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Ruth Belville, the "Greenwich Time Lady" (2022)

– She Sold Time! The very accurate watch, made by John Arnold in 1790s Image courtesy of Worshipful Company of Clockmakers When the sun is at its highest in the sky we call it midday or noon but the earth spins on a slightly inclined axis so the point closest to the sun is constantly changing. This change means that a person in London will have their midday at a different time to a person in New York and that will be different to a person in Beijing Until the early 1800s most people stayed in their local neighbourhood so their clocks were set to the local midday and the relative difference in time had little significance.

Additionally as there were numerous trains on the system, possibly run by different companies, several railways accidents occurred due to the confusion over which time was being used. This lobbying was successful and till she retired in 1892, at age 81, Maria took the watch and walked round London to remaining subscribers. During her life time there were were many technological advances such as the telephone Speaking Clock (introduced in the UK on 24 July 1936) but many of her clients stayed loyal to Ruth till she retired.

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