	Types	Patents	Companies	Timeline	Contact

	A Reference Site for UK Mechanical Industrial Time Recorders

Stockall Time Recorders

J.J. Stockall & Sons was a clock manufacturer established in 1840 and registered as a limited company in 1900.

Early Stockall Recorder J.J. Stockall Jr initially invented and patented time check recorders in the 1890's which were manufactured by the company. In 1907 he formed a partnership with fellow inventor Frank Brook, which led to the formation of Stockall-Brook Time Recorders Ltd (company number 96417) and the design of the iconic time recorder (right) subsequently manufactured by Gledhill-Brook.

In 1908 J.J. Stockall & Sons Ltd merged with Robert Moffat Marples & Sons and formed Stockall Marples & Co Ltd, but both this company and Stockall-Brook Time Recorders went into liquidation in 1911.

In 1912 Frank Brooks went into partnership with G H Gledhill & Sons to form Gledhill-Brook Time Recorders Ltd, manufacturing the Stockall-Brook designed time recorder. A reformed company 'Stockall Marples & Co (1912) Ltd' was registered, manufacturing new time recorder models and remaining in existance until 1970.

As well as time recorders, Stockall Marples & Co Ltd (and J.J. Stockall & Sons before them) made and sold high precision clocks primarily to the armed forces, the railways and schools, mostly with accurate fusee movements which I have recently confirmed were used in their early time recording machines.

The Syncromatic Time Recording Company (based in Liverpool) was a main distributor of Stockall made time recorders, removing the Stockall name and calling them the 'Syncromatic'.

Gensign (General Signal & Time Systems Company Ltd) also appear to have used and re-badged Stockall time recorders, primarily for railway time systems.

I have little information regarding the different models produced or any company literature - any information or pictures that could expand this page would be greatly appreciated.

My thanks again to John Fothergill for finding me this very rare and old (circa 1905?) Stockall time recorder which we had never seen before and which I have recently (2020) restored.

It has to be one of the most compact (36" tall), accurate, precision built and unique machines that I have ever come across, and possibly one of the first card recorders made in the UK.

Presumably the quality stems from the fact that it was completely designed and made by a precision clock maker at the time, unlike other time recorder manufacturers.

I have therefore included many photos and descriptions of this impressive time recorder to document its quality and unique features. I would be very interested to hear from anyone with the same or similar model.

The case is constructed from solid oak panels, with jointed sections forming the rear panel. Two steel bars run down the inside of the case which support both the clock movement and stamping mechanism. The recorder is designed to be wall mounted only, with a decorative woodwork beneath the bottom plinth.

The clock has a very accurate 8 day fusee movement, which I assume Stockall used in clocks that they supplied to the military and the likes.

The left hand enclosed spring winds the fusee chain. The right hand enclosed spring (using a different size key) drives the 12 hour change in the stamping mechanism.

There is also a top lever to manually advance the stamping mechanism in 12 hour steps.

The brass pendulum bob is suspended on a flat brass rod. Brass universal joints and steel rods connect the movement to the stamping mechanism.There is a brass clamp to hold the pendulum when in transit, which is removable to a location in the case when the clock is in use.

The stamping mechanism is actually two separate units - one for the hours and minutes print wheels driven by one rod from the clock movement, and one for the stamping lever, ribbon drive and 12 hour shift change driven by the second rod from the secondary movement spring. The print wheel mechanism sits inside the main mechanism, both mounted on a steel plate which in turn is mounted on the two internal steel bars on the back of the case.

Interestingly the serial number (1088) appears on many metal parts (some hidden from view until dismantled) as well as on the inside of the cabinet. Assuming that the first serial number in the series would have been 1001 rather than 01, this implies that the recorder was number 88 in the production run. Unfortunately I do not have any records of Stockall serial numbers relating to dates. Any further information would be most welcome!

This is the only UK recorder which I am aware of that has the maker's name carved (or stamped) with floral decoration into the door (similar to Bundy clocks). The on/off/on/off lever is lockable by the employer. Unlike later Stockall models, all of the facia fittings and the card holder are made of brass. The dial is unique in that it has two additional small hands to indicate the day and night shift hour time in numbers. All the hands are retained by pins.

Here are pictures of an un-restored Stockall card recorder clock, probably from around 1940:

The same clock as above sold by Blick:	A 'Synchromatic' time recorder made by Stockall-Marples and sold by the Sycromatic Time Recording Company, I would guess from the 1920's: (image from www.duetime.wordpress.com)