I believe they are pseudo hallmarks.
James Deakin was an English silversmith and those are not English marks.
I haven't researched American marks with regard to this, so I'm not sure what it is...but I THINK you have American electroplate, late 19th Century dinner forks.
Linda C

I did a litle looking in my books and found a Deakin mark with the lamp in my Noel Turner, under English Electroplate manufacturers. You might check out the following to see their marks for Deakin & Sons.
http://www.silvercollection.it/electroplatesilverD.html
A bit more looking and I found another site
http://www.justinteeantiques.com/catalogue/Flatware/English_Flatware/1003
that shows some flatware similar to yours, but I think what is pictured is the new stuff. Maybe yours is the Fiddle pattern.
Just guessing - Lisa

Good Sleuthing....no question it's James Deaken English silverplated ware producing plated ware between 1871 and 1936.
Now to find a listing of the date letters on English plated ware made in Sheffield.
Linda C

Oh, you gals are good!

Would you know if the same date letters were used on both the platedware and the silverware? Or will there be 2 different sets of date letters?

And are the date letters the date that the piece was struck or would it be the date that the pattern was brought out?

Many thanks for the helping hand.

Ok, this is relatively new for me as my relm of silver knowledge is American florals from 1890-1910. Anyway, what I found was that the date designates when a piece was presented for assay, the testing of its silver content. Your forks have the marks designating 1865. You can check the following link for more info.
http://www.925-1000.com/british_marks.html
The Internet is an amazing research tool! Hope this helps you.
Cheers - Lisa

Don't you just love the British system of marking??
But..those forks are plated ware....they would not have been presented for assay, that was only for sterling or higher grade.
I can't fine a table telling the date letter styles for Sheffiled electroplate. I don't believe they were the same as for sterling.
A quick lesson in Brisish marks. There was a "quality" mark...most often a lion passant, then a city mark which denoted the assay office In addition there was the mark of the maker and the date as well as the town.
So...most British sterling shows 4 marks, town, quality, maker and date.....except for some cases where there are 5 marks..LOL!
I don't know about marks on British electroplate. I wonder if they correspond to the date letters on the British registry merk??
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: More about English plated ware

How confusing, eh? It seems the more I know, the more I realize how much I don't know! LOL

Many thanks to you both LindaC and Lisa.

Guess you could join the 925-1000 forum and see if they can identify the marks on your forks. Another useful forum is found on the SM Publications site.
http://www.smpub.com/