LONDON, 1656, MAKER'S MARK FW IN CIRCLE, ATTRIBUTED POSSIBLY TO FRANCIS WHITE

SIR EDWARD RODNEY
Sir Edward Rodney was born into an ancient family established in Somerset since the 13th century. He was the son of Sir John Rodney of Rodney Stoke, Somerset, and his wife Jane Seymour, daughter of Sir Henry Seymour and niece of King Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour (d. 1537), mother of King Edward VI. He was educated at Trowbridge Grammar School, Magdalen College, Oxford and the Middle Temple. He sat as M.P. for Wells in the 1620s and 1640s. He fought for the king in a number of battles during the Civil War.

His interest in his lineage is aptly demonstrated by a manuscript pedigree he complied during his lifetime in his commonplace book, now in the National Archives (PRO 30/20/18). It was published in The Genealogist, 'The Genealogy of the Family of Rodney, of Rodney Stoke, as compiled in the seventeenth century by Sir Edward Rodney, Knt., nos. 16, 1900, pp. 207– 214, 217, 1901, pp. 6–11 and pp. 100–106. He married Frances Southwell in 1614 and in the manuscript he provides a vivid first hand account of his marriage day, op. cit., p. 104.

'May 29: 1614. Sir Edward Rodeney marryed Mrs Frances Sowthiwell in the presence Chamber at Somerset house in the Strand, then the Queenes house, and called Denmarke-house, Shee was a Lady of the Queene Anna her Privy Chamber ; and the Queene kept the marryage feast, all that day at extraordinary charges, Shee invited the King from White-hall, who knighted mee that day, as hee passed through the Privy-chamber, with the Prince his sword, I was conveyed from my Chamber in Westmister to the Court with above 40 Knights & Gentlemen my friendes & Countrymen, all mounted vpon great horses richly furnished with foote-cloathes and great-saddles, Bishop Movntagve being Deane of the Chappell marryed vs. I lodged in the Queenes house that night, The Presents in Plate given vnto my Wife that day, by great Lords & Ladyes & other her friends & kinread did amount in value neere two thousand poundes ; but my Charge in Apparrell wedding Gloves Skarfes & rewardes, given to those that brought Presents, did fully equall it. The Queene gaue her all her Wedding clothes worth at least five-hundred pounds, and the King & Queene gaue her Iewells to y e value of a thousand poundes.'

He and his wife had twelve daughters and an only son George, who died at the age of twenty-two. An impressive monument to Sir Edward and Lady Rodney was raised in St. Leonard's Church, Rodney Stoke, which features bust portraits of the couple. The monument is topped by the coat-of-arms of Rodney and Southwell.

FRANCIS WHITE
Sir Charles Jackson records this mark on a pair of communion cups of 1655 and attributed it to Field Whorwood, however, recent research by Dr. David Mitchell in Silversmiths in Elizabethan and Stuart London, Woodbridge, 2017, pp. 301-302 suggests that Whorwood was most likely a jeweller and Francis Field is likely to have used this mark. He was trained by James Fearn, a well connected silversmith. White took on two apprentices of his own, in 1646 and 1648.

HAROLD HARMSWORTH, 1ST VISCOUNT ROTHERMERE
Lord Rothermere was a considerable collector of early silver. Much of his collection was dispersed at a major sale, held at Christie’s on 3 December 1941. The sale totaled over £29,000. It was clearly a very personal collection as The Times article, which reported on the auction, commented ‘Connoisseurs have long known of the late Lord Rothermere’s collections of pictures by old masters and his magnificent assemblage of decorative furniture, but few has suspected his love of old English Silver.’ He was not only a great collector or silver for his own account, but also as a major benefactor to the Middle Temple, where he was elected as an Honorary Bencher in 1928. On realising that the Inn had no silver predating 1663, all earlier pieces having been lost to the ‘voracious dragon’ or the Civil War melting pot, he made steps to remedy the situation. Between the years 1931 and 1940 he gave the Middle Temple twenty-three pieces of silver dating from 1557 to 1658. Some pieces came from his own collection, although the majority were bought by him, often at Christie's. It is said he or his driver would arrive at the office of the Middle Temple's Under Treasurer unannounced, with the latest piece wrapped up in one of his own newspapers.

Sir Edward and Lady Rodney memorial. © Homer Sykes / Alamy Stock Photo