William France, Sr (cabinetmaker)

William France Snr was born in the small agricultural village of Whittington, six miles north of Lancaster, where he was christened on 7 January 1727 the second son of Edward, a yeoman farmer, and Agnes France. His elder brother, John, was christened on 27 March 1725 and was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker in Lancaster where he married Elizabeth Townson the daughter of John Townson, a joiner, in 1747.

William originally trained as an upholsterer, possibly in Lancaster, the same as his brother John. The first written evidence of his career is in 1759 in London, aged 32, when his name appears in the bank account of John Cobb for payments of his salary.Vile and Cobb were, at that time, one of London’s leading cabinetmakers and upholsterers and George, Prince of Wales, was among their customers.

When George II died in 1760, the Prince of Wales succeeded his grandfather as George III. In the same year Vile and Cobb were appointed cabinetmakers and upholsterers to the King. This proved to be a very busy time for the partnership and William France, as the king married Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in 1761 and apartments in St James’s Palace were refurbished for the new queen and work was also required for the Coronation. Then in 1762 the King purchased Buckingham House, now the site of Buckingham Palace, and the house was refurbished as the home of the King and Queen.

In 1764 the partnership between Vile and Cobb was dissolved on Vile’s retirement and although Cobb continued in business on his own account, William France and his colleague, John Bradburn cabinetmaker, took over their business, their premises in Long Acre and their customers, who included the royal family. They were granted the Royal Warrant in July 1764 and although much of the work had been completed to Buckingham House, renamed the Queen’s House, they completed the Saloon and over the coming years supplied furniture and furnishings to the growing royal family. During this period William's older brother John and younger brother Robert both worked for the business, although neither enjoyed the acclaim of their brother William.

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Wikipedia