Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, George Lewis

Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Tiverton, George Lewis, Image & Found by Heidi Jonkman.
Found in Holland, 24mm.

22 // scallop / WL, GE(O)RGE.LEWIS.TIVERTON around

A seal from the Tiverton clothier George Lewis (trading 1748 to 1776), Evans Type* 3.3.?. (The first recovered seal for this clothier to be recorded with a scallop). Other examples of this clothiers' seal are shown in Fig.5 p.402, Maunder, P., Tiverton Cloth: The Story of the Town's Woollen Trade 1475 - 1815. p.403 records that seals bearing a scallop are known for George Lewis from a 1754 document in the Fox Archives at Wellington (book 105, fols. 3 & 4).
*A helpful classification system for these seals, devised by Jane Evans, can be found as an appendix to this book.

The fullest collection of Tiverton cloth seals (about thirty) is on permanent display in Tiverton Museum.

From Mike Patrick, "This is a particularly exciting seal for Topsham as in 1738 George Lewis married Elizabeth Hillman daughter of Michael Hillman, a ship's captain of the town. In 1739, the couple moved into 25 Strand, Topsham, a house which remained in the ownership of descendants of the Lewis family until 1798. The excitement arises because 25 Strand is now home to Topsham Museum which contains many references to the town's previous importance in the export of woollen cloth."