Thread: A Warburton with a mystery

I've had this one for a while, and it shaves brilliantly, but I want to know more about its history. Here it is:




It's stamped with LISBON, which is a known stamp of Thomas Warburton:



But it's not quite the same stamp:



And upon further investigation, there is a very faint etching along the spine that reads:

'Wm. Warburton's best German Steel'

You can sort of make out 'Wm' here:



I'm assuming German Steel refers to a type of blister steel that Germany was a large exporter of at the time, but I can't find much on William Warburton or his use of the Lisbon stamp. I'm assuming this razor predates Thomas (I could be wrong, but it just looks very early compared to the time (or after) Gales and Martin was published, and I can't imagine a William and a Thomas Warburton using the same mark at the same time). So, Martin or Neil - can you dig up anything?

And also, for reference, this is from Perret's 1771 book for reference:



The Warburton has that characteristic dip in the spine near the toe, as well as the extended tail, as seen in the razor on the bottom right.

After beating my head against Leader's history, Gales & Martin and the baptism records of Sheffield, I've finally solved it. It's really very simple.

Thomas Warburton was indeed the owner of the Lisbon mark, he was granted his freedom in 1775. But that's a different mark from the one on the razor. Thomas Warburton's mark was a cross with the word Lisbon beneath it. Thomas' father apprenticed him, and his father was named William.

William Warburton completed his apprenticeship with James Fox in 1748.

William Warburton, father of William Warburton was Master Cutler from 1727 to 1730.

The major problem with figuring this out was that the entry for Thomas Warburton is more than a little arcane, as you can see for yourself here.

I think all that means your razor was made before 1775.