John Watson’s Institution Home

As familiar as Vans Hathorn’s portrait to pupils of John Watson’s Institution was the school clock. The clock was presented to the WS Society following the school’s closure in 1975 and has resided at the Signet Library in Edinburgh ever since.

Writing in the 1990s, the historian Ian Gow commented on the clock’s “distinctly non-domestic character” and noted that

The clock bears the signature of Robert Bryson, and, rather unusually (but perhaps reflecting its public character) shows the date as well – “AD 1829”, coinciding fairly closely with the date when the school opened in 1828. Bryson was a distinguished Edinburgh clockmaker from c. 1810 until his death in 1852 and his oeuvre included a clock for the Royal Observatory. He was succeeded by his son, as much a scientist as a clockmaker, and in 1886 their business was taken over by Hamilton and Inches. The severity of this clock, being quite devoid of frills, suited the nature of the Institution that was founded in Watson’s name..