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n.d., 1914-1920 (Creation)
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- Pocklington, Thomas, 1882-1962
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5 cm of textual records: 3 volumes
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Biographical history
Thomas Pocklington was born in Vange, Essex, United Kingdom in 1882. He was apprenticed in London in 1894 to W.F. Stanley Limited, manufacturer of mathematical and drafting tools. He first moved to North America to work for Keuffel and Esser Company, a drafting instrument and supply manufacturer, in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. He immigrated to Canada circa 1905 to work for Consolidated Optical Company, in Toronto, Ontario, under L.G. Emsden. At Consolidated, he was asked to establish an Instrument Making Division and was at some point named Superintendent. During the First World War, he was called to work at Dominion Steel Products in Brandford, Ontario, where they were fixing alignment problems with navy guns. In 1919, Pocklington returned to Toronto and continued working for Consolidated. The company was sold to J. Frank Raw Ltd in 1925. He worked at the new company briefly before establishing his own company, Thomas Pocklington Limited, later that year. Sometimes listed as Thomas Pocklington Instrument Company, the business was renamed Thomas Pocklington and Son Limited ca. 1943 when Thomas’s son, William Carey Pocklington returned to Toronto to serve as its Director. Thomas’s wife, Mary, was Secretary-Treasurer of the company. From 1925 to 1940 the company occupied a location near what is now the Eaton Centre; from 1940 to 1953 they occupied 30 Bridgman Ave (presently Tarragon Theatre); from 1953 to 1992 they occupied 208 Weston Rd. William Carey’s son, Ronald Gordon Pocklington, led the business under the new name Pocklington Survey Equipment until it was dissolved in 1992. Thomas Pocklington, its founder, died in Toronto in 1962.
Custodial history
The fonds was acquired with a number of artifacts by the Canada Science and Technology Museum in 2007.
Scope and content
Fonds consists of three record books. Two of these are ledgers that date from the period that Thomas was the manager of Consolidated Optical Co. They offer a rare glimpse of daily operations of a Canadian instrument making firm. The ledgers have records of purchases, contacts, receipts, and materials dating from 1914 to 1920. The other record book is a surveying class notebook that is undated.
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Related materials: The Museum preserves artifacts from both Consolidated Optical Company and Thomas Pocklington Limited: a Brightly Circular Dividing Engine used by Thomas Pocklington Ltd (1992.1776); a Dominion level (2002.0259); two photoalidades (1968.0322 and 1996.0170); two tool or instrument cases (2007.0264 and 2007.0269); a limiting switch (2007.0268); a micrometer (2007.0267); an electric lamp (2007.265); etc. There are also a number of related items in the Museum’s trade literature collection, including a Consolidated Optical catalogue ca. 1930s, and a number of surveying or optical equipment manuals or catalogues.
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Wikidata uri: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106133112
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Description by David McGee, 2012. Revised by A. Torrance with draft French version, 2021. French editing by Céline Mongeau, Larocque Linguistic Services, 2021-02.