Dent (clocks and watches)

633 aboard HMS Beagle in 1831[1] on the voyage that eventually led to the publication of On the Origin of Species – outlining Charles Darwin's revolutionary theory of evolution.

And in 1890, the explorer Henry Morton Stanley was moved to write to Dent that “the Chronometers supplied by you, and which were taken across Africa in my last Expedition, proved a very great service to me and were in every way thoroughly satisfactory and reliable”.

Dent also built the Observatory's secondary Standard Clock, responsible for sending the signal for the emission of the 6 BBC pips, first broadcast in 1924.

[5] Leading horologists like Edward John Dent were keen to compete for the honour of making this most important of clocks.

[6] On 25 February 1852 the contract for constructing Big Ben's clock was awarded to Dent by Sir George Airy, the Astronomer Royal.