G'day GC,
There is a fair bit of information about Thomas Gill II in Richard Dellar's book "The British Cavalry Sword 1788-1912". He was born in 1744 and died in 1801. According to Richard Dellar, the first record of him in business is in a 1767 trade directory where he is listed as a file cutter and tool maker. He submitted swords to the Board of Ordnance in 1779, so was making swords at least as early as this. The first time he appears in a trade directory as a sword maker was 1783.
Here is a photo of the Crown TG mark on a tang. There are probably many more Crown TG marked swords out there, but the stamp is on the tang so we can't see it. I checked my sword and there is no mark visible on the ricasso.
Cheers,
Bryce
|