Gentlemen… let me first address the issue of the Cutlers Company - again referring to Tom Girtin and his 'Mark of the Sword' internal history of that organisation:
"It was a many sided business, defined as the making of 'swords, daggers, rapiers, hangers, wood-knives, pen-knives, razors, surgeons' instruments, skeynes, hilts, pommels, battle-axes, halberds, etc…' – but it was not so straightforward as that. Bladesmiths made the blades, hafters the handles, sheathers the sheaths or scabbards. It was the trade of the cutlers to put the various parts together and to sell them."
Of course there were also gold and silversmiths involved, plus furbours. But of them all it was the bladesmiths that were the most important; they were a separate mistery from the Cutlers and long remained so.
Henry VIII was almost exclusively interested in the Greenwich armour output. It appears we are right Triari, and Greenwich wasn't noted for its swordblade output – but 'London' was!
The Cutlers Co. desperately tried to prevent Huguenots from taking jobs from the city's local bladesmiths but didn't succeed. They failed to achieve "enter, search and seize" powers numerous times, so we can find a lot of unknown foreign smiths' products often lost in the general scheme of things. I am certain many members will be aware of odd names attended by 'London' kicking around.
Unfortunately for the Cutlers Co. they had nowhere near the amount of power and influence they would have liked but that wasn't why the Hounslow location was chosen.
Benjamin Stone is a perfect example of this who, despite the Cutlers Company's attempts to control him, simply sidestepped them and dealt directly with the Crown as he was supplying complete swords, scabbards and belts in the thousands from his workers in Hounslow a lot cheaper than the Cutlers Co. who were paying through the nose for imported blades a lot of the time.
The entire issue of controlling German imports was to protect the 'English' locals, but Stone constantly admonished the Cutlers Co. for using substandard Birmingham blades, with fake markings, when he had thousands of pounds invested in all the complete swords and accesories the Tower could want. It wasn't an accident that he followed the King to Oxford taking most of his German contractors with him.
The hilarious issue of the Germans teaching the English the secrets of the trade began with Greenwich and was used many times to give weight to the importing of Germans - forever after. The exodus of German workers from Solingen was not a local crime; revealing their secrets was!
Jim! Re. LA:
I lived in Topanga Canyon; my sister in Yorba Linda; it would take me an hour and a half to drive home from Sunday dinner back in the 'eighties, when traffic was minimal; yet it was all known generally as Los Angeles. You are so right there. You were in Orange County right? You will appreciate what I am saying, but Hounslow, while spitting distance from Windsor Castle, was only part of London to outsiders. If you've ever driven back and forth from Heathrow airport you will appreciate that as well.
You raise another important issue Jim when you talk about Koln: Solingen was, for centuries, referred to as Prussia, but it was actually part of The Holy Roman Empire and a Catholic city – and still is – yet strangely enough welcomed 30,000 Huguenots on the run from the French kings' relentless persecution.
Thought I'd better keep it brief as well!