United States Returns Tower Clock to High Court
US returns High Court tower clock
Guyana Chronicle
October 29, 2003
Ambassador Roland Bullen, on behalf of the United States and the Smithsonian Institution, will officially return the tower clock (Barraud clock) to Chancellor of the Judiciary Desiree Bernard and Chief Justice Carl Singh at the High Court building at 3 o'clock this afternoon.
The Smithsonian Institution has returned the clock to working order under a project to restore Guyana's public clocks. Ambassador Bullen and Chancellor Bernard will make brief remarks and Chief Justice Singh will receive the clock on behalf of the High Court.
The Barraud clock is the oldest known public clock in Guyana. It was built in London in 1800 and signed by renowned chronometer and watchmaker Paul Philip Barraud. It was installed in the High Court building in 1887. The clock kept time for the courts until it stopped in the 1960s.
In 1990 a team from the Smithsonian Institution came to Guyana to study and restore Guyana's public clocks. In 1997, at the request of the then Chief Justice, the team took the Barraud clock back to Washington, DC for restoration. David Todd, the Smithsonian's Clockmaker, and his staff spent hundreds of hours restoring the clock. Due to their efforts, the clock is once again in working order.
The Smithsonian team of Mr. Todd and Mr. David Shayt are in Georgetown this week to oversee the return of the Barraud clock. They will also work to clean the mechanism at the Georgetown Lighthouse, with the goal of returning it to full operation by the end of their visit.