The Adam Park Project

Item Information:

Catalogue Number: 09/01/013, 09/02/008, 09/03/008 Source: TAPP Archaeology Surveys Location: No9 Adam Park Report No: Report No.16 Artifact Type: Buttons Production Date: 2013-01-16 00:00:00 Dimensions of Item: 17mm dia Copyright with The Adam Park Project

Other Description:

Three buttons were found on site. All three were military and were found Area 1. Two of the three buttons were annotated with the word ‘London’ on the reverse. Item 9/3/8 was also stamped with the word ‘FIRMIN’.

Historic Context:

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. These particular buttons have most likely come off a khaki drill shirt. It has been noted that brass shirt buttons are notorious for being lost as the sharp brass edge tended to cut through the yarn allowing the button to fall away. This would often happen as webbing kit and equipment was removed.