Who was C.S. Barfoot? C for Charles and S for Smith, makes Charles Smith Barfoot (1778-1843).

According to the Langwill Index, he was a music seller – well that’s exactly how he describes himself in his will. However, with a bit more digging, we discover that Charles Smith Barfoot was also a ‘Music Master’ or teacher who lived at White Cliff, Mill Street in Blandford.  Blandford or Blandford Forum is a picturesque market town by the river Stour, in the county of Dorset, England. It seems that Charles Smith never married and when he died, he left a lump sum of money to two dressmaker sisters (Mary Ann and Sarah Elkins). Then his three brothers and one sister inherited the rest. We can therefore assume that he didn’t actually make instruments… So, who did?

It could have been any of the London makers of that time. We know there is a clarinet in the Edinburgh University Collection with C.S. Barfoot stamps and a W. MILHOUSE / LONDON stamp too. In the Royal College of Music collection, there is another clarinet, but this has a unicorn stamp… Astor, Bilton, Cramer, Gerock, Key, Miller, Henry Potter and Wolf also used the unicorn stamp on their instruments.