Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Exeter, William Cowne
Cloth Seal, Clothier's Seal, Exeter, William Cowne, Image & Found by Niels Henrik Andreasen.
Found at the historic renaissance site "The Citadel" (Kastellet) in central Copenhagen, 22.6mm (39.7mm overall), 16.6g.
Blank (linear indentation) // 20 1/2 (in square border) // X? / W C / EXON in circular border // blank
A four-disc Exeter clothier's seal with the length in yards displayed in the square border standard for this type of seal (only the bottom line is visible on this seal).
From Mike Patrick, "It is Peter Maunder's opinion that the seal dates from the first half of the eighteenth century or possibly even late seventeenth. On consulting his records of the port books for the period 1680-1754 he finds that "WC" is most likely WILLIAM COWNE who traded to Spain, Portugal, Gdansk and Hamburg during the period 1717-1723.
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I have added the following:
A little further research reveals that William Cowne was baptised in Modbury, Devon on 3 Apr 1692, the son of John Cowne and his wife Elizabeth. On 18 Dec 1716 he was married to Hester (or Ester) MALLET at St Peter's Cathedral, Exeter. The marriage settlement, dated the same year, involved property in Modbury & Shepham, Devon with the signatures of the cleric, John Withers of Exeter, and the grocer, John Vowler of Exeter. This confirms William Cowne as a member of the protestant establishment in Exeter. John Withers, who had previously been minister at Modbury had became pastor of the Bow Meeting, Exeter, following the death of John Hopping (8 Mar 1705). John Vowler was a senior presbyterian and father-in-law of the famous cloth merchant, later banker, John Baring.
On 2 April 1718 the register of the Bow Meeting (Presbyterian), noted the baptism of a son, also called William, to "William & Esther Cown". The father's occupation was noted as Fuller. The son was later to seek his fortune in Virginia, America, where he died in 1781.
During the Michaelmas 1723 adjourned Quarter Sessions, Hester Cowne, of the city of Exeter, wife of William Cowne, fuller, signed an "Oath of Loyalty" at the Guildhall, Exeter, before the mayor and his committee.
A later property transaction in Shepham in 1741 confirmed Hester as a widow but the date of her husband's death has not yet been confirmed."