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Broadhurst, Clarkson & Co. Benjamin Martin established an instrument business in 1750. His son Joshua joined him in 1778 and in 1782 he patented a method for producing brass tubing. The same year Charles Tulley bought the firm. His family owned the business until 1844, when it was bought and developed by Robert Mills who ran it until 1873 when he, in turn, sold it to Alexander Clarkson.
Telescope House produced very high quality astronomical telescopes from 2-inch to 6-inch in diameter. The building housed lens-making facilities a light machine shop and a thriving brass tube-making plant, using a brass drawing machine patented by Joshua Martin in 1782. The premises also had a showroom and shop, which is still in use today. Between 1914 and 1918, as part of the war effort, the company set up further telescope factories in Watford, and a lens-making facility in central London near Telescope House. During the 1920's and 30's, the business continued to flourish. Around 1950, cheap imports from Japan severely threatened the business. By 1970 all the company's factories had closed except for the manufacturing facilities at Telescope House. In 1973 Dudley Fuller, a very successful telescope maker with a worldwide reputation, bought the Broadhurst & Clarkson business, renaming it Broadhurst, Clarkson & Fuller. The company distributes Meade Instruments and other astronomical instruments and accessories to a dealership network of nearly 200 retailers throughout the UK. Dollond Once of the most forged names in antique telescopes. The Dollond family made telescopes for five generations. The family can be traced from the time of the Hugenots in France in the late 17th century down to the great-great grandsons of John Dollond. It was John Dolland who patented the achromatic lens, although the invention was hotly disputed for years. Ten members of the family were telescope makers, including Jesse Ramdsen, who married one of the daughters of John Dolland. Dolland scopes are considered rather more valuable than others, and for this reason the name is often added to a non-Dolland telescope.
Semitecolo, Leonardo, Venice. Semitecolo spyglasses are seen more often than any other in fleas markets and antique fairs in Europe. Typically signed "Leonardo Semitecolo" or "Leonardo Semitecolo Venezia". These scopes appear to have been manufactured over a long period of time. The earliest date from the third quarter of the 18th century (not from the 17th century, as some authors have claimed). They were produced by many generations, probably by members of the same family, and are still found in very large numbers. Production continued until the middle of the 19th century. |