Frederick James Ritchie’s headstone

Frederick James Ritchie’s headstone has been located thanks to Stuart Fagan, Edinburgh City Council Cemeteries Manager. Although the committee was aware that the clockmaker was buried in Rosebank Cemetery, efforts to find the headstone proved unsuccessful.

The headstone is in good condition except for the inscriptions which are difficult to read but our treasurer John Lovie reckons that the lettering can be refurbished.

In addition to designing many of the city’s public clocks, Frederick James Ritchie designed the mechanism for the Floral Clock in West Princes Street Gardens. When he died at the age of seventy eight in 1906 he was buried facing the Nelson Monument which is situated approximately one and a half miles south east of Rosebank Cemetery. The Nelson Monument can no longer be seen from the headstone’s position as an apartment building now stands outside the south wall of the cemetery.

The secretary has contacted D.R. Watt a descendant of the clockmaker for permission to have the headstone cleaned. Photograph courtesy of John Lovie.

The website now features a section on James Ritchie & Son public clocks. We’d be glad to hear from anyone who has information or photographs of the company’s public clocks for the website as they were set up in towns and cities all over the world.