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Some interesting details regarding the Exeter Assay Office that were reproduced in 'The Reliquary' in 1893.


Exon March I4th, 1773.

There are Five Members now belonging to the Company of Goldsmiths in this City; whose Names are
Mr. Thomas Coffin,
Mr. Richard Sams,
Mr. David Jones,
Mr. Richard Jenkins, and Matthew Skinner, Assay Master.
The present Wardens are, Mr. David Jones and Mr. Richard Sams; and were elected on the 7th of August, 1772, by Mr. Richard Jenkins and Matthew Skinner.

The Assayer was elected January 12th, 1757, at a General Meeting of the Company of Goldsmiths, at the Vine Tavern, in the City of Exeter, by Lewis Courtail, Thomas Blake, Thomas Coffin, Richard Sams, and William Browne.

The Assayer of the said Company was sworn by the late Benjamin Heath, Esq., soon after he was chosen.

The Names and Places of Abode of all the Goldsmiths, Silversmiths, and Plateworkers, now living, that have entered their Marks in the Assay Office in the City of Exeter.–
Mr. Edward Broadhurst, Plymouth ;
Mr. Roger Berryman Symons, Plymouth;
Mr. Welch, Plymouth Dock;
Mr. Jason Holt, Plymouth ;
Mr. James Jenkins, Plymouth ;
Mr. Thomas Thorne, Plymouth ;
Mr. Benjamin Symons Nathan, Plymouth ;
Mr. William Eveleigh, Dartmouth ;
Mr. John Tingcombe, Plymouth ;
Mr. David Hawkins, Plymouth;
Mr. Richard Jenkins, Exon ;
Mr. John Brown, Plymouth;
Mr. Thomas Strong, Plymouth ;
Mr. William Harvey, Plymouth Dock;
Mr. Thomas Beer, Plymouth Dock ;
Mr. William Coffin, Exon;
Mr. Richard Bidlake, Plymouth.

The Weight of all the Plate assayed and marked at the Assay Office for Seven Years now last past, distinguishing each Year:

Plate assayed Ib. oz. dwt.

From 7th August, 1765, to 7th August, 1766 ... 329 4 16

From 7th August, 1766, to 7th August, 1767 ... 273 2 0

From 7th August, 1767, to 7th August, 1768 ... 431 4 3

From 7th August, 1768, to 7th August, 1769 ... 485 7 10

From 7th August, 1769, to 7th August, 1770 ... 475 4 11

From 7th August, 1770, to 7th August, 1771 ... 327 6 16

From 7th August, 1771, to 7th August, 1772 ... 290 11 19

From 7th August, 1772, to 7th August, 1773 ... 184 14 17





The quantity of 'Worse than standard' submissions is staggering and must have been a disastrous blow to some of the silversmiths involved.

Exeter and Plymouth are naval ports and the silversmiths of these towns were noted buyers of foreign coinage that was used as a ready supply of silver for melting. With the varied standards that were used in coinage, perhaps that was the problem that was only exposed at the time of assay.

Trev.

This is useful and amazing for several reasons. Very many thanks Trev

1
Compared with the London broken plate figures shown in PR1773 these are very large amounts, especially compared with output

2
It gives us a snapshot of who was active in the early 1770's

3
The only items mentioned are Spoons, Tongs , Buckles and Chapes. The chapes are the prongs and attachment ring for buckles . All smallworker stuff. Were all the larger items bought in from London or Chester ? Or were the smallworkers the most likely to take shortcuts ? Or did the big boys face less scrutiny ?

4 On a personal note I am interested to see so many silver Chapes. We now find very few surviving buckles of the 1770's with silver chapes . 99% have steel ones. We know from the PR1773 that many had silver ones at that period and the survival criteria is still a mystery. My own theory is that the silver chaped ones were more expensive, and when unfashionable , it was their high status owners who scrapped easily . The lower strata tended to hold onto them.

5 Amazing to see so many people assaying buckles

I will spend some time seeing who from the active list is not on the broken list .
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"A Report from the Committee appointed to enquire into the manner of conducting the several Assay offices," etc. Reported by Thomas Gilbert, Esq., 29th April, 1773.

"Method of conducting the Assay Office at Exeter".

"Mr. Mathew Skinner (Assay Master of the Goldsmiths' Company of Exeter) produced, pursuant to the Order of Your Committee, the several Accounts annexed in the Appendix, No. 4; and informed Your Committee, That Two of the Members of the Goldsmiths Company of Exeter, are not Freemen of the City of Exeter, but follow the Trade of Goldsmiths, and that all the other Members are; that all the Members inhabit within the City; and that Two of them served only a Part of their Apprenticeships.

That he took an Oath before Benjamin Heath, Town Clerk, which was not the Oath directed by Act of Parliament; but thinks it was as binding as that in the Act; that he is guided in his Duty by an Act passed in the Reign of King William the Third; that he has heard of the said Act from Time to Time, but never read it until he received an Order to attend Your Committee.

That he never received Instruction from any Man living how to assay; but when he had purchased the Lanthorn, the Scales, and all the other Implements necessary for assaying, from the late Assay Master, he then made various Experiments by Coppelation and Fire ; that he believes his Assay Pound weighs about 13 or 14 Grains ; that he has compared all his Assay Weights, and found that they all bore a due Proportion to each other; that his smallest Weight is a Halfpenny Weight; and that he never made an Assay of Gold in his Life.

