UNDERWOOD, Nathaniel (Grimwade p.687-8)

[MCB]

As a goldsmith from Wapping he married Margret (sic) Lother in 1687 at St Katherine by the Tower.
Nathaniel, the son of Nathaniel a goldsmith of Queens Head Alley and his wife Margret, was christened at St John, Wapping in 1688.
Josiah Hawkes of Wapping signed indentures in 1689 to be his apprentice.
Two of his sons were christened at St Paul, Shadwell in 1691 and 1693 respectively.
Edward Lees of Bow signed indentures in 1718 to be his apprentice.
He was listed in the London Poll Books for 1722 and 1727 as a freeman of the Goldsmiths Company, the latter showing his address as Moorfields.
A burial in 1744 of a Nathaniel Underwood, goldsmith late of Almshouses, was registered at St Leonard, Shoreditch. The age of the deceased was recorded as 90 years and he would therefore have been born around 1654. Nathaniel’s apprenticeship had begun in 1679 suggesting he was born around 1664. The identification of “goldsmith” on the burial record and the fact that the Goldsmiths’ Almshouses were located in St Leonard’s parish suggest an error of 10 years was made in the age recorded at death or allowances should be made for an old gentleman’s failing memory of how old he was. The burial record is probably relevant.