COLEY, Simeon (Grimwade p.400, 468-9)

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buckler
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COLEY, Simeon (Grimwade p.400, 468-9)

Post by buckler »

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey Ref: t17610506-20 of 06 May 1761 gives an interesting insight.
Simon Cooley , I live upon Clerkenwell-green.
Q. What is your business?
Cooley. I am a silver buckle-maker, I have known the prisoner five years,
he has been in my shop many a time.
Q. Did he ever work for you?
Cooley. No, he has had great opportunities to have robbed me within this
12 months, but I never lost any thing by him; he used to come two or three
times a week to finish his work. I have had three or four hundred ounces
of silver lying about, he has been there when we have been at breakfast or
dinner.
Note that he does not appear to have employed the accused as a journeyman, but as a sub-contractor who did silver work on Coley's premises. Also note the casual mention of "three or four hundred ounces of silver lying about" , apparently near a dining area !

Based on newspaper advertisements, it appears that Coley spent three years in New York, his American mark being "S. Coley," . His first New York advertisement was dated September 11, 1766, and his last, announcing his intention "to leave this City this Month," was dated September 4, 1769. His leaving New York was probably a result of being on the wrong side of pre-Revolutionary politics. A newspaper article of July 24, 1769 reported Coley's "daring Infractions of the Non-importation Agreement; his insolent and futile Defence of those inglorious Measures; with his avowed Resolution obstinately to persevere in counteracting the legal Efforts of a brave and free People in support of their inestimable Rights." Coley's advertisements before this date included a great deal of English imports, mostly jewelry and small specialty items such as etuis. It is thought that he spent some time in Jamaica after leaving New York.
It is quite possible that this is not the English Simeon Coley !

He was free of the Glovers in 1773 ( which may explain why he moved form Clerkenwell into the City around that date )

THE Will of Simon (sic) COLEY ,Silversmith, Gentleman of Enfield, Middlesex was proved PCC 9 June 1798
This and it's codicil lists his daughters as Elizabeth Amelia Burrow , Helen Coley (died unmarried) and Hannah Northcote, the wife of Thomas Northcote of Berkeley Street . His son, Also Simeon Coley carried on the business at 35 Fetter Lane .
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Re: Coley, Simeon (Grimwade p.400, 468-9)

Post by MCB »

*He was born in the UK in 1728.
*He married Elizabeth Farley in 1748. By 1759 they had four children.
The last born was his son Simeon (Grimwade p.400).
*A silver punch bowl attributed to Simeon Coley of New York circa 1755-60 is held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
*An advertisement in New York dated 11th September 1766 announced his partnership with William Coley was dissolved.
*A notice issued in New York at 2 o’clock in the afternoon of 21st July 1769.

To the Public:
As I am convinced that refusing to store my Goods, was wrong; I do promise and consent, that they shall be deposited in the public Store with other goods which were imported contrary to the Non-Importation Agreement;---which I hope will appease the Minds of my injured Fellow Citizens, and convince them that I do not regard sacrificing my private Interest for the Good of the Public.
Simeon Coley.


He paid Duty for the apprentice indentures of John Sellman in 1781.
He advertised in a trade directory in 1784 as Simeon Coley & Son, 35 Fetter Lane, London, goldsmiths and jewellery/precious metals.
The 1796 London Poll Book shows he had, by then, moved to Enfield. He was assessed to Land Tax on property there in 1795-96. He lived next door to Charles Aldridge (Grimwade p.420-1?). A David Smith was assessed on the property in 1797.
*Technicalities of his Will were subject to a hearing in Chancery Division in 1818 (Skrymsher v Northcote)

*With acknowledgements to Debbie Bartlett for publishing the information on the internet
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Re: COLEY, Simeon (Grimwade p.400, 468-9)

Post by buckler »

Pat has recently discovered that Simeon Coley's Freedom by Redemption in the Company of Glovers is dated on the top and bottom of the paper 25 January 1774. Whether the 1773 date previously given is an error , or whether the actual Freedom papers are issued slightly later than than the grant is unknown .
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Re: COLEY, Simeon (Grimwade p.400, 468-9)

Post by buckler »

..
Believed to be Simeon Coley's mark of 1st February 1779 as a bucklemaker at 35 Fetter Lane. Found on a Stock buckle of around 1775 - 1784
..
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Re: COLEY, Simeon (Grimwade p.400, 468-9)

Post by silverly »

buckler wrote:....Whether the 1773 date previously given is an error , or whether the actual Freedom papers are issued slightly later than than the grant is unknown .
5 October 1773 is the date Mr Swordbearer was granted six redemptions for the court of Mr Alderman Townsend. Simeon Coley was the second of those six.
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Re: COLEY, Simeon (Grimwade p.400, 468-9)

Post by buckler »

8 February 1761
Birth of Elizabeth Amelia Coley daughter of Simeon Coley and Elizabeth his wife. Born London.

3 October 1785
In the Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial baptismal records for 1785 under the heading "Where and When Baptised" is recorded
"In her bedchamber in her fathers house No 35 Fetter Lane, St Dunstans in the West
Presumably still unmarried and living with her father and mother.
The other baptisms in that record were all recorded as "In the Chapel of the United Brethren, Fetter Lane " and all are within days of the birth, so hers is unusual .So may well be a death-bed christening,
The Moravians used this site at Fetter Lane from 1740 onwards. It was the first Moravian chapel in Britain and was officially registered in 1742. John and Charles Wesley were inspired by the experiences they shared with the Moravians and met with the Fetter Lane society frequently throughout 1738, but eventually broke away from the society in 1739.The original Fetter Lane Chapel was destroyed during the bombing of London in World War II.

In the 1960s this congregation was re-established at a church in Chelsea . Now modern offices, there is a plaque denoting the former site (opposite John Wilkes' Statue).
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