Ahasuerus Fromanteel sr. (1607 - 1693)

Field(s) of interest: scientific instruments
Gender: male

1607
1693

Biography:
Ahasuerus Fromanteel (1607-1693) was born in Norwich as the son of Mordochaeus (Murdoch) Fromanteel, a chairmaker from Flemish descent. In 1629 Fromanteel went to London after seven years apprenticeship in Norwich as a clockmaker. His firm was situated at Moses Alley, Southwark. In 1630 Fromanteel joined the Blacksmiths' Society and the Clockmakers Society in 1632. In 1654 Fromanteel's daughter married the clockmaker Thomas Loomes and Fromanteel started a partnership with his son-in-law, resulting in an additional clockmaker shop at the Mermaid in Lothbury. In 1656 Fromanteel gained citizenship of the City of London, giving him more independence. After his son John worked with Salomon Coster in The Hague, the Fromanteels were the first to make pendulum clocks after the invention of Christiaan Huygens in 1658.
It appears that during 1667 and 1676, Fromanteel spent most of his time on the continent, especially in The Netherlands. In this period his sons John and Ahasuerus jr. continued his business in London. Maybe Fromanteel was preparing the opening of a shop on the continent, which his sons John and Ahasueres jr. eventually opened in Amsterdam in 1681. From 1680 on Fromanteel retired and let his son Abraham run the business in London.

Occupations:
chair and clockmaker

Sources: