A rare Francis Barker & Son Singer's Patent Gimbal compass, dating from c.1875. The compass is fitted with a gimbal ring and would originally have been mounted in a wooden box for maritime use. The compass bowl is weighted with lead to ensure it was correctly orientated when the gimbals were moving. This is an unusually large example of a Singer's Patent at 68mm diameter - most brass cased gimballed Singer's were around 40-45mm.
The compass has a paper card, jewelled pivot, lead weighted brass compass bowl, and brass gimbal ring. The glass is held in place by a removable brass collar, allowing access to the interior of the compass bowl for maintenance or cleaning. The compass card is hand-drawn in the classic Singer's design, and has the post-1875 Francis Barker reversed 'S' 'Trade Mark London' logo inserted into the lyre at the North point. The reversed 'S' logo only came into use after Francis Barker's death in 1875. It is also labelled around the pivot 'Barker & Son, 12 Clerkenwell Rd, London', with 'Singer's Patent' handwritten and partially hidden under the label. The use of the 'Singer's Patent' wording, without a serial number, suggests that the card was made before the patent expired in 1868, but was not actually fitted to this compass until around 1875. By which time the patent had expired and serial numbers were no longer being issued. It is very rare indeed to find a Singer's Patent compass with both the 'Trade Mark London' logo and the Barker signature label.
Samuel Berry Singer (1796 - c.1875) was a master mariner from Southampton. He patented his unique design in June 1861, although he had been working on it since 1853. Its high contrast compass card was intended to be much easier to read in low light than conventional compasses of the time, and was considered to be a significant innovation. It was tested for night use by Trinity House and the Royal Navy. David Livingstone, the celebrated Victorian explorer, used one of Singer's compasses and provided a testimonial in the Negretti & Zambra catalogue for 1864. The administration and licensing of Singer's design and the allocation of the patent serial numbers was handled by Negretti & Zambra. Although his compass was widely adopted by British scientific instrument makers during the second half of the 19th century, Singer himself did not benefit greatly from his invention. The patent lapsed in 1868 when he was unable to pay the stamp duty required for its renewal, and he ended his days living in poverty in Kincardine on the Firth of Forth. Versions of his design continued to be made until after the First World War. Further details of the history of the Singer's Patent compass can be found at the excellent compasscollector.com website.
Francis Barker & Son: were established in London in 1848, as a maker of compasses and scientific instruments. Francis Barker produced a very wide range of compass designs over the years, supplying major retailers such as Negretti & Zambra, J. Lizars, C. W. Dixey, Dollond, and many others. The company prospered until 1932, when it was taken over and became F. Barker & Son (1932). After WW2 the company changed hands several times and is now part of Pyser Optics of Edenbridge in Kent. They continue to produce the renowned Barker M-73, widely acknowledged to be the world's finest prismatic compass. Further details of Barker compasses can be found in Paul Crepsel's excellent book Trade Mark London, available to view as a PDF online at trademarklondon.com.
Condition:
In very good condition and full working order. The compass finds North very well. The compass card and glass are in very good condition. The brass compass bowl and gimbal ring are in very good condition, with some wear to the original lacquered finish.
Dimensions: 68mm diameter x 40mm height