That after Silver is assayed, if it is Half a Penny-weight better or worse than Standard, he reports it as such, but has no Assay Tables : That he gets his Bone Ashes from Town to make Coppels, and makes as many at One Time as serve him for Half a Year; That his Muffles are Eight Inches long, are arched, and have Holes in the Sides to give Air while the Metal is in Fusion : That he does not make them himself; and that they will hold from Six to Nine Coppels: That he assays his Silver with Lead, which he receives from an Assay Master in Londan, whom he can confide in.

Being desired to describe his Method of assaying Silver; he said, I take a small Quantity of Silver from each Piece (the Quantity allowed by Act ot Parliament is Eight Grains from every Pound Troy Weight) which I weigh by the Assay Pound Weight: I wrap it up in a thin Sheet of Lead, and when the Furnace is properly heated, the Assays are put in and fired off; they are taken out when cool, and then weighed ; and from the Waste we ascertain its Goodness.

That no Officer is employed by the Company in assaying Plate besides himself; that he has no Salary, and takes what Silver is allowed by Law for assaying; that he was brought up a Jeweller, and is in no Ways concerned in the manufacturing of Plate, but buys all his Plate from London.

That the Standard for Plate is 11 oz. 2 dwt. of fine Silver; and 18 dwt. of Alloy; but they allow a Remedy of 2 dwt. in the Pound, because it would be hard upon a working Tradesman, if he was not allowed something, as he does his best, and may be mistaken ; that many Times he had allowed it, and sometimes had found it over Standard.

Being asked, If the Trade of a working Goldsmith, Silversmith, or Plate Worker, was necessary for qualifying a Person for scraping or cutting Wrought Plate properly ? he said, He thought a Person bred to those Trades the best qualified to know if all the Plate in One Parcel to be of the same Sort of Silver, and whether the Plate is forward enough in Workmanship, but that he had acquired that Knowledge without being brought up to the Business, so as to be able to judge; and further said, He thought great Judgment was necessary to know all the Pieces that were affixed together in a Piece of Plate, such as a Sword Hilt, or an Epergne ; and thinks it impossible for an Assay Master to judge of the Solder necessary for joining a Piece of Work, unless he was brought up to the Trade of a Silversmith.

That the Makers of Wrought Plate send a Note with their Names to the Assay Office, containing the Name of the Owner, the Weight of the Silver, and what Articles it consists of: That he receives a Halfpenny per Ounce for assaying and marking such Plate, which is entered in a Book particularizing the Day of the Month when the Plate was assayed, the Name of the Owner, the Species of Plate, and if cut, he enters the Worseness.

That he has heard of Convoys, which are intended by Workmen to deceive the Assayer ; that he examines the Work as near as he can, but never found out any such Thing as Convoys.

That the Marks he strikes upon Wrought Plate are the Lion, the Leopard's Head, the Exeter Mark (which is a Castle) and the Letter for the Year ; that the Letter for the Present Year is Z, in Roman Character; that the Letter is appointed annually at the first Hall Meeting after the 7th of August, and goes through the whole Alphabet, and that A will be the Letter for the next Year.

That the Workman sets his own Mark before the Plate is sent to. the Office; that the Witness has the Custody of the Marks, and if Plate is doubtful upon the First Assay, he detains it for a Second Trial; that he puts Four Grains of Silver into the Diet Box for every Pound Weight of Plate he assays and marks ; that there are Three Locks and Two Keys to the Diet Box, One Lock being spoilt; and the Senior Warden, who has the Custody of the Diet Box, keeps One of the Keys, and the Junior Warden the other; that the Diet is put into the Box once a Year, on the 7th of August, being first wrapped up in Paper, and marked what Year's Diet it is, and the Witness has the Custody of it until it is put into the Box ; and knows not when it was sent to the Tower ; and that there are many Years Diet now in the Office.

That he makes the Assays of Plate at such Times as best suit his Convenience, and never had any Person to assist him in assaying; and when he is absent or ill the Thing stops.

That he thinks the Trust too great to be reposed in One Man, and apprehends such a Hall as Goldsmiths Hall, is safer to the Public, where there are so many Checks, and no Temptation to Dishonesty, the Officers having good Salaries ; and he should prefer Plate marked at Goldsmiths Hall, because of the Sanction ; that some Years ago he assayed Plate marked at Goldsmiths Hall, out of Curiosity, and found it Standard.

That he has been at Goldsmiths Hall, and seen the Progress of Business there ; and has used the Remedy he has spoken of ever since he has been in the Office."

Trev.
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Apart from the weight of items failing assay it is the number of failures and the time over which they occurred which is puzzling.
R B Symons for example registered his mark in 1765 and between then and 1772, the end of the detail above, managed to fail the assay 12 times. A new boy might make a couple of errors but surely not 12 and over so long a period! Then there’s R Jenkins who registered in 1764 and failed the assay 10 times between 1765 and 1771 and had over 50 lb of work rejected. Not forgetting John Brown, another 1765 entrant, who failed 6 times and had over 60lbs rejected. Finally W Welch who had entered his mark in 1758 and who one would have thought might, by 1765, have known the standard required yet failed assay 6 times.
Having been bitten by the Assay Master one might assume these gentlemen would have quickly learned to have any foreign silver bought from navy crews refined to the required UK standard?
The main culprit for failure was apparently buckles and, as has been said before, buckle makers were a problem lot but one wonders if, as Clive (Buckler) intimates, there wasn’t more to the assay failures than just that?

Mike
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