ABSTRACT

George Adams senior, the first member of the family to become a mathematical instrument maker, was born in London in the spring of 1709, in the middle of Queen Anne's reign. About the end of April 1732, George's mother Mary Adams died, and was buried in St Bride's churchyard. George, who was then aged twenty-three, became the ratepayer at the family's Shoe Lane home. On 10 October 1733 George Adams, then aged twenty-four, was granted his freedom and became a fully-qualified member of the Grocers' Company, ready to take his place, as an employer if need be, in the commercial instrument-making world. The premises remained in the occupation of the Adams family until the mid-1740s, but there is no indication that George attempted to run an instrument-making business from there: most probably he continued to work as a journeyman for Thomas Heath in the Strand until he felt sufficiently confident to set up as an instrument maker on his own.