Hi I am not sure whether Sheffield was a silver hallmarking town/city, but Birmingham certainly is. I think (and am happy to be corrected if I am wrong) that items of silver where sent to certain towns to be hallmarked and it would have been possible for Birmingham to have been used for the Doncaster area. Birmingham is about 2 hours travel (by today standards) from Doncaster. Mind you it is about 35 minutes travel (again by todays standards) from Hull but I am not sure of Hull was a centre for hallmarking.
Yes you are right there was someone making silver bobbins, as well as brass and possibly gold as well, who used to attend the Christmas Fair at Birmingham but I haven't seen him about for a few years. It could have been as long ago as 10 years even. He also used to make gold and silver bobbin necklaces and earrings. I know that I was tempted but either didn't have the money at the time or maybe had already spent up. Anyway I don't have any. He possibly advertised in the Lace Guild mag but I can't remember that. Maureen E Yorks UK - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
