Mr Ferdinand Charles Meurant b. 1765

  • Designer (Jewellery Designer)
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Meurant was born in France and was trained as a jeweler, silversmith and watchmaker. During the French Revolution of 1789 he escaped to Belgium. He travelled from there to Dublin, Ireland. He then used his skills to forge bank notes and was tried at Kilmainham, Dublin, Ireland in 1798. He was convicted, along with the Irish seal engraver, John Austin, of forging bank notes. He was sentenced to life and ordered to be transported to Australia.

Ferdinand Meurant is reputed to be one of the first two working jewelers in Australia (alongside W. Moreton in Sydney, Australia). A snuffbox made from gold and turbo shell, the making of which is attributed to Ferdinand, was acquired by the Powerhouse Museum in 1987. It was commissioned by Walter Stevenson Davidson, a merchant of London, England and early landowner and banker in New South Wales, Australia as a gift for his father Reverend Patrick Davidson in Scotland. The box is inscribed “Walter Stevenson to his honoured father, N.S. Wales 1808”.

Writers:

Rose
Date written:
2021
Last updated:
2021