Thomas Cornthwaite

Thomas Cornthwaite - iron-founder, whitesmith and locksmith - had premises in Collin Croft in the later C18.

Curwen

Hadwin’s ironsmith’s shop was once used by Thomas Cornthwaite, and in the Cumberland Pacquet for August 23rd, 1796, I find the following notice of his death: — “ On the 17th inst. at Kendal, aged 56 years, after a long and tedious illness which he bore with Christian fortitude and resignation, Mr. Thomas Cornthwaite iron-founder and whitesmith. Within these few years he obtained two premiums and one medal from the Society of Arts. He also procured a patent for one lock, which was attended with eminent success, and he was the inventor of several brass cased gate locks, acting upon principles entirely new and which are now universally approved of and generally used in most parts of the Kingdom. The Royal Society allowed him to be one of the greatest mechanics in the North of England.” His tombstone in the churchyard says: — “ The fame of this truly ingenious mechanic need not be sounded here, he hath raised to himself a more durable monument in the many useful inventions by which he hath contributed to the good of mankind.” John F Curwen, Kirkbie Kendal (1900) p73</blockquote>