With these tongs, it is much less easy to see that the maker's mark has been over-struck, nevertheless with a close examination it can be seen that all five pairs of tongs are over-struck. It is also the case that one cannot be very certain of the underneath mark. From the overall style of these tongs, they look very like they came from the Bateman workshops and from the date, they would be Hester Bateman. The style of the tongs is that of Hester Bateman's tongs.

Richard Evans is recorded as a Shrewsbury maker, registering a mark on 3rd May as a small-worker. He was admitted to the Company of Mercers, Goldsmiths etc. of Shrewsbury in 1780 and was a Burgess of the town that same year. The only address recorded, (at Birmingham Assay office), is Shrewsbury. A second mark was entered in 1787. There is no mark of "RE" entered in London as far as we know.

All of these tongs are marked "RE" for Richard Evans and have standard London hallmarks for the period 1786 to 1790.

Was Richard Evans another provincial maker or retailer who bought his tongs from Hester Bateman to sell, either in his London retail outlet, (if he had one), or back home in Shrewsbury?