Zambra, John Lizars, Elliott Brothers and J. J. Hicks, to name but a few, who then signed the dials to sell as their own.
F. Barker & Son was never a retailer, but produced items for wholesale or for sale to the War Department (nowadays Ministry of Defence), and the vast majority of its production for wholesale was unsigned. With few exceptions items produced by Barker that were signed were generally for supply to the British War Department and thus usually also bear the military Broad Arrow stamp.
This equinoctial dial is fairly rare as it is signed by F. Barker & Son. It is dated 1919 and bears the military Broad Arrow mark. Apart from a relatively small number of these items sold to the British government, nearly all Barker produced equinoctial dials ended up either unsigned or signed by retailers.
The universal equinoctial sundial has a hinged chapter ring that is set to the Co latitude (90-Lat) of the place where it is being used, causing the chapter ring to be parallel to the plane of the Earth's equator, and the gnomon, or stile, to be parallel with the Earth's axis. This allows the dial to be used anywhere in the world, providing the user knows the angle of latitude of his position.
The dial has three adjustable feet and two spirit levels to ensure it is set perflectly level, and an inbuilt compass to ensure it is set perfectly in the right direction. This was not a precision instrument and extremely accurate readings of LAT, Local Apparent Time, could only have been achieved by calculating LAT - Local Apparent Time - and then rotating the levelled sundial to report that time, and then making sure not to move it. Compasses are an imprecise method for setting up sundials. Using the LAT method to set it up, and then the Equation of Time tables, very accurate time readings would be obtained. However, for military use this would have provided acceptable accuracy for setting watches and clocks.
Dimensions and materials:
Box 134mm x 134mm
Dial diameter 58mm
Chapter Ring diameter 90mm
Black enamelled brass with silvered chapter ring, dial and latitude scale bar. English bar needle on ruby jewelled pivot. Three adjustable feet with two spirit levels set 90° to each other. Fitted mahogany box.
SETTING SUNDIALS
T. Geoffrey W. Henslow, M.A. published a book in 1914 called "Ye SUNDIAL BOOKE" and Messrs. Barker of Clerkenwell were asked to write the chapter on how to set sundials. Click on the following link to view the full text,
