Preston, Thomas, High St, Lincoln, u, joiner and cm (1778–93). In 1780 took out insurance cover of £1,000 of which utensils and stock accounted for £800. This would suggest a substantial business by provincial standards and he appears to have regularly supplied furniture to Lord Monson. On 21 January 1779 he received the sum of £44 13s 4d for items supplied from 1 June 1778. Much of this was for upholstery work, carpeting and wallpaper but included was a large sofa at £9 15s. In the year to January 1781 £15 6s was due for work undertaken, being mostly repairs and alterations, but also including a large deal wardrobe at £3 18s and a large marquee at £6 6s. For the following year the total cost was £19 12s 8½ the largest amount being £3 5s for a ‘small portable bedstead for Miss Monson’. Payment for the previous year appears to have been made in January of the each year and were for 1783, £14 2s; 1784, £27 0s 6d; 1785, £18 8s 10d; 1785, £43 14s; 1786, £34 10s; and 1787, £30 17s. In 1793 Preston subscribed to Sheraton's Drawing Book. His name is recorded stencilled on the sackcloth under a chair of late 18th-century date. [D; poll bk; GL, Sun MS vol. 282, p. 410; Lincoln RO, Monson 11/28, 11/50, 10/1/A/6; Antique Collector, February 1956 p. 108] See John and Robert Preston. Probably: