jan 1, 1583 - locksmith

Description:

This was a widely distributed craft, represented in all the major towns in medieval Yorkshire and in some of the villages. In 1379 <i>Johannes Loksmyth </i> of Sheffield paid 6d poll tax and since no occupation was listed we can be sure from his by-name that he was a smith who specialised in making locks (PTWR321). The by-name occurred into the sixteenth century: 1421 <i>in seruris, clavibus, hespes, stapels, jonetors ... factis per Henricum Loksmyth </i>, York (SS35/44); 1454 <i>Et Thome Loksmyth pro reparacione et emendacione diversarum cathenarum portarum cerarum et clavium, </i> York (SS192/78); 1513 <i>John Loksmyth, loksmyth, </i> York (SS96/236). Nicholas Awbraye of Wyke near Bradford was an illiterate locksmith who used a key as his mark in 1583 (YRS50/201).

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