Thomas Chawner, b.1734, d. between 1802-11 :
Son of John Chawner and Anne, nee Chaloner, of Muslane in Derbyshire.
John was described as "gentleman" when Thomas apprenticed to Ebenezer Coker,
on 4 December 1754, on payment of £30.
Free, 13 January 1762. Livery, December 1771.
Heal records him as plateworker, 60 Paternoster Row from 1759,
both alone and in partnership with William Chawner; and at Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell, 1767;
and he appears as spoonmaker, Paternoster Row in the Parl. Report list 1773.
He married Sarah Emery and had one son, Henry Chawner.
He is said to have held an appointment at the Mint.
Thomas Chawner is in the direct line of silversmiths that date to the world's oldest silversmiths -
a company founded in the second part of the 17th century.
Its origins date back to the 1680s, when Antony Nelme established
a silversmithing firm at Ave Maria Lane, London.
After Antony's death in 1722, his son Francis Nelme followed in his father's footsteps
and kept running the firm until 1739, when the upcoming manager,
Thomas Whipham, took over the business.
After Whipham's death in 1766, the partnership between his son, Thomas Whipham
and Charles Wright appeared. In 1775, Whipham left the company, and in 1786,
Charles Wright merged it with the silversmith Thomas Chawner
and his son Henry Chawner, who had a workshop nearby.
It was Edward Barnard, Thomas Chawner's apprentice, who became the company's foreman after the merger,
that company becoming Edward Barnard & Sons.
The Chawner Dynasty of Silversmiths :
Thomas Chawner
Thomas & William Chawner I, Brothers, working together from c1750
Son, Henry Chawner, b. 1764, marks 1786, 1787, and 1786 with John Emes
William Chawner II, son of Jonathan Chawner
Mary Chawner, Widow or William Chawner II, registered mark in 1834, and 5 further marks,
that company becoming George Adams in 1840
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