How The Grandfather Clock Got Its Name

Over 100 years ago in Piercebridge, North Yorkshire, England, there was a charming traveler's haven known as the George Hotel.

The hotel was a routine stop for horse coaches and was managed by two bachelor brothers named Jenkins.

In the lobby stood a floor clock, as they were called back in those days, that had been there for many years. One unusual characteristic on the old clock was that it kept very good time. This was uncommon, since in those days clocks were generally not noted for their accuracy.

One day, one of the brothers died and suddenly the old clock started losing time. At first it lost 15 minutes per day but when several clocksmiths gave up trying to repair the ailing timepiece, it was losing more than an hour each day.

The clocks incurable problem became as talked about as its precision had been. Some said it was no surprise that, though fully wound, the old clock stopped when the surviving brother died at the age of ninety.

The new manager of the hotel never attempted to have it repaired. He just left it standing in a sunlit corner of the lobby, its hands resting in the position they assumed the moment the last Jenkins brother died.

About 1875, an American songwriter named Henry Clay Work happened to be staying at the George Hotel during a trip to England. He was told the story of the old clock and after seeing the clock for himself, decided to compose a song about the fascinating coincidence that the clock stopped forever the moment its elder owner passed away. Henry came back to America and published the lyrics that sold over a million copies of sheet music. These are the opening words of the first stanza:

Until that time, clocks such as the one in the old George Hotel were referred to by a variety of names, but not before Henry Work wrote his song, over a hundred years ago, were they referred to as grandfather clocks.

The George Hotel Today, 100 Years Later

"My Grandfather's Clock" is a song written in 1876 by Henry Clay Work, the author of "Marching Through Georgia". It is a standard of British brass bands and colliery bands, and is also popular in bluegrass music.

There are two competing theories as to the origin of the song. The most common relates to a wayfarers' inn in Piercebridge on the border of Yorkshire and County Durham called the George Hotel. The hotel was owned and operated by two brothers called Jenkins, and in the lobby was an upright longcase clock. The clock kept perfect time until one of the brothers died, after which it lost time at an increasing rate, despite the best efforts of the hotel staff and local clockmakers to repair it. When the other brother died, the clock stopped, never to go again. It is said that in 1875 Henry Clay Work visited the hotel and based My Grandfather's Clock on the stories he heard there. It is said that the song is responsible for the common name "grandfather clock" for what are properly called "longcase clocks"

A form of the "Grandfather's Clock' song is known to many people who grew up in the 60's and 70's. A popular clock toy, marketed by Fisher-Price, had a dial on it that, when turned, caused the toy to play the song along with clock-like ticking and moving hands on the face of the clock. An updated version of the toy (which is completely made of plastic and with other activities like a clicking plastic mouse on the side) was manufactured by Fisher-Price as of the early 2000s, but it seems that production of the toy has stopped. However, imitations of the toy made by various companies still exist and is still sold in various countries worldwide.

The song is also well known in Japan and to multiple generations. In 2002 a Ken Hirai recording of this song rose quite high in the popularity charts.

A competing theory holds that the lyrics were written not by Work but instead by C. Russel Christian, who wrote the poem about his grandfather, James P. Christian.

The song was recorded by Boyz II Men in 2004.

This song was the inspiration for The Twilight Zone episode Ninety Years Without Slumbering.