Bartholomew Newsam
Bartholomew Newsam ( * before 1558 probably in York, † 1593; well Newsham ) was official watchmaker of Elizabeth I, Queen of England.
Newsam led in London a business as a watchmaker, apparently since the accession of Queen Elizabeth I in the year 1558th He received on 8 April 1565 by the Crown a thirty- year lease for premises in beach, near the Somerset House, where he stayed well throughout his life.
Newsam was sent at his craft and a good friend of Philip Sidney and other men with influence at court. Around 1572, four years after the death of Nicholas Urseau, the official watchmaker to the Queen, Newsam was offered the post. Urseau held the office already under Queen Mary I and was re-appointed by Queen Elizabeth I. Newsam arrived before 1582 in the office. On June 4, 1583, he received, under the privy seal, backdated to May 27, " 32s. 8d. for mending of Clockes " ( 32s. 8d. for the repair of clocks) in vorangangenen year. The post of watchmaker he joined at the same time with that of the "clock - keeper" ( watches guardian ); both offices were perceived Mary's reign by different people under Queen and Newsam seems to have been the first Englishman, who was appointed as a "clock - keeper".
On August 5, 1583 Newsam wrote to his good friend Sir Francis Walsingham ( "to the ryghte honorable his very speciall good ffriend Sr ffrancis Walsingham, knighte " ) and asked for an extension of its lease of the house in The beach ( "to be mindfull unto her Ma [ jes ] tie of my booke concerninge my long and chargeable suite, Wherein I have procured Sir Philip Sidney to move you for th ' augmentinge of the yeares ( if by any meanes the same ' may be ) "). On September 6, 1583 Newsam received by a Letters Patent a lease twenty-one years in Fleet lands in the county of Lincolnshire, which were formerly owned by Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset, later Duke of Suffolk; In addition, a water mill in Wymondham with fishing grounds, formerly belonging to the monastery Wymondham and no land in Pembroke and the parish of St Clement Danes. Possession in Pembroke were previously Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford. Newsam also owned land in the Coney Street in the parish of St. Martin, York. Newsam died before December 18, 1593; on this day his will was confirmed by his widow Parnell. In his estate there were several watches that underscored his skills as a watchmaker. His son Edward, who also showed talent for watchmaking, received the tools of his father, except his best vise and some small tools, which went to John Newsam in York, watchmaker and probably a relative.
Received Watches
From Newsam is in the British Museum is a table clock with striking mechanism obtained in almost pristine condition. The case is engraved gilt brass and rich, the clock is very small, not more than four inches ( 10cm ) inches high and includes a compass; it is signed " Bartilmewe Newsvm ". The work is divided into two levels, the clock movement in the upper and the percussion in the lower level. Both works are arranged vertically, so that the clock is wound from underneath. The wheels are made of iron, possibly steel, the boards and the brass frame. She screws with gut strings, which are cut long and only slightly tapered. The single hand is driven directly from the going train - screw at a right angle on the crown wheel. As a regulator Foliot used.
Another of his table clocks is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Family
Newsam married on September 10, 1565 Parnell Younge in the church St Mary le beach. He left four children: William, born on December 27, 1570, Edward, Margaret and Rose.