The mystery sword-maker

WHO was the mystery sword-maker TS?

“A picture of him can be built up using contextual evidence,” says historian Jamie Harris. “Being a supporter of Charles, it would make sense that he was Catholic, a point reinforced by his flight to Portugal, which had strong Catholic ties.

“Being a manufacturer, he was a person with some wealth and was probably a middle class merchant. This idea is reiterated by Digbeth’s status in the 18th century.

“In these years, it was perhaps the most affluent area of Birmingham with Georgian buildings, lush gardens and even a moated manor house.

“TS of Digbeth’s age is a debatable point. He needed to be strong to manufacture the swords and to then hide them. It would make sense that he was perhaps born sometime between 1700 and 1715.

“This would have made him between 30 and 45 during the 1745 rebellion. His lack of a physical connection to the Glorious Revolution makes it likely that his parents, almost certainly Catholics, brought him up as a Jacobite.”

The lost weaponry is of great historical importance, but does the deadly collection pass the tests to be branded true treasure?

For most, buried treasure is gold coins and jewellery, but this is not always the case.

The word treasure is defined in UK law under the Treasure Act of 1996. Under section one of the law, it can refer to “any object at least 200 years old when found which belongs to a class designated under section 2(1)”.

“The Secretary of State may by order designate any class of object which he considers to be of outstanding historical, archaeological or cultural importance.”

The hidden Jacobite weapons, unused and possibly in a good condition, would fall under this definition.