no image
Privacy Level: Open (White)

Elizabeth Ruth Naomi Belville (1854 - 1943)

Elizabeth Ruth Naomi (Ruth) "Greenwich Time Lady" Belville
Born in Greenwich, Kent, England, United Kingdommap
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died at age 89 in Surrey, England, United Kingdommap
Problems/Questions
Profile last modified | Created 21 Dec 2019
This page has been accessed 717 times.

Biography

Notables Project
Ruth Belville is Notable.

Elizabeth was born in 1854. She was the daughter of John Belville and Maria Last.

Ruth was a businesswoman from London. She, her mother Maria Elizabeth, and her father John Henry, sold people the time. This was done by setting a Belvilles' watch to Greenwich Mean Time, as shown by the Greenwich clock, each day and then "selling" people the time by letting them look at the watch and adjust theirs.[1]

Ruth Belville's father, John Henry Belville, created a service for 200 clients in 1836. Each morning, John Henry went to Greenwich Observatory, where he worked and set his watch to Greenwich Mean Time. He would then set off in his buggy and would set the clocks correctly for clients subscribed to the service.[2]

John Henry continued this service up until his death in 1856. His widow, Maria, was granted the privilege of carrying on the work as a means of livelihood and continued the business until her retirement in 1892 when she was in her eighties. Ruth Belville then took over the business.[3] She continued the business up until 1940.[1] Belville was in her eighties when she retired and at the age of 86 she was still able to journey about twelve miles from her home and attend at the Observatory by 9 am. She died at the age of 89.[3]

The watch used by the business was a John Arnold pocket chronometer No. 485/786, nicknamed "Arnold". It was originally made for the Duke of Sussex and had a gold case. When it was given to John Henry, he changed the case to silver because he was worried thieves might steal a gold watch. When Ruth died, the watch was left to the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers.[3]

She passed away in 1943.[4][5]

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Green". QI. Season G.15. London, England. 26 March 2010. BBC. BBC One.
  2. Lienhard, John H. "No. 2070: TIME & RUTH BELVILLE". University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Mendham, Trevor. "The Greenwich Time Lady". Horology Stuff. Archived from the original on 22 February 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  4. "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVCC-D85N : 4 September 2014), Elizabeth R Belville, 1943; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Surrey Mid Eastern, Surrey, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
  5. "England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:W77J-M4W2 : 24 June 2019), Elizabeth Ruth Belville, 10 Feb 1945; citing Probate, Norwich, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Great Britain.; FHL microfilm .
  • "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VB6S-7PG : 24 April 2019), Ruth Belville in entry for Maria E H Belville, 1871.
  • "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK6B-8S4B : 11 December 2017), Ruth Belville in household of Maria E Belville, Greenwich, London,Kent, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 10, Piece/Folio 721/85, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,383.
  • "England and Wales Census, 1901," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X98S-6LP : 20 May 2019), Elizabeth R Belville, Charlton and Kidbrooke, London, England, United Kingdom; from "1901 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing Charlton subdistrict, PRO RG 13, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.

See Also:

  • Wikidata: Item Q468475, en:Wikipedia help.gif
  • Rooney, David (2008). Ruth Belville: The Greenwich Time Lady. National Maritime Museum. ISBN 0948065974.




Is Ruth your ancestor? Please don't go away!
 star icon Login to collaborate or comment, or
 star icon ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA
No known carriers of Ruth's ancestors' DNA have taken a DNA test. Have you taken a test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.


Comments

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.

Acadian heritage connections: Ruth is 30 degrees from Beyoncé Knowles, 29 degrees from Jean Béliveau, 23 degrees from Madonna Ciccone, 27 degrees from Rhéal Cormier, 27 degrees from Joseph Drouin, 28 degrees from Jack Kerouac, 26 degrees from Anne Langstroth, 28 degrees from Matt LeBlanc, 27 degrees from Roméo LeBlanc, 29 degrees from Azilda Marchand, 26 degrees from Mary Travers and 28 degrees from Clarence White on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.

B  >  Belville  >  Elizabeth Ruth Naomi Belville

Categories: England, Business Figures | England, Time Keepers | Horologists | Notables