HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER
MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION

WITH THE ADDITION OF SCOTTISH, IRISH, CHANNEL ISLANDS AND COLONIES SILVERMITHS
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BRITISH SILVERSMITHS - ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MARKS: WC-WF
ALPHABETICAL LISTING
OF SILVERSMITHS' NAMES		 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
  [B] = BIRMINGHAM    [C] = Chester   [D] = DUBLIN  [E] = EDIMBURGH  [EX] = EXETER  [G] = GLASGOW    [L] = LONDON  [N] = NEWSCASTLE   
[S] = SHEFFIELD   [Y] = YORK
(lower-case letter denote smaller ones but they may be capital letters)
CLICK ON THE YELLOW NAME FOR MAKER'S MARK IMAGE
WC (William Cripps [ L ]) 18th c./2nd half
WC (William Cattell [ L ]) 18th c./2nd half
WC (William Cox [ L ]) 18th c./2nd half
WC (William Chawner II [ L ]) beginning 19th c
WC into a rectangle (William Cunningham II - possibly- [ E ]) beginning 19th c
WC into a shield (William Cunningham [ E ]) 19th c./1st half
WC (William Cummins [ D ]) 19th c./1st half
WC into an oval (William Constable [ E ]) 19th c./1st half
WC into a circle (William Cooper [ L ]) 19th c./1st half
WC between two asterisks (not identified [CAPE]) 1820 c.
WC into two circles (William Carter (possibly) [ L ]) 19th c./2nd half
WC (William Corbett [ G ]) 19th c./2nd half
W.C (William Cripps [ L ]) 18th c./2nd half
W.C (William Chawner II [ L ]) beginning 19th c
W.C (William Coghill [ G ]) 19th c./2nd half
W.C or W.C. (William Coghill [ G ]) 19th c./2nd half
W.C & S (William Clark & Sons [ B ]) end 19th c.
W.C into an four pointed oval (William Comyns [ B ][ L ]) end 19th c./beginning 20th c.
W.C into a circle (William Richard Corke [ L ]) entered 1901
WC & S (William Clark & Sons [ E ]) 19th c./2nd half

W.C.G (W C Griffiths [ B ]) 20th c./1st half
WC over HC in script into as shield (Child & Child -Walter & Harold Child- [ L ]) 19th c./2nd half
WC over PC (William & Patrick Cunningham [ E ]) 18th c./2nd half
WD (William Darker [ D ]) 18th c./1st half
WD (William Derby [ S ]) 18th c./2nd half
WD in script (William Dempster [ E ]) 18th c./2nd half
WD (William Dempster [ E ]) 18th c./2nd half
WD (William Downie [ E ]) beginning 19th c.
WD (William Dudley [ B ]) mid 19th c.
W D into two conjoined circles (William Davies - possibly-[ B ]) beginning 20th c.
W.D (William Doyle [ D ]) 19th c./1st half
W.D (William Devenport [ B ]) end 19th c./beginning 20th c.
W.D into a cartouche with bevelled corners (William Devenport [ B ]) end 19th c./beginning 20th c.
W.D (William Devenport [ B ]) end 19th c./beginning 20th c.
W.D (William Deakin - possibly- [ B ]) beginning 20th c.
W.D&Co. (W Drummond & Co [ L ]) 20th c./1st half
WDB (William Disney Barlow [ B ][ L ]) 20th c./1st half
W.D.P (W D Pritchard [ B ]) 20th c./1st half
WE (William Eley II [ L ] ) 19th c./1st half
WE into an oval (Robert Eley [ L ]) 18th c./2nd half
WE (William Eley I [ L ]) 18th c./2nd half
WE (William Edwards [ L ]) 19th c./1st half
WE into two conjoined circles (William Eaton [ L ]) 19th c./1st half
WE (William Elliott [ L ]) 19th c./1st half
WE in script (William Eley II [ L ]) 19th c./1st half
WE into an oval (William Evans [ L ]) 19th c./2nd half
WE into a shield (William Edwards [ L ] ) 19th c./2nd half
W.E (William Eley I [ L ]) end 18th c.
W.E (William Eaton [ L ]) 19th c./1st half
W.E into an oval (William Ellerby [ L ]) 19th c./1st half
WE over CE over HE (William, Charles & Henry Eley [ L ]) 19th c./1st half
W.E.H (W E Houlston [ B ]) 20th c./1st half
WEIR (James Weir [ G ]) end 19th c./ beginning 20th c.
W.E.T (William E Turner [ B ]) beginning 20th c.

WE over WF (William Eley & William Fearn [ L ] ) 19th c./1st half
WE over WF over WC (William Eley, William Fearn & William Chawner [ L ] ) 19th c./1st half
WEST (Alderman, West [ D ]) 19th c./1st half
WEST & SON (West & Son [D]) 19th c./2nd half
WF (William Fountain [ L ] ) 19th c./1st half
WF in script (William Fountain [ L ] ) 19th c./1st half
WF (William Frisbee [ L ]) beginning 19th c.
WF &Co into two rectangles (William Fillan & Co [ E ]) 19th c./1st half
W.F into an oval (William Fordham [ L ]) 18th c./1st half
W.F into a rectangle (William Fearn [ L ]) entered 1769
W.F over A.F (Fordham & Faulkner -William Charles Fordham & Albert Faulkner- [ L ][ S ]) end 19th c./beginning 20th c.
W.F over I.F (William & John Fisher [ L ]) 18th c./2nd half
W.F over P.S (William Frisbee & Paul Storr [ L ]) end 18th c.
WFW (William Frederick Williams [ L ]) 19th c./2nd half
W.F.W into three circles (William Frederick Wright [ L ])end 19th c./beginning 20th c.
HALLMARKS OF ENGLISH SILVER - MAKER'S MARK IDENTIFICATION
ALPHABETICAL LISTING
OF SILVERSMITHS' NAMES		 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
THE DIRECTORY OF CAPE SILVERSMITHS A - C D - I J - M N - T U - Z
THE DIRECTORY OF CHANNEL ISLANDS SILVERSMITHS A - F G - H I - P Q - Z unidentified makers
BRITISH TOWN MARKS AND DATE LETTERS
London town marks Birmingham town marks Dublin town marks Edinburgh town marks Sheffield town marks Exeter town marks
London Birmingham Dublin Edinburgh Sheffield Chester
The hallmarking of British silver is based on a combination of marks that makes possible the identification of the origin and the age of each piece.
The marks are:

Town mark, corresponding to the mark of the assay office that has verified the piece
London town mark Sheffield town mark Birmingham town mark Newcastle town mark Dublin town mark Edimburgh town mark Glasgow town mark

Lion's passant guardant or Britannia or lion's head erased certifiying the silver's quality
lion passant: 1598-1820 lion passant: after 1820 Britannia and lion's head erased: from 1697 to 1718
Maker's mark, identifying the silversmith presenting the piece to the assay office

Date letter, in cycles of twenty letters of the alphabet of different shape identifies the year in which the piece was verified by the assay office
London date letter 'a'
A further mark was used in the period 1784 - 1890:
Sovereign head ('duty mark'), certifying the payment of duty
Sovereign head: duty mark from 1784 to 1890
work in progress on this page - your help, corrections and suggestions will be greatly appreciated -