12 February 2021

William Backus, Cutler

William Backus Of Sheffield, Yorkshire, And Norwich, Connecticut, By Everett F. Bingham NEHGS article, Volume CXLII  [C?], July 1988, pages 253-254:

...1659 William Backus married 2nd at Saybrook, Ct., widow, Anna (Fenton) Bingham, whose 1st husband, Thomas Bingham, had died in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, in February 1648... .

[William Backus] To his son William he left “all the tooles belonging to the trade of a smith and cutler....” ...examined the records of the Cutlers Company in Sheffield...and discovered that William Backhouse [sic] was listed as an apprentice to William Nutt of Grimesthorpe, near Sheffield.. This placed him as a member of that company at the same time as Thomas Bingham, husband of Anna... .

The most conclusive evidence, however, is provided by a signature. When William signed by mark in the Sheffield Cutlers Company in 1631, he made his mark with two precise letters, a W directly over a B, and he used this same mark in signing his will in 1661.




No comments: