Keeping time at Bishop’s , a great gift for his late wife.
ANGELA PIDDUCK Sunday, December 25 2016
Christmas came early, on December 17, when Michael J Williams, known as “The Timekeeperâ€, installed a clock on the new Environmental Science Building of Bishop Anstey High School (BAHS) at Chancery Lane, Port-of-Spain in memory of his late wife of 50 years –Tessie.
“In the forties under principal Dorothy Shrewsbury, Theresa Tang was a student; she had fond memories of her time at Bishops and often spoke with affection of her teachers, friends and her memories.
My family is pleased to record our appreciation with this small gesture,†said Williams on behalf of their 11 children, Gerard, David, Pauline, Richard J, Peter J, Kathie, Helen, Joanne, Janice, Marion and Christopher.
After a business career spanning 60 years with three family businesses – L J Williams, Century Elson and Spancrete - this amazing 82-year-old decided on his retirement in 2011 to indulge a long-held fascination for clocks, more for pleasure than for profit, since he had noted that most public clocks “either do not work or do not carry the correct time.†To improve his knowledge of clocks “The Timekeeper†as he calls himself, attended the Clock Workshop for Beginners at the School of Horology of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors in Colombia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. where he learned all about the intricacies of repairing clocks. (Horology is the science of measuring time and making timepieces).
The former president of the Senate was quite clear that he was not going into the clock/watch repair business. “I am strictly after the clocks which adorn public buildings.†The Timekeeper’s first projects were the St Mary’s College clock where the bells now chime in north Port-of-Spain, while downtown after a lapse of 20 years the bustling city is able to enjoy the Westminster chimes of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, plus a popular song after every hour and the four clock faces now tell the time, and the Mount St Benedict clock. There have been many others and recently his skills were sought to refurbish the Clock Tower in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
But back to the three-storey building behind the wall on the Chancery Lane side of the BAHS compound where Williams explained, “the stairwell serving floors two and three provided an ideal wall overlooking the garden†where Tessie and her friends, like so many of us, would have sat and chatted either while eating lunch or in the break period.
Acting Principal, Ingrid Govia, herself an Old Hilarian graciously extended the following wishes to the Williams clan: “The staff and students of Bishop Anstey High School wish to sincerely thank you for your generous donation to the school and for taking the time to come and install it on Saturday. We do truly appreciate the gift. May God continue to richly bless you and your family in the new year.†Govia specially asked to remind Hilarians to “come out in your numbers to celebrate the 96th anniversary of the founding of our school as we give thanks to our alma mater and pious founder, Bishop Arthur Henry Anstey at The St Hilary’s Day Service for Alumni on Saturday 14th January, 2017 at the All Saint’s Anglican Church, Marli Street, Port-of-Spain at 10 am.
