If ever you are in Sydney go to the Powerhouse Museum to see this amazing Clock. Apart from checking out this incredible piece of clockmaking you might be interested to know that I discovered a connection with my great grandfather, Henry Hansen and Richard Smith, the builder of this famous clock. 

R. B. Smith was only 25 years old and a relatively unknown watchmaker in 1887 when he decided to make a model of the original, famous Strasburg clock to commemorate the colony's centenary. He probably did this to make his name and he certainly did so, given he created an amazing mechanism and had never actually been to Strasburg in France and was working from a photograph and a brochure.

In 1890 Smith managed to sell the Clock to the Technological Museum for £700 but complained bitterly that the price was too low. He never wanted anyone else to work on the Clock and spent the next 40 years being paid to keep the Clock working and giving lectures at the museum. It was the first and most important piece the museum purchased, however the relationship between the eccentric Smith and the museum remained fractious until his death in 1942.

Henry Hansen came into this picture in 1891 when Richard Smith must have advertised that he needed to take on a partner, as his Oxford Street jeweller watchmaking business was suffering because he had to devote much of his time to the museum and the Strasburg Clock. He announced the partnership with Henry in the Sydney Evening Newspaper on the 30th of April 1891.