[Bell Historians] W & T Mears 1791 bankruptcy ??

[Brian Meldon]

Thanks for the information Chris
This does raze the question of what Thomas Mears actually made the 4th
bell in Canewdon in 1791. It has always been attributed to the first
Thomas Mears but according to your information Thomas Mears 2nd had
taken over in 1790.
I have uploaded to the files section the images of the signatures on
the three Thomas Mears documents that we have, one is on the estimate
from 1791 the second is on a letter requesting payment for the
transportation of the old bell back to London also in 1791 and the
third that is a little different is on a bill for a hand bell in 1793.
Perhaps the signatures can be identified as to what Thomas Mears they
belong to.

The inscription on the bell is as follows:

Thomas Mears, Late Lester Pack & Chapman of London Fecit 1791

Brian Meldon