Joseph Lucas, the Whaler

There are several connections to the obscure trade of tinplateworking through Joseph Lucas the Whaler (1739-1807). I have always wondered how on earth he came to be connected with this trade. It is a roundabout link and I’ll explain the possibilities as I see them now.

From the Apprenticeship Records of the Tinplateworkers’ Company I found that Joseph Lucas was apprenticed to John Miers on the 11th July 1754. He would have been 15 years old at the time. John Miers was one of the richest and most influential people in the tinplate trade in London, so one has to wonder how this arrangement came to be made. The Miers family originally came from Wales where they owned tin mines and manufacturing plants.

Other Names

William Wrathall

William Wrathall was apprencticed to Joseph Lucas 10 May 1766. His widow was a beneficiary in the will of Joseph Lucas in 1807. Didn’t find an entry for him in the indexed wills in Documents Online, so I’m not sure when he died other than it was before 1807.

John Fowler

John Fowler was a tinplate worker and oilman, originally apprenticed to Joseph Lucas on 9 August 1779. This one is interesting for a couple of reasons. In his will, Joseph Lucas he leaves 78 Long Acre, the shop and premises, to his nephew William Lucas, “in the occupation of the Widow Fowler”.

John Fowler is a bit of a mystery man though. His name appears on a trade token issued in 1794 and occasionally seen for sale on eBay. Strange for a few reasons. One is that as far as I can tell no other oilman or tinplate worker issued trade tokens around that time, and also because it is difficult to find reference to John Fowler in any of the trade directories of London at that time. So another mystery to sort out. There is a will indexed in Documents Online for a John Fowler, Tin Plate Worker of Saint Martin in the Fields , Middlesex, proved 24 Jan 1804, which is likely him but I haven’t ordered it yet.

Thomas Beck (1707-1788)

Thomas Beck was a Quaker like the so many of the Lucas family, however they came from south of London, and I’m not sure how Joseph Lucas made the connection but I suspect it would have been through through the Society of Friends. Thomas Beck was apprenticed in 1722 to Nathaniel Miers, another member of the Miers family from Wales. But there is a bit of a problem with the dates however, as the connection between the Lucas Family and the Beck Family wasn’t until 100 years later in 1822 when Thomas Beck’s grandson Richard Low Beck married Rachel Lucas. Working backwards there was no obvious connection that Joseph Lucas began his apprenticeship in 1754. Thomas Beck was considerably older than Joseph Lucas as well. Possibly he travelled to the Hitchin Monthly Meeting and met the Lucas family there and the apprencticeship was arranged that way.