The Adam Park Project

Item Information:

Catalogue Number: 07/02/010, 07/03/014, 07/03/015 Source: TAPP Archaeology Surveys Location: No7 Adam Park Report No: Report No.15 Artifact Type: Button Production Date: 2013-11-01 00:00:00 Dimensions of Item: 17.5mm dia Copyright with The Adam Park Project

Other Description:

Three buttons were found on site. All three were military and were found within a metre of each other at around the 17.0m mark of T1 and T2. Each button was annotated with the word ‘London’ on the reverse as well as another word, most likely the name of the manufacturer of which the letter ‘FIR’ and possibly ‘MJ N’ could be made out

Historic Context:

A collection of similar military buttons in one location may suggest they came off the same item of clothing Firmin & Sons was established in 1655 and an early note of the company name came with the reference to Thomas Firmin, the button maker; in the "List of Names of Merchants in London" for the year 1677. The company was known to have been established in 1655 from records in the accounts of the Girdlers Company (belt makers) that survived the Great Fire of London 1666. By 1754, the Company's ledgers and order books recorded purchases by King George II and various other members of the British Royal Family. The first known Royal Warrant as a button maker was granted by King George III in 1796. Thereafter Firmin has held Warrants for every successive British Sovereign to the present day.