Edinburgh 1817 maker CR

[carlislepaul]

By a process of elimination I have tentatively attributed this CR makers mark on an Edinburgh 1817 spoon to Colin Richardson. He is first referred to in Perth 1813, has a mention in Scottish Provincial Silversmiths at Perth/St Andrews 1820 and is recorded at Edinburgh Assay with a Marshall & son retail mark in 1821 and submitting his work 1822-26 last heard of in 1829.

Charles Robb was according to Edinburgh Assay and other references born 1801, apprenticed to William Cunningham 1815, a freeman in 1844 and dead in 1862. Though marks attributed to him are similar he is outside the time scale.

Christian Reid was apprenticed in Edinburgh to William Davie in 1769 and first registers a mark in Newcastle in 1788. He does not appear on the Edinburgh Assay. I do however have a pair of Reid family mark CR over DR on an Edinburgh 1821 spoon, but it overstamps the AC of Alexander Cameron whose Dundee factory was retailing/wholesaling in the Newcastle area, registering the AC mark at Newcastle in 1828.

Any other information or opinion would be appreciated.

Regards

Paul
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[dognose]

Hi Paul,

I haven't much to add, except to say that I've always believed that Alexander Cameron was either in dispute with the Edinburgh Assay Office at this time or just putting his financial interests first when deciding to use the services of the Newcastle Assay Office. The extreme distance of this change of assayer was not as strange as might first appear, as at this time there was a huge amount of coastal shipping traffic running along the east coast, making such a journey if not faster, then perhaps more economical and very probably safer than the overland route to Edinburgh or Glasgow. I'm not aware that Cameron ever had an outlet in Newcastle.

The overstamping by Reids of a Cameron - Edinburgh piece is a curious one, but maybe just a secondhand item sold by Reids.

Regards Trev.
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[MCB]

Hello Paul,

As Trev (Dognose) has remarked elsewhere on the forum there are gaps in the Edinburgh Assay Office records and whereas Richardson is noted as having submitted work from around 1822 the actual year his mark was registered isn't stated so it is feasible a piece from 1817 is his. Also the CR mark on the spoon is similar to the one shown for him on the Assay Office web site. Finally, as you say, there are no other known candidates for the CR punch.
If the second initial is a rubbed letter B again there are no obvious candidates although both Charles Bendy and Charles Bryson registered this style of mark in 1822 and 1824 respectively.
On an historical note two individuals by the name of Colin Richardson appear in Perth on genealogical web sites, the father who married Ann Sheddin in 1792 and their son born 1796. It is possible that Colin the elder sold silver wares in Perth but chose not to submit them for Edinburgh assay whereas his son who would have been 21 years old in 1817 and the right age to be out of an apprenticeship was the one who did. Unfortunately, although web site records improve substantialy from the 1841 UK Census, neither Colin is mentioned to see if one or both said he was a silversmith and the theory can't be tested.

Regards,
Mike
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[carlislepaul]

Gents

Thank you for your informative contributions.

Sorry for delay in replying, I have just returned from a week in the Highlands.

Paul
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