Sawbridge, George (c. 1621-1681), bookseller

Sawbridge was born in Hilmorton, near Rugby. He served his apprenticeship to bookseller Edward Brewster 1638-1645, and shortly after attaining the freedom, married his master’s daughter, Hannah. On the death of Edward Brewster, Sawbridge succeeded him as Treasurer of the English Stock (1647). He was made a partner in the King’s Printing House after the Restoration. Sawbridge built immense wealth through investing in both the King’s Printing House and Company Stock and his estate was worth over £10,000 at the time of his death. His tenure as Treasurer was blighted slightly by a scandal involving the Cambridge printing house. In 1668, Sawbridge acted as executor for the resident printer at Cambridge, John Field’s, will, and disguised the fact he had bought Field’s printing materials and leasehold of the Cambridge printing house. He could not succeed to the Cambridge printing house and retain the Treasurership and so arranged for the printer John Hayes to manage the Cambridge printing house. His secret was not discovered until 1679, resulting in stricter auditing of accounts. Even then, it was not until 1690 that the University Printer became an English Stock employee rather than a Sawbridge servant.

Birth: Hilmorton, Warwickshire

Treasurer to English Stock (1647-1681); Master of Company (1675-6)

Hannah Brewster (wife)

International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3

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Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Cyprian Blagden, The Stationers’ Company: A History, 1403-1959 (Stanford: Stanford University press, 1960)
Giles Mandelbrote, ‘From the warehouse to the counting house’ in A Genius for Letters eds. Robin Myers and Michael Harris (London: St. Paul’s Bibliographies, 1995), 49-84