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Way, way too soon.

That thread just reminded me how much I miss Neil.

On a happier note, that look into the apprentice registry turned up an interesting and unrelated tidbit. There was a Samuel Kirkby in the 1760's...

Heh. Yes, yes that would be!

And the later Samuel Kirkby doesn't appear to be the son of the Gales & Martin one, at least from the data in the apprentice registries.

At least in Gales & Martin, Kirkby is explicitly listed as a razor maker. So he did definitely make razors.

However he was using a distinctive mark then:
...

The old directories I've picked up have come through EBay or AbeBooks. Those vary in price a lot based on quality.

Of all the reference works out there, it's by far the best.

Geoffrey sent me a copy in thanks for the contributions I made, but as a result, my copy isn't the most up-to-date.

Here's the most...

That's also a really cool razor. That slight, engraved line on the blade face is one of the "probably earlier" indicators I'm using.

My money is on Samuel. 1815-1825ish.

I suspect the Samuel in Gales & Martin went on to be S & W Kirkby.

I'm not at home at the moment, so I can't check my copy of Tweedale's directory.

Killer find!

1790's, very minimal wear for it's style and age, almost complete scales (just missing that one washer on the pivot). Oughta shave like a champ!

My WOLF razor is one of my...

The only thing we can really do is to keep testing our guesses! Poke'em with sharp sticks at every opportunity!

So much of this stuff requires guessing!

If it weren't for all the archives of...

Very cool!

The top one is more or less the same grind as the Wade I was comparing to Elliots, and the bottom one is a slightly larger version of the William Teal.

Another really curious thing...

Cool! Never seen one from the manufacturer, and I really like that style frameback.

The ones I've got, the dots were painted different colors. I keep intending to get in touch with Doyle to see if...

He was definitely an omnivorous collector, if the funny little dots are to be believed. The Hives I've got came from Robert Doyle who definitely did buy -- and auction off -- a chunk of Lummus'...

Of the razors pictured, only the Hives belonged to him!

(I think I only have two others)

(cont'd)

http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC1274.jpg

A Brittain, Wilkinson & Brownell and a rare Styring & Co.

Jonathan France was primarily a file cutter, but was a...

Maybe some comparisons and definite examples would be useful here. :D

First, a razor from the late 1700's to very early 1800's.
...

It's hard to say, but maybe? It looks like one of the two has a sort of convex tang, which is a style that got less and less common beyond about 1820.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170228/424d9043c20f8c9d0faae26aae17e631.jpg

Top-to-bottom:

Barlow "Magnum Bonum"

George Marsden "Magnum Bonum"

Robert Wade "Ne Plus Ultra"

The 1800-1820 period is especially difficult to pin down.

The blade & scale styles present in the 1816 "Smith's Key" were no doubt around before it's publication and many stuck around long after. ...