Robert Sharp was apprenticed to Thomas Gladwin February 4, 1747, and free May 4, 1757. His first mark with Daniel Smith (q.v.) was apparently entered in 1763 (the register for those years is missing). It is that mark which appears on the milk jug given to Franklin by Dr. John Fothergill, his friend and associate. The partners are listed as plateworkers in the 1773 Parliamentary Report. For about two years (1778 - 1780), Robert Carter joined the two partners (mark Grimwade 2293). Ambrose Heal records Sharp as a goldsmith alone in 1770 and again in 1789.