Ever dreamed of owning a piece of Australia's history?
Perhaps it's time.
In 1814, clockmaker James Oatley (1770-1839) was caught stealing bed linen. He was sentenced at the Hampshire Assizes to transportation to Australia for life. He arrived in New South Wales in January 1815, followed shortly by his wife and newborn child. A reformed character, Oatley set up as a watch and clockmaker in Sydney, opposite the site of the present town hall. Governor Lachlan Macquarie appointed him keeper of the town clock and commissioned him to make a clock for the turret of the Prisoners' Barracks being built in Macquarie Street. Oatley became Australia's most important early clockmaker and is best known for his longcase clocks, of which there are believed to have been only 31 made and only a limited number are known to have survived. This example was made in 1822 when the population of the colony was less than 40,000 people.
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An important Australian cedar and casuarina longcase clock by James Oatley, circa 1822, No 23 $250,000 - 350,000
International Auctioneers and Valuers - bonhams.com/sydney
