Ctrl K
William Fearn and George Smith III were leading London silversmiths of the Georgian era, renowned for their elegant flatware and table silver. Fearn, the son of a farmer from Sedbury in Derbyshire, was apprenticed to the prominent silversmith Thomas Chawner on 6 October 1762. He gained his freedom in 1770 and entered his first mark as a smallworker in April 1769. Smith III followed a similar path, apprenticed to the same master, Thomas Chawner, in 1765 before registering his initial mark as a spoonmaker in 1774. Both men thus trained in the distinguished Chawner workshop tradition of high-quality London plate. They formed a partnership in 1786, entering a joint mark as plateworkers on 3 November that year, which lasted until around 1792. Fearn had earlier faced bankruptcy in 1777 but rebuilt his career, later collaborating with William Eley; Smith III’s own son, George Smith IV, was apprenticed to Fearn in 1786.