Cloth Seal, Searcher / Inspector, Named, D. Went
Cloth Seal, Searcher / Inspector, Image & Found by Strebor.
Found near Codicote, Herts, 48 X 24mm, 18.6g.
Two part sub-rectangular seal showing ?WOORLOCK / XXII= / V??NL . The other side shows D.WENT / INSPECTOR
See UKDFD Ref. No. - 36285:- "The seal is clearly that of an inspector of the cloth, and the use of the word 'inspector', rather than 'searcher', along with the style of the letters, would suggest that an 18th century date is most likely. The Roman numerals are likely to be associated with the length of the particular cloth."
Not an alnage seal as that system ended in 1724.
See PAS GLO-FF1E94 for another 'Inspector' seal of the same type.
From Paul Cannon, "The will of Daniel Went of Dursley, Gloucestershire, clothier was proved 19 Feb 1738 [Gloucestershire Archives ref 1738/16]. The will can be seen online at Ancestory.com. He may have been the same Daniel Went of Dursley who married Mary Tyndall 22 October 1706 in the adjacent Parish of Cam Wishful Thinking, Marriages at Cam, Gloucestershire. His burial is recorded in the Parish records of Dursley on 27 April 1737. There is nothing in the will recording that he was an inspector of cloths but that is not surprising. So far I cannot locate any absolute evidence that this Daniel Went is the Inspector named on the seal. He would presumably have been well qualified to carry this out as he was a clothier.
Regarding the I. Woorlock, also named on the seal, the ‘I’ is an earlier form of ‘J’. One John son of Zachariah Worlock and wife Mary was baptised 21 March 1688/89 at Dursley Parish Church [can be seen on Ancestory.com] There are numerous Worlocks in the Dursley Parish registers. Worlock is a variant spelling of Woorlock. ‘J’ Woorlock may have been the millman/searcher responsible for the measuring of the cloth.
It is possible that the appropriate Quarter Sessions Records may ultimately provide confirmation and more information. Both surnames are fairly uncommon and it seems to me significant that they both occur in the same place. I am going to suggest that this seal may relate to Gloucestershire and specifically to Dursley. Dursley had a well established cloth industry eg see Dursley Glos Web, The Cloth Industry in Dursley and Cam."
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