Among the dafter taxes imposed on a long-suffering British population over the years, the hearth tax and the window tax rank quite high, as does the tax on the possession of silver plate, the tax on owning dogs, and the tax on hair powder. The tax on clocks and watches that was imposed in 1797 surely rivals these earlier taxes for absurdity.

Once the tax was in place it clearly became too expensive for many people to own clocks, and there was a great rise in demand for clocks to be put on display in public places like pubs and shops so that ordinary people could get some idea of the passage of time. Such clocks, distinguished by their banjo-like shape, became known as 'Act of Parliament' clocks after the act that had raised the unwelcome tax.

Whether the clocks used for such public time-keeping purposes were actually designed for the purpose is open to doubt. It is more probable that the name was simply transferred to a type of clock that was already popular at the time. Otherwise it is hard to account for the fact that so many of them are still in existence. The clock tax was so deeply unpopular that the government, under William Pitt the Younger, was forced to repeal the tax just nine months after it had been imposed. It is hard to imagine that a distinctive style of clock design could have arisen and become widespread in such a short space of time.

Nevertheless, whatever the reason for their existence, many of the so-called 'Act of Parliament' clocks are extraordinarily beautiful, featuring intricate designs and decorations.

The clocks had a distinctive shape, with an often very large dial surmounting a narrower but fairly long case which housed the weights and pendulum necessary to power and regulate the mechanism. They were designed to hang on the wall, although they share many design features with the floor-standing grandfather (or long case) clocks that were popular at the time.

The shape of the Act of Parliament clock was echoed in the American-designed banjo clock, which was patented by Simon Willard of Connecticut in 1802.