[Bell Historians] Seaview IOW

[Carl S Zimmerman]

Weights in pounds avoirdupois:  1010, 424, 248, 133
The maker's inscription on the bells should read "Meneely Bell Company / Troy, N.Y. / 1908"It is not known whether they bore any custom inscription.

>From offline correspondence (for which many thanks -- you know who you are!), it appears that the Priory Bay property was bought in 1927 by Florence Evelyn Baker St.George, the older daughter of George Baker, who was the third-richest man in the USA.  Why she bought the property is unknown; she and her English-born husband lived in Dublin during the years in which their four children were born.  Her father died in 1931, and presumably she inherited his estate in the village of Tuxedo Park, New York, where in 1908 he had installed a clock-chime with four bells cast in the city where he was born (Troy, New York).  The clock that rang the bells was made by E.Howard & Co., of Boston, Massachusetts, and was equipped with a single dial.

Perhaps records of English makers of turret clocks might show when those four bells were installed on the Priory Bay property.  Or perhaps the American clock was brought over the pond with the bells.  Former guests at the hotel before it closed in 2016 might be able to tell whether the clock and bells were still in operation during their visit.  The most recent photos of the abandoned property do show that a clock dial remains on the tower, as does the memorial plaque over its doorway.  So it seems likely that is was still in operation for many years after the death of Mrs. St.George in 1938.  But one wonders how long it will be before scrap metal thieves take those remaining items as well.

Carl 



    On Sunday, February 8, 2026 at 02:56:05 AM CST, Chris Pickford via Bell-historians <bell-historians at lists.ringingworld.co.uk> wrote:  
 
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Carl – you’ve answered a query I looked into briefly (for Colin Turner) last year. He wanted to find out about the bells at the hotel. I drew a blank on the bells but was able to identify the building. You’ve obviously got the missing information, so details of the bells would be most welcome. 

  

With the extra details from you, I might be able to discover more

  

The hotel looks to have been closed for some time – but various websites still showed online bookings to be available!!

  

Chris Pickford

e-mail: pickford5040 at gmail.com 
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