Stockall Time Recorders
J. J. Stockall & Sons was a manufacturer of clocks, established in 1840 and registered as a limited company in 1900. J. J. Stockall Jr. initially invented and patented time check recorders in the 1890s. These machines were manufactured by the family company, J. J. Stockall & Sons.
In 1907, Stockall Jr. formed a partnership with fellow inventor Frank Brook. This led to the formation of Stockall-Brook Time Recorders Ltd (company number 96417) and the design of the iconic time recorder (below) subsequently manufactured by Gledhill-Brook.
In 1908, J. J. Stockall & Sons Ltd merged with Robert Moffat Marples & Sons and formed Stockall, Marples & Co. Ltd. This company, along with Stockall-Brook Time Recorders, went into liquidation in 1911. Frank Brooks went into partnership with G. H. Gledhill & Sons in 1912, to form Gledhill-Brook Time Recorders Ltd, manufacturing the Stockall-Brook time recorder.
A reformed company named Stockall, Marples & Co. (1912) Ltd was registered, manufacturing new time recorder models, and remaining in existence until 1970.
The Liverpool-based Synchromatic Time Recording Company was a key distributor of Stockall-made time recorders. They were known to remove the Stockall name and branding from clocks they distributed, marketing them as the ‘Synchromatic’ recorder. An example of this re-branding can be found on the Photos page. Gensign (General Signal & Time Systems Company Ltd) also appear to have used and re-badged Stockall time recorders, primarily for use within railway time systems.
Alongside 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. The majority of these designs incorporated accurate fusee movements. I have recently confirmed that these movements were used in their early time recording machines, having found one while restoring a Stockall clock.
I have little information regarding the range of models produced by Stockall, and am currently lacking any company literature. Any contributions of information or pictures that could expand this page would be greatly appreciated.