The first sword cutler we know of in the Bland family is John Highlord Bland, brother of our ancestor Stephen Bland. John was born circa 1732 and died childless in 1791. We don’t know who he apprenticed with or when, but we do know he was sword cutler to King George III, so he must have been good.
Here’s one of my favourite advertising artifacts, property of the British Museum, unfortunately not on display:
Isn’t it elegant? I love it.
If you go to the website of the Royal Collection Trust and search for Bland & Foster swords, you can see some images. Here's a sample of some of their work:
A straight cavalry sword. Brass stirrup hilt with scrolled branches and scalloped shells. Fishskin grip bound with herringbone brass wire. Double-edged steel blade with matted central section. Black leather scabbard tooled with crowned GR monogram and three brass mounts. Provenance: Acquired from Bland and Foster.
Thomas Bland, son of Edward and Frances Bland of Hammersmith and probably a younger brother of John Highlord, also apprenticed to be a sword cutler.
This Indenture Witnesseth that Thomas Bland son of Edward Bland of Hammersmith in the County of Middlesex Clerk of Hammersmith aforesaid doth put himself apprentice to Sanders Davenport Citizen and Cutler of London…
The apprenticeship term is seven years and the fee is only five shillings, which seems very low. The document is dated March 17, 1758. Thomas was born in 1741, which would make him 17 when this apprenticeship began. Unfortunately he died fairly young, at the age of 44.
Here’s the source and some information on what this document signifies.
It would be great if we knew that John Highlord and Thomas worked together, but I don’t think they did. Thomas did not apprentice with John Highlord, and we know that John Highlord had a partner who was not Thomas (his name was Robert Foster).
Stephen Bland was John Highlord Bland's brother. His son James, who was John Highlord Bland’s nephew, apprentices to be a cutler on October 7, 1789 with John Foster, who is to be paid ten pounds for the seven year apprenticeship.
This Indenture Witnesseth that James Bland son of Stephen Bland of Hammersmith in the county of Middlesex Gardener doth put himself apprentice to John Foster Of Fetter Lane London Sword Cutler …
James ultimately leaves sword-making, either before or after his apprenticeship is complete, to become the Hammersmith Sexton after his father’s death in 1810.
We don’t have an apprenticeship record for Edward Bland, but the book London Silver-Hilted Swords, Their Makers, Suppliers and Allied Traders, with Directory by Leslie Southwick (Royal Armouries, 2003) tells us that Edward is another son of Stephen Bland (so would be a brother to James), was apprenticed to Thomas Foster, and later worked in Fetter Lane.
On April 2, 1819, Edward's son Stephen John Highlord Bland enters an apprenticeship with sword cutler Charles Matthews. Stephen John Highlord Bland would be John Highlord’s great-nephew and the third generation of this family to work as a sword cutler.
This Indenture Witnesseth that Stephen John Highlord Bland son of Edward Bland of Cow Cross Street West Smithfield Sword Cutler doth put himself Apprentice to Charles Matthews of Kings Head Court Shoe Lane London Cutler, a Citizen and Goldsmith of London, to learn the art of the Cutler.
Smithfield is in West London and is the site of a very old weekly livestock market which began in the 1100s and ran until Victorian times, thus the name Cow Cross Street where these Blands made their home. There is a history of this area and street on the British History Online website. Curiously, the apprenticeship fee of five pounds is to be paid to Charles Matthews by “the Treasurer of Christ’s Hospital London”, which is apparently not an actual hospital but rather a school and orphanage.
And coming full circle, there is a John Highlord Bland working as a cutler at 2 Charterhouse Street, London, and listed in the 1865 and 1870 London Post Office Directories. He's the son of Stephen John Highlord Bland and his wife Deborah Smithson, and he would represent the fourth generation of sword cutlers in this family.
