The first reference to goldsmiths in Newcastle appears in the Pipe Rolls of 1185/86 and appointments were made to the post of assayers of money at the Newcastle mint in 1249.
In the 14th century five Newcastle goldsmiths/silversmiths combined with local pewterers, plumbers, glaziers and painters to form a craft guild, receiving their company charter in 1536.
By the end of the 17th century there were thirteen goldsmiths, the best known being Francis Batty, who later became the first Assay Master after an Act of Parliament in 1702 established the Newcastle Assay Office. Local goldsmiths and silversmiths had to register their private marks with the office and all items of silver had to be assayed and marked with the three castles of the town arms.
After his apprenticeship to Francis Batty concluded in 1726, Isaac Cookson spent time in London. Legend has it that he worked for the great Huguenot silversmith, Paul de Lamerie, but it is almost certain that he did spend time with the celebrated English craftsman George Wickes, one of the founders of the dynasty which became Garrard &Co. They have been Crown Jewellers since 1831.
Cookson subsequently established himself as the leading craftsman in Newcastle, taking over Francis Batty’s shop, The Gold Ring in The Side. Two of his apprentices were John Langlands and John Goodrick,. who took over the business when Cookson died in 1757. With the vogue from 1770 for engraved and bright cut silver, Langlands became a major customer of the Beilby/ Bewick (qq.v.) workshop.
In 1773, Matthew Prior, the Assay Master, was summoned to London to represent the provinces in giving evidence in the House of Commons. He stated that his scales were remarkably true. "What would cast(test) them?" His shrewd answer was "Why Sir, they would be cast (tested) by one of the hairs on the back of my hand!"
The committee concluded that the Assay Office at Newcastle upon Tyne had been conducted with fidelity and skill. The local goldsmiths showed their gratitude to Prior by paying, not only his expenses, but an extra five guineas ‘for his trouble in going to London on ye Assay Office Business.’
The Company's most precious record is a circular copper plate on which the marks were impressed of those who were entitled to have their gold and silverware assayed at Newcastle upon Tyne. The plate, containing 296 marks emanating in concentric circles from the centre, is held in the Laing Art Gallery.
In 1840 the electroplating process was patented by Elkington, and the development of the railways meant that articles manufactured in the major craft cities of London, Birmingham and Sheffield became easily available all over the country. From 1850 onwards the quantity of silver assayed at the Newcastle office steadily declined - a significant factor being the retirement, in 1866, of John Walton, who had been the principal user of the Newcastle office. By this date Reid & Sons and Lister & Sons were the principal retailers in town, but much of what they sold was brought in from the national manufacturing centres. The Newcastle Assay Office eventually closed in 1884. Newcastle silversmiths had made a notable contribution to the cultural heritage of the city and Newcastle silver is nowadays highly sought-after.