My particular ancestor was William Westwood, Sr, born in Birmingham in 1775. I have a picture of him. He was the first Assay Master for the Birmingham Assay Office, starting in 1852. He was suceeded by his son, William Westwood Jr., in 1863. Upon Westwood Jr's death in 1893, his brother, Henry Westwood took over from 1893-1911. Thenm HIS son, Arthur Edgar Westwood took over the Assay Office from 1911-1951. Arthur was also a historian and wrote a book about the extensive library of metallurgy, kept at the Birrmingham Assay Office. He was suceedeed by his son, Hamil Westwood from 19981 - 1972. Hamil came in under turbulent times -Britain was joining the EU, the type, style and worth of British coinage was about to change forever, and Hamil worried that future coinage would not come up to the high standards the family had maintained for over a century. Hamil actually sued a potato crisps company for copyright infringement, when they unintentionally added the BAO hallmark (an anchor) to their packaging!
