DRAYTON, Benjamin (Grimwade p.281)

[MCB]

Benjamin the son of Simon Drayton of Atherson (sic), Warwickshire was apprenticed in 1713 to Nicholas Hodgson (Grimwade p.548) of the Goldsmiths Company; he was free in 1722.
He entered a mark at Goldsmiths’ Hall in 1723 as a small worker from Little Britain which was his master’s business address.
Benjamin Drayton, bachelor and goldsmith of St Leonard, Shoreditch, signed a bond in 1725 to marry Elizabeth Marsh of St Peter, Cornhill.
Six of their children were christened at St Botolph, Aldersgate between 1727 and 1734, one record in 1733 mentioning their address as Snow Hill.
Giles Marsh of Lancashire in 1725, possibly a relative of his wife, John Horsman of Gloucester in 1729 and John Harrison of Stepney in 1735 all signed to be his apprentices.
He was assessed to Land Tax on property in Aldersgate from 1733-53.
His Will as a goldsmith late of St Botolph, Aldersgate, was proved for probate on 27th June 1754 (National Archives reference PROB 11/809/270).