ABSTRACT
At the time of his father's death George Adams junior was aged twenty-two and had served a little more than the seven years required to complete his apprenticeship, commenced on 1765, but had not applied for his freedom. As it was vital, for the maintenance of his unmarried sisters and younger brother Dudley, that the business should continue without a break, his mother Ann lost no time in applying for probate of his father's will, which was granted on the same day as the funeral, 1772. At the time the will was signed, in 1772, George Adams's eldest son was still an apprentice, and all his other surviving children of his second marriage were minors. In 1777, just before recapturing the Ordnance business lost on his father's death, George junior had taken two apprentices, despite already having one who was then in his fourth or fifth year.
