Sir John Hawkwood, (the first English general,) was usually styled Joannes
Acutus, from the sharpness, it is said, of his needle or his sword. Fuller,
the historian, says, he "turned his needle into a sword, and his thimble
into a shield. He was the son of a tanner, and was bound apprentice to a
tailor, and was pressed for a soldier." He served under Edward III., and
was knighted, distinguished himself at the battle of Poictiers, where he
gained the esteem of the Black Prince, and finished his military career in
the pay of the Florentines, in 1394, at his native place, Hedingham, in
Essex. There is a monument to his memory in the parish church.
Sir Ralph Blackwell was his fellow apprentice, knighted for his bravery by
Edward III.; married his master's daughter, and founded Blackwell Hall.
John Speed, the historian, was a Cheshire tailor.
John Stowe, the antiquary, was also a tailor; he was born in London, in
1525, and lived to the age of 80.
Benjamin Robins was the son of a tailor, of Bath; he compiled Lord Anson's
Voyage round the World.
Elliott's regiment of light-horse was chiefly composed of tailors; and the
first man who suggested the idea of abolishing the Slave Trade, was Thomas
Woolman, a quaker, and tailor, of New Jersey. He published many tracts on
this species of traffic, went great distances to consult individuals on
the subject, on which business he came to England, and went to York, where
he caught the small-pox, and died October 7, 1772.