His Hon Judge Guy Boney, QC

Collector

What was your childhood ambition?

To be a cathedral organist

What building do you admire most?

Church of Santa Maria della Consolazione, Todi, Umbria.

If you could own any car, what would it be?

A 1939 4.25 litre MX Bentley with overdrive (the last and only Derby Bentley made with overdrive), and with Gurney Nutting Sedanca de Ville coachwork with pram irons to the hood.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life?

My father

Who is your hero?

William Shakespeare

What is your favourite clock?

The astrolabe Tompion longcase in the Fitzwilliam (and with the cresting replaced, after its ill-considered removal about 12 years ago which ruined its proportions. R.W.Symonds considered the cresting was original, although of an individual design).

What gives you the most satisfaction in your life?

Steering a difficult trial unobtrusively towards what I am satisfied is the correct conclusion.

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

The system whereby it is still constitutionally possible for a man to become Prime Minister without election by either the electorate or even by any members of his own party, then to claim that he has been the hero of some kind of spurious "coronation". I would also for good measure revive the ritual of impeachment, last used in the UK for Warren Hastings in 1759 (but much more recently in the US). and apply it first to the previous prime minister on the grounds of gross dereliction of the nation's finances.

If you could dine with one person, past or present, who would it be?

Thos. Tompion, because he is that interesting and unusual combination of superb artist and serious businessman. And among other things I want to try to find out if he was gay or not, then publish my considered findings in Antiquarian Horology.

When you're thinking about buying a clock, what criteria most influences your decision?

(a) whether it is particularly handsome as a piece of furniture of it's period without any obvious deviations, closely followed by (b) any points of mechanical interest. Ideally , both.

If you could buy any one item in the world, what would it be?

Any large picture by Claude Lorraine, and especially either "The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba" or "Aeneas arriving at Pallanteum".

When you desire a clock you can't afford, do you try and put it out of your mind or set about trying to raise the funds?

Depends on the degree of desire, but one can usually raise the money if one goes to sufficient extremes, and there comes a point known to every serious collector at which one would unhesitatingly send the children out to sweep chimneys to get hold of a particular clock (although unfortunately they are now grown up). I have in the past, after careful preparation of my wife, twice remortgaged the house to buy a clock.

What does your wife think about clocks?

Don't let's even go there. It ranges between faintly tolerant to near-incandescence, though to be fair she has in the past lent me quite large sums to finance what she regards as good buys. Luckily she is not over- observant and one can usually smuggle in a new bracket clock without being rumbled. Longcases are more difficult, and it would be pushing one's luck to try to get a turret clock past her.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Quite a lot. Playing the church organ, amateur dramatics, occasional golf and fly-fishing on the River Test. I have a weakness for British pictures, especially good Victorian ones, so occasionally available funds go in that direction.