Henry Bridges was an architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

, builder, showman and clockmaker

Clockmaker

A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches...

 of Waltham Abbey

Waltham Abbey, Essex

Waltham Abbey is a market town of about 20,400 people in the south west of the county of Essex, in the East of England region. It is about 24 km north of London on the Greenwich Meridian and lies between the River Lea in the west and Epping Forest in the east. It takes its name from The Abbey...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. He was father of James Bridges

James Bridges (architect)

James Bridges was an architect and civil engineer working in Bristol between 1757 and 1763. He was the son of Henry Bridges, an Essex carpenter and clockmaker and famous for his Microcosm...

, architect and engineer.
Henry is famous as the builder of the giant clock, the Microcosm

Microcosm (clock)

Microcosm was a unique clock made by Henry Bridges of Waltham Abbey, England. It stood 10-12 feet high, and six across the base, it toured Great Britain, North America and the West Indies as a visual and musical entertainment as well as demonstrating astronomical movements.It was first advertised...

. He is buried with his wife in the ruins of Waltham Abbey, the largest monument there, which was restored several years ago by a local clockmaker. The clock was on tour from 1733 until 1775 and was seen by thousands of people in England, Ireland, Scotland and North America including George Washington and Richard Edgeworth who wrote an account of it in his memoirs. All trace has been lost of it until found in the 1920s in Paris. The astronomical part is now in the British Museum, but not on display.

Henry Married Sarah Trevise, whose family provided him with a large house in Waltham Abbey. In his will of 1754 he left a number of properties in and around Waltham Cross. There is a similar mystery about his son's work history before his arrival in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

. James was a highly talented architect and civil engineer who claimed he was taught by his father and that he had seen the works of the ancients, suggesting he had done the Grand Tour. Given the closeness of Waltham Abbey Gunpowder Works, it is possible the Bridges family were involved in the very lucrative secretive business of gunpowder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

manufacture.
Source: The Big World of Mr Bridges' Microcosm, by Barb Drummond, published on Kindle