John Smith II

John Smith II worked at the The Archimedes in Ludgate Street from 1716 to 1730. At some time he was at the Archimedes & Three Golden Prospects (probably the same shop with a refreshed name). He was the son of a bricklayer, and apprenticed to the best optical instrument maker, John Marshall, whom he later succeeded, gaining a Royal Appointment and marrying Marshall’s daughter. He was in Turners’ company, an appropriate company for a man turning wood for the tubes of Prospects’s telescopes.

Reference:
Clifton, G., 1994.  Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550 – 1851. Philip Wilson Publishers. ISBN 10: 0302006346