Gimlet, shell gimlet

This carpenter's shell gimlet forms part of a group of tools found in a fine early 19th century tool chest. The wooden handle is marked with the owner's name 'W Gray'. A metal name plate found in one of the drawers of the toolchest carries the name 'William Gray' and the address 'Cavendish Grove, Wandsworth Road' which was close to Vauxhall Bridge. Gray was living in this area in the mid 19th century. He must have worked as a pattern maker, cabinetmaker or carpenter earlier as many of the tools date from the 1820s and 1830s. No record has yet been found of where he lived at this earlier period.