John Knibb

Even though his main market was catering to customers of modest means, he also dominated the higher-quality sector.

[2] In 1670, Samuel Knibb died[3] and Joseph moved to London to replace him, leaving John in charge in Oxford.

[2][4] However, John was not a freeman of the City of Oxford, so all the clocks that he made still had to be signed "Joseph Knibb".

[2] In 1672, Knibb applied to become a freeman of Oxford, and the Mayor and City Council proposed that he should be admitted for a fee of £30.

Under Whorwood's persuasion, the Council reduced the fee to 20 marks (£13 6s 8d) and admitted Knibb as a freeman in April 1673.

[5] John and Elizabeth were survived by their one remaining daughter and three sons, of whom the youngest, Joseph (born 1695), had been apprenticed to a London clockmaker in 1710.

One was Samuel Aldworth, from Childrey, who was apprenticed to Knibb in 1673 and became a freeman of the city with his own clock business in 1689.

The number of qualified clockmakers with freedom of the city increased more slowly, peaking at seven early in the 1690s.

[2] The premises that Knibb took over from his brother were a tenement on the south side of Holywell Street leased from Merton College, Oxford, built in the shadow of the city walls on what had been the town ditch.

[4] From 1673 until his death in 1722, he maintained the turret clock at Wadham College, Oxford[4] that was probably made by his brother Joseph.

[14] After his brother Joseph died in 1711, his will proved in 1712 bequeathed his 230-acre (93 ha) farm at Hanslope to Knibb.