Which London firm cast the Liberty Bell in 1752?

Lester and Pack cast the Liberty Bell in London in 1752.

The Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly commissioned the bell from the London firm Lester and Pack. It was delivered to Philadelphia in 1752 for the State House, the building now known as Independence Hall. The bell carries a biblical inscription from Leviticus: “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants Thereof.”

The bell cracked during an early test in Philadelphia. Local founders John Pass and John Stow recast it twice, and their names appear on the bell. The firm that originally made it was later renamed the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which explains why that name is often associated with the Liberty Bell.

The bell’s famous association with independence grew over time. Although tradition links it to the public reading of the Declaration in 1776, no contemporary account proves that it rang on that occasion. Its name became popular in the nineteenth century.