Taunton & Somerset Founders

[David Bryant]

I've been asked by the Taunton Civic Trust to provide details of as many
bell installations in the town as I can for their forthcoming website. I
don't have full details of all (anyone got Wilton, St Andrew or St George
RC?), and I'm writing up the others for them at present. Can anyone tell me
which Thomas Bilbie was casting in Cullompton in 1749 (was it III?), and
whether whether a bell of 1721 is by Thomas Wroth I or II of Wellington.

Also, is the Thomas Pennington who cast two bells for St James in 1626 the
one of Exeter? Was there more than one founder of that name? (i.e. is he I
or II?), and finally, does anyone who has seen it know what the peculiar
emblem on the waist of the 6th at St James is?

Cheers

David

p.s. has anyine come across a reliable source for the 19-3-14 given by Dove
for the tenor at St James? Neither George Massey nor myself found
any source for this, and from its dimensions I doubt if the bell is more
than about 18 cwt.