Thread: Calling on the historical experts, I'm stumped! An unassuming mystery razor.

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

So, as cited above, the business ceased trading in 1836 or in the last two months of 1835 and I suppose the dates given by the London Knife Book are the birth/death dates for David. The only thing that worries me is that the Sun Insurance archive for May 1836 shows that the occupant of 401 Strand was David Stodart, but that may be because the insurance did not expire until then?

Curiously, I came across a walking tour of the Strand from 1836 which says the address was occupied by Stodart, cutler. I wonder if David struck some sort of deal with his creditors to sell remaining stocks? I really don't know anything about the mechanisms of failing business in the time and place, so I'm just wildly guessing. It seems clear the shop was occupied past the date he officially ceased trading.

I'm also kind of amused to own another razor from a nearby firm, Nortzell & Sons.

wow, what a read. Sorry I am lazy, but this is the same Farady as in "Farady Cage" the direct lineage to the anti-static bag most electronics come in?

Originally Posted by LameBMX

wow, what a read. Sorry I am lazy, but this is the same Farady as in "Farady Cage" the direct lineage to the anti-static bag most electronics come in?

The very same. And on top of all that, he seems by all accounts to have been a really genuinely good guy.

(Also, the 'farad' as a unit of capacitance is named for Faraday.)

Stoddard, a variation of Stodart is my mothers maiden name.. wonder if my geneology lies with some old razor makers. Would be cool, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for a Stodart

Originally Posted by JordanM

Stoddard, a variation of Stodart is my mothers maiden name.. wonder if my geneology lies with some old razor makers. Would be cool, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for a Stodart

This might be of interest to you then.

Re James Stodart-Voidmaster, I have just returned from Edinburgh & visited the Old Calton Cemetery. The Scottish Records Office at Edinburgh have a record of the inscriptions for James & David. - Jas Stodart Esq FRSL late of Russel Sq London 11-09-1823 age 63 (Note he d... at house of his uncle Rob S Esq of Queen Street);
David S Esq formerly of the island of Tobago died at Portobello 18-08-1831 age 69, wife Dorothy Ligerton 16-04-1844 age 66. The records state David is buried within these tombs in the Old Calton Cemetery, next to Burns 69. James Esq of Russel Sq London from No 52 Queen Street, 64, buried the South side within R Stodart Esq grounds. Robert Stodart buried within the West side of Stodart tomb, it appeared the tomb was at South Leith Church, but we could not find it in the cemetery! So David is buried at the Old Calton Cemetery, James is buried within his uncle Roberts grounds/tomb. The David buried at O-Calton C is not the David from 401 Strand, unless he remarried! So 3 steps forward and several to the side. Phil Stodart.

Originally Posted by Stods713

Re James Stodart-Voidmaster, I have just returned from Edinburgh & visited the Old Calton Cemetery. The Scottish Records Office at Edinburgh have a record of the inscriptions for James & David. - Jas Stodart Esq FRSL late of Russel Sq London 11-09-1823 age 63 (Note he d... at house of his uncle Rob S Esq of Queen Street);
David S Esq formerly of the island of Tobago died at Portobello 18-08-1831 age 69, wife Dorothy Ligerton 16-04-1844 age 66. The records state David is buried within these tombs in the Old Calton Cemetery, next to Burns 69. James Esq of Russel Sq London from No 52 Queen Street, 64, buried the South side within R Stodart Esq grounds. Robert Stodart buried within the West side of Stodart tomb, it appeared the tomb was at South Leith Church, but we could not find it in the cemetery! So David is buried at the Old Calton Cemetery, James is buried within his uncle Roberts grounds/tomb. The David buried at O-Calton C is not the David from 401 Strand, unless he remarried! So 3 steps forward and several to the side. Phil Stodart.

Superb! That doubly verifies what I'd found about James passing away at his uncle Robert's house in Edinburgh, it provides his wife's name (which is a lead I'd been unable to find anywhere) and it provides a new mystery about their son David.

It's possible that David was one of Robert Stodart's children, I guess. Tobago, eh? That will help considerably.

I wonder if this investigation is going to run into this branch of the Stodart family?

Thank you so much for the trip to Edinburgh. I know this is more personal to you, but my curiosity hasn't ebbed since I first discovered what the name on my razor is!

Yes! This was a great thread to read. History is linked to all things and all people and discovering it and learning about it is great. Those razors are beautiful just the way they are.

I got another tiny piece of data for my Stodart razor today -- a late 1700's Bengall Cast Steel.



There are a goodly number of similarities. They have similar 'trigger' type tails, though the Stodart is longer. The tangs and blades are, but for the rounded toe, very similar in design.

Now I'm only guessing, but I am guessing that the Bengall dates to the 1780-1800 range, and I would guess the Stodart is not much newer, which puts it squarely in James' time. I'd love to know when he started stamping the blades with the Sanskrit WOOTZ, but there are lots of things I'd like to know and don't.



Having them both in-hand makes me strongly suspect that the Stodart is late 1700's. You don't get it from the pictures, but they feel like contemporaries, despite the considerably greater wear on the Bengall.



I'm pretty certain the scales on the Bengall are original despite the fact that it's been repaired at the pivot. Certainly the scales are of a similar age to the blade. Believe it or not, they're black horn -- just with 200 years of heavy use.



Unusually, it's a single piece of horn that's been bisected, not two pieces bonded with the pin.



I do wish it still had the decorative washer at the pivot, but I'm happier still to actually have the razor. The pins, by the way, are iron. Even the replacement, which suggests to me that it was fixed a very, very long time ago.

And yes, really. It's horn.

I read in the discussion that these famous razors with the punch in Sanskrit were just the result of experiments of Faraday and Stodart. I think if they did make a punch, it is the purpose of selling them. If I am right, it's good because it has a chance to find other copies