St. Kitchin Planemaker London

[woodiedonald]

Hi,

Recently I found a moulding plane and on the toe it was stamped St Kitchinc London. There may have been more letters to the name but as it was overstamed I couldn't make it out fully. It looks to be an 18th Century plane.

If anyone could find more information on this maker It'd be great.

Regards
Donald.

 

[AndyT]

That's not a name I know and I can't see anything like it in BPM III. Could it be part of an address rather than a name - Street not Saint?

I think this one needs some nice clear pictures with your camera's macro mode turned on!

 

[GLFaria]

That's not a name I know and I can't see anything like it in BPM III. Could it be part of an address rather than a name - Street not Saint?

I think this one needs some nice clear pictures with your camera's macro mode turned on!

What is BPM III ?

 

[Carl P]

British Plane Makers 3rd edition, although I still read it as Beats Per Minute, followed by momentary confusion and then relief when I realise it's nothing to do with frantic rave music!

Cheerio,

Carl

 

[AndyT]

That's not a name I know and I can't see anything like it in BPM III. Could it be part of an address rather than a name - Street not Saint?

I think this one needs some nice clear pictures with your camera's macro mode turned on!

What is BPM III ?

A short way of referring to the third edition of "British Planemakers from 1700" by WL Goodman, revised by Mark and Jane Rees. It's the standard work on identifying hundreds of planemakers and lists makers' marks against the years that they appeared in historical records as trading in planes.

Unfortunately, it's been out of print for some time and so second hand copies are not cheap. There will be a fourth edition, which Jane has done lots of work on, but she's not making any promises about when it will appear.

 

[woodiedonald]

Right, so on further inspection it seems to be more like St. Ritching which seems like a more plausible name. (damn my poor eyesight!)

Here's a picture, as good of a one as I could get.

 

[AndyT]

I think S T Kitchin was an owner whose mark has obscured the maker's name. The letter style does not match the letters of 'London'. Sorry!

Someone might know it just from the London mark.

 

[Mr_P]

Even London could be a previous owners surname, I've seen plenty of wooden planes with single line font makers stamps and a more elaborate owners stamp.

I've never met a Sorby, Varvill, Tyzack but I have met a Mr. London.

 

[DonMc]

Based on the details of the shoulder, proportion of the grip as well as the bold chamfers, I agree that your Torus plane appears to have 18th century features. Though, despite spending quite some time deciphering the marks on the toe, I'm still not much closer to being sure who made it, or when. But I thought I'd share what I think I've figured out so far in the hope that it may lead to further discussion and discovery.

As best I can determine, the oldest mark is the one (well, actually two) with serrated borders which occupy the mid-line of the grip. And to my eyes, it actually reads: [ST. KITCHING][LONDON]. I'm thinking the ST. may stand for Stephen or Stephenson, though I have not been able to find any such person listed as plane makers or apprentices. So, despite this mark having the best chance of being the makers mark, it may simply be the earliest owner's mark.

The second mark (again, actually two marks), as best I can read it, is RICHARD JOYS/GRIMSBY. Three different Richard Joys were enrolled as freemen in Grimsby: 1806, 1842 and 1877. At least one of them, and possibly two, worked as joiners and cabinet-makers in Grimsby. In a preliminary search, I've found trade listings for Richard Joys, joiner and cabinet-makers as early as 1835 and as late as 1852.

The third mark is J. ESKRIETT, which partially obscures the Richard Joys mark. Again, a preliminary search has turned up a John and Cyrus Eskriett, who were working as joiners and shipwrights, in Great Grimsby, as early as 1882. They dissolved their partnership in 1893, when they were listed as timber merchants, sawmill proprietors, ship carpenters and smack owners. John may well have been the person associated with the third mark on your plane.

Hope this has been of some interest.

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR

 

[AndyT]

Now that's research!

 

[woodiedonald]

Wow Don, that's quite a lot you've found out. I'd be interested to know where you were able to find information like that.

Thanks
Donald

 

[DonMc]

Hi Donald, et al,

Glad my information was of some interest. As to where I found the information, it's actually pretty simple - though it helps if one has a somewhat obsessive streak.

I began by downloading your image and loading it into a photo editing application where I could play with color, contrast, etc., as well as rotate the image to be able to decipher each mark right-side-up. That clarified every letter for me, with exception of the "J" in Joys. Thought it might be Toys or Joys, and subsequent online searching led me to conclude it was Joys.

That subsequent searching consisted primarily of putting various combinations of the names and locations into a search engine and following each lead which seemed to hold any promise. After which, I spent some time doing simple searches on the historic directory web-site, where I was able to find trade listings for Richard Joys and John and Cyrus Eskriett. I found some mentions of Stephen and/or Stephenson Kitchings, but nothing which I could connect with tool making, ironmongery or joinery/carpentry ... yet.

Incidentally, I forgot to mention one other bit of information regarding Richard Joys. George Shaw, in his _Old Grimsby_ © 1897 (internet archive), states, while discussing Grimsby's St. James' Church, that: "... A loft in the east end of the nave was erected by Mr. Richard Joys. ..." If that loft still exists, there is some small chance that one might find a torus bead which matches your plane. Might be worth a quick look if you ever find yourself in the neighborhood.

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR

 

[jimi43]

Good LORD! This is superb research and fascinating. Particularly trying to match a moulding with an existing tool of hundreds of years of age to it! :shock:

Tenacity doesn't even come close to describing this sort of dedication to trying to unravel a mystery tool's origins!

Move over Sherlock...Don is on the case!!

=D> =D> =D>

Jimi