Thomas Early

Son of Richard Early (c.1630-1700) Thomas was apprenticed at 14 years of age to a Mr Silman, a Witney blanket maker and fellow Quaker. Silman's house and loom shops were situated down a narrow passage leading off Bridge Street. He left this business to Thomas who appears to have made a success of running it. There is a story that relates how Thomas at (at the age of only 33) was chosen to take part in the presentation of a pair of gold-fringed blankets to King James II when he visited the district in 1688.

Later in his life Thomas was helpful in securing the endowment of a Blue Coat School in Witney, which was mainly for the education of boys whose families worked in the cloth industry. In 1705 he was elected to be one of the two bailiffs or Chief Citizens of Witney and he was also to become the first elected Master of the Company of Blanket Makers.