hello New to this Need help if anyone can indentify this hallmark and name and also is this a candle suffer? many thanks karen
By far the wealthiest individual is John Dyer, with his £300 of stock, yet his
wealth was largely inherited from his late father, Lawrence. Made free in 1676 John
Dyer had been Lawrence’s partner since 1680 and presumably inherited his wealth on
the latter’s death in 1691. This profile, therefore, is also of Lawrence Dyer, Master in
1675. Lawrence had a civic career (Common Councillor for Cripplegate Wood Within
1675-80 and Deputy (for the Alderman) 1680-90). He was church warden of St
Lawrence Jewry in 1670, and 1691, the year of his death (Woodhead, 1965, 63).
Lawrence Dyer and his son John supplied Lord Mayor Sir William Turner, the
Bishop of St Asaph, the Hudson’s Bay Company and Royal Africa Company (screw-top
jugs and basins), amongst others, Lawrence’s entrepreneurial flair to develop a new
metal alloy – ‘silvorum’ – like that produced by Major Purling – was quickly quashed by
the Company in 1652 (Welch II, 116). The composition of ‘silvorum’ is unknown, but it is
believed to be high quality tinplate, with added copper in the tin coating which gave it a
silver like ‘lustre’ (Hatcher in Hatcher and Barker, 137). This was a German trade
secret, and indeed such wares were being imported from the continent at the time
(CSPD 1640, 508). Despite his excellent start in business John Dyer appears to have
fallen on hard times, and was described as ‘a poor member’ in 1702 (G. Lib MS 7090/1,
Court Minutes 15th August 1702) but whether from shipwreck or changing requirements
by the RAC is not known.