George Margetts, was made a Free Brother of the Clockmakers' Company in 1779 and worked out of premises in Cheapside. He was most interested in the chronometer escapement (Greenwich Museum) and astronomical work. His most famous watch, now in the British Museum, is an extraordinarly complicated example showing the position of the moon in the heavens, sidereal time, full calendar and the sun's declination. It is therefore hardly surprising that he was a close friend of Dr. Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal, and actually made a regulator for him that was being discussed between the two of them when an irate Thomas Earnshaw was present (see P. M. Chamberlain op cit). Earnshaw persisted in talking about his obsession with his unfair treatment by the board of Longitude and then proceeded to harrangue Margetts himself for his lack of sympathy. Exactly what this regulator was is unknown but obviously of an experimental type!
Indeed this clock seems to have been experimental for instead of the more usual lay-out the train has been entirely inverted yet the plates were seemingly going to contain a more conventional lay-out. It is more than likely that the escapement was changed even after Margetts had finished the movement for it would probably have originally beat seconds instead of the present half-seconds arrangement. The latter being more inaccurate over a long period of time but perhaps more useful to an astronomer over short periods of time. Either way the escapement does not appear to be of a much later date than the movement.
The dial lay-out is very similar to another example sold Sotheby's London, 13 December, 1988, lot 54. This example, the only other known, had a conventional movement design with arched dial and later decorative case.