Benson pocket watch and Zelley winding key is Object of the Month for March at Bishop’s Stortford Museum

Collection volunteer Michael has chosen a Benson pocket watch and Zelley winding key as Bishop’s Stortford Museum’s Object of the Month for March, with the items revealing an interesting story about our local jeweller’s.

The Benson pocket watch has a 1919 hallmark. It opens from the front and the back and the key is used to move the hands and wind the watch.

Benson was a prestigious watch maker, founded in 1847 by brothers James William Benson and Samuel Suckley Benson. In 1855, the partnership was dissolved and JW Benson continued the business on his own.

There doesn’t appear to be a maker’s mark or hallmark on the little vesta case. Vesta cases held matches and had a ‘strike’ area on the bottom on which to light the match.

It looks used inside and it was here that the F J Zelley winding key was hiding. The key gives Zelley’s address as 35 South Street – one of the three locations for Zelley during their tenure in the town.

Frederick J Zelley established his business in the town in 1910, collecting and delivering clock repairs on his bicycle. A news article from the Herts and Essex Observer on September 12, 1914, reveals that locals, worried by the German threat in the First World War, became suspicious of Frederick due to his name.

Many thanks to Philip Zelley for his help in telling us more about the watch.

To view the chosen collection, visit the first floor of Bishop’s Stortford Museum at South Mill Arts.