MUDGE, THOMAS

born Sept. 1717, Exeter, Devon, Eng. died Nov. 14, 1794, Newington Place, Surrey English watchmaker who invented the lever escapement, the most dependable and widely used device for regulating the movement of the spring-driven watch. Mudge served as apprentice to the watchmaker George Graham and in 1750 opened a shop in partnership with William Dutton. The quality of his work brought him commissions from Ferdinand VI of Spain, the engineer John Smeaton, and other influential persons throughout Europe. He invented the lever escapement in 1765, introducing it commercially in a watch that he made in 1770 for Queen Charlotte of England. In 1771 he retired from business and turned his attention to the improvement of marine chronometers. He achieved some success by refinement of detail and by somewhat complicating the mechanism but made no basic advance. He sent his first chronometer to the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1776.