The next season of The Curse of Oak Island is drawing near and I look forward to watching new episodes on Tuesday nights.One of the items that was found late in the season was a lead seal that would have been used as a bag seal.
The seal has letters and symbols which could provide more information about where it came from and when it was used.
I started doing some of my own research and this find could prove very significant. There was a lot of discussion about the seal on the internet. I did find a website about Jamestown that had a very similar seal, but not much was said about it.
A comment by David on my post last year helped focus my search.
The cloth seal found is probably english ca. 1638-1714. The 4 atop a cross means it is undyed cloth produced by a cloth makers guild.It is not woad or wool. The initials on the front tell which guild, On the back there should be initials of the weavers scratched on the material.This is NOT from the London guild which had a different symbol. I would guess it was a guild somewhere in southwest England. Please post the photo of the seal on this website.
With further research I found that the seal is probably from Norwich, England, and that it would be pre-1705 as that is when they discontinued using seals there. The books of the Weaving Guild were also destroyed at that time.
Source: A Comprehensive History of Norwich by A. D. Bayne
I also found it interesting that there was a mercer, or cloth merchant, in Norwich by the name of Stephen Legge.
Thomas Legge, the son of Stephen, went to Cambridge University where he was a well known playwright. One of his works, that went missing, was The Destruction of Jerusalem.
Perhaps Thomas Legge had hidden knowledge about Jerusalem from the religious refugees from France and the low countries that had immigrated to Norwich.
Tonight I am watching a preview episode of the show that is talking about the top ten Templar finds. Could there be a connection between the refugees in Norwich and the Templars?
Another interesting thing that I found was that the Legge family has immigrated to several places around the world, but they mainly settled in the Maritime provinces of Canada very early on.
Did the Legge family have information about Oak Island? Is that why they moved near Oak Island?
Of course we know that a Legge family member is associated with the show as blacksmith Carmen Legge often gives additional information about items that are found on the show.
This season may be very exciting based on some of the things they have already talked about doing during the next season. They have also had a long off season to do more research.
It will be interesting to see the first show of the season to find out what direction the research has taken them? Will we find out more about the lead seal?
Steven
p.s. Just some thoughts. I know much more about the Legge family from what research I have done and there are connections to Shakespeare as well. 🙂
Pingback: Oak Island Lead Seal | Braman's Wanderings
Pingback: Back to Oak Island | Braman's Wanderings
Pingback: Gold at Oak Island? | Braman's Wanderings
Pingback: Bringing in the Big Gear on Oak Island | Braman's Wanderings
Pingback: Oscillating on Oak Island | Braman's Wanderings