Bunt, Eric

Eric Frederick Bunt (1907–2001) was the Librarian of the Antiquarian Horological Society in 1965–70 and 1974–80.

He was born in Wandsworth to Cyril and Agnes Bunt. His father, Cyril George Edward Bunt (1882–1966) was a respected art educator at the Royal College of Art in London, who had earlier served as the Librarian of the Royal Academy of Arts from 1924 to 1948, a role that perhaps influenced Eric’s career. Cyril was also a keen horologist and was a relatively prolific contributor of articles, particularly to the Watch and Clockmaker between 1928 and 1938 (essentially the whole run of the journal). These articles often focussed on fine pieces held in major museums, and were examples of connoisseurship, rather than the writings of a collector. We can perhaps infer that Eric developed an appreciation for horology from his father.
Eric joined the British Geological Survey as a General Assistant on 14 October 1926 and worked in the library. At some point he was made a Technical Assistant (2nd class) and then on 1 April 1936 moved to the new scale of Assistant III. After the outbreak of the Second World War he became a field assistant doing some magnetic survey work, and later worked for the Water Department, although he continued to do some library work when required. By 1942 he was being referred to in Survey records as Laboratory Assistant – Skilled. Bunt was one of those who supervised the moving of part the Survey’s library and museum collections to University College, Bangor, North Wales to prevent it being damaged by enemy bombing. From 1 January 1946 Eric was classified as an Experimental Officer. He remained working in the library but attended evening classes and did a lot of private reading to improve his knowledge of general geology. In January 1953 he was transferred to the Atomic Energy Division. On 1 January 1954 he was promoted to Senior Experimental Officer. In November 1962 Eric was transferred back to the library to take executive charge of it, on the retirement of the previous postholder. In 1967 he moved from the library and was entrusted with preparing the Survey records which had been selected (with the help of the Public Records Office) for permanent preservation. This meant he played a significant part in the setting up of the Survey’s archives. He retired from the Civil Service in June 1967 but was re-appointed as an unestablished Senior Experimental Officer. In 1969 he temporarily took charge of the library again until a new librarian was appointed. Eric finally retired from the Survey on 30 October 1970.
Eric met Eileen (the donor of this archive) at the British Geological Survey, where she also worked. The two had a strong interest in history and genealogy and were regular researchers at the Public Record Office. Eric also had a strong interest in astronomy, being a member of the British Astronomical Association from 1944 to the mid-1960s. He was a member of their Council 1952–54 and Curator of its Lantern Slides Collection 1951–53.
Eric’s association with the AHS is marked by two distinct contributions. At a practical level he served as the AHS Librarian from 1965 to 1970, being succeeded by Charles Aked, but when Aked wished to step down in 1974, Eric took up the reins again, until 1980.
He published a single though important article in Antiquarian Horology in March 1973, entitled ‘An Eighteenth Century Watchmaker and his Day-Book’. This charted his and Eileen’s painstaking archival detective work in identifying the author of a remarkable daybook to which the AHS Council’s attention had been drawn by Robert Foulkes in 1967. Triangulation of a number of fine details in the daybook with documents in the Public Record Office, particularly Chancery records, as well as parish records, revealed the watchmaker to be Benjamin Gray (Watchmaker-in-Ordinary to George II).
Eileen was clearly important in the research, and his paper notes ‘Few research projects, however small, can be carried out single-handed, and the present minor piece of historical detection is no exception. It is a pleasure therefore to acknowledge the help given by my wife, who has spent many hours patiently copying documents and searching records. Without her encouragement the search might never have been completed.’
Partly on the back of the Gray research, Eric published ‘A chronological directory of Royal Clockmakers 1369–1900’ in Clocks Magazine (in four parts, December 1985 to March 1986) together with Cedric Jagger.

View collection: BUN - BUNT, ERIC AND EILEEN

Eric Bunt's biography was compiled by James Nye in September 2024.

Acknowledgments: Andrew Morrison, Archivist with the British Geological Survey, provided invaluable help in assembling details of Eric Bunt’s professional career. David Marsh very kindly supplied further details of Eric’s interest and family life, and also kindly provided family photos and consent for their use.