Samuel & Henry Foskett - Thimbleselect Catalogue

Learn more about Samuel Foskett
and Henry Foskett
silver thimbles

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The Fosketts were London-based thimble makers in Victorian England.
Von Hoelle mentions them as "English silversmiths known to have made thimbles in London 1865-1912".

Henry Foskett

Henry Foskett was born in Iver, Buckinghamshire and baptised in April 1812. He was the son of Samuel and Mary Foskett. He married Eliza Ellen. He lived at 32 Great Sutton Street, Clerkenwell in London 1871 with his wife and nephew, Samuel (see below). He still lived there in 1881 and died in December 1885.

In 1862 Henry began working with existing thimble makers (Thomas Hastings) who had been thimble makers since the early 1820s. They were based at 31 Great Sutton Street in Clerkenwell, London.

Henry Foskett registered his mark with the London assay office on 2 April 1864, with his entry listed as "small worker". Henry's maker's mark is H F within a rectangle.

HENRY FOSKETT

There is a lot of confusion with the later silversmiths Henry Fowler and Henry Fidkin. Fowler's mark is in two conjoined lozenges. Fidkin's maker's mark is within a diamond-shaped lozenge. Henry Foskett's thimbles were only assayed at the London Assay Office, which is different from the other two HF thimble makers.

HENRY FOWLER
HENRY FIDKIN

[1879]
[1881]

Samuel Foskett

Samuel Foskett was born in Limehouse, London, in 1848, the son of John Foskett [Henry's brother] and Sarah Scott. He married Elizabeth in 1871. In 1881 he lived with his family, including his three children, at 45 Essex Street, Islington. He still resided there in 1901. His eldest son, Samuel William Foskett, was a silversmith and his second son, Henry James Foskett, following in his father's footsteps, was a thimble maker.

Samuel Foskett succeeded his uncle Henry in the business in 1886 and he registered his mark in September of that year at the London assay office. Samuel has a Registered design RD265923 for a thimble design, which he registered on 19 November 1895. Samuel Foskett & Co were last listed as thimble makers in 1909.

The more examples of Samuel Foskett thimbles that turn up for this page, the more I am aware of the wide range of designs and styles he used - Samuel Foskett used the popular blackberry design for some of his thimbles. He was a London silversmith, and this design is usually associated with the Birmingham silversmiths. There are several examples of his fingerguards, which are usually unmarked/unhallmarked. A very recent find is his Windsor Castle design. Victorian silversmiths had been using Windsor Castle as a theme since the 1840s and this is a rare find - to find a hallmarked example. This makes a collection of the entire range of his output a wonderful niche collection!!

SAMUEL FOSKETT

Samuel was also involved in the Trueform finger-shaped thimble that was patented by Horace Bourne in 1904. The patent number is 19157. Thimbles with this number bear Samuel's maker's marks for 1905-1906. Each thimble shown has a different pattern.
This venture was not successful and they were not made after these dates.

Trueform Thimble box Bourne Patent

[1905]
[1905 / 1906]
[1905 blackberry]
[1906]
[1906]

The more one studies the patterns used by Samuel Foskett, the clearer the picture becomes. There are a limited number of patterns he used - large roses, diamonds-within-diamond patterns, very large distinctive daisies etc. He seems to have more decorated rims than most other silver makers. I have grouped similar patterns so that this may be more evident.

Decorative bands

[---- Osborne House]
[1892]
[1893]
[1893]
[1893 with panels]

[1893 fingerguard]
[1893]
[1894 Windsor Castle]
[1896 with 'Elsie' engraved]
[1897]

[1897 with 'Dorothy' engraved]
[1898]
[1898]
[1899]
[1899]

[1900]
[1901 / 1903]
[1901 green stone apex]
[1902]
[1902]

[1902 blackberry]

Decorative double bands

[1893]
[1894]
[1894]
[1897]

Plainly indented

[1892]
[1894]
[1897]
[1897/1901/1907]
[1900]

[1892 fingerguard]

All over patterning

[1892]
[1892]
[1893]
[1895]

[1895]
[registered in 1895 = Rd 265923]
[1896]
[1897]

[1897]
[1899//1900]
[1901 blackberry]
[1905]

[1905]
[1906]
[1907]

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DO YOU KNOW ANY MORE DETAILS ABOUT SAMUEL & HENRY FOSKETT?
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER SAMUEL & HENRY FOSKETT THIMBLES NOT MENTIONED?
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER SAMUEL & HENRY FOSKETT THIMBLES NOT PICTURED?
EMAIL thimbleselect@bigpond.com TO SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE.

References
Edwin F Holmes Thimble Notes and Queries spring 1991
Gay Ann Rogers An illustrated history of needlework tools 1983
Norma Spicer // Diane Pelham Burn British registered design thimbles 2003
Thimble Society catalogues

Contributors

Cliff Barber; Sue Burt; Sue Christensen; Maureen Gray; William Isbister; Ray Nimmo
Sandra J Smith (nee Foskett) [for the genealogical information]

This listing of Samuel & Henry Foskett thimbles does not purport to be complete or accurate in all aspects. Rather it invites comment and contribution to add to our knowledge. My thanks to the other contributors.

Enjoy!

Any questions or comments?
thimbleselect@bigpond.com

Last updated 7 August 2008

[---- Osborne House]	[1892]	[1893]	[1893]	[1893 with panels]
[1893 fingerguard]	[1893]	[1894 Windsor Castle]	[1896 with 'Elsie' engraved]	[1897]
[1897 with 'Dorothy' engraved]	[1898]	[1898]	[1899]	[1899]
[1900]	[1901 / 1903]	[1901 green stone apex]	[1902]	[1902]