24 Hours in the Past is a BBC One living history TV series first broadcast in 2015. Six quasi-celebrities were immersed in a recreation of impoverished life in Victorian Britain. Each of the four episodes represented 24 hours living and working in four different occupations – dust yard (filmed at the Black Country Living Museum), coaching inn (the New Inn at Stowe), potteries (the Gladstone Pottery Museum) and the work house (Workhouse Museum in Southwell). You can watch the first episode at the link below – all four episodes are available on YouTube.
Henry Nock died in November, 1804 and listed no legal heirs in his will. He left his stock and business to James Wilkinson, his foreman. The pertinent entry in the will read:
I leave to my foreman, James Wilkinson,
my stock in trade and effects in Ludgate Hill and entreat him to carry on
the business for the benefit of my workmen in my said premises in
Ludgate Hill and I hereby give to Ann, the wife of James Wilkinson
mentioned in my said will, the sum of £100.
While Nock had no legal heirs, it is believed he had essentially adopted Ann and her brother, John, when their father, one of Nock’s workers, died. As Wilkinson frequently identified himself as Nock’s son-in-law most agree that is the case. This theory is credible as on later trade labels James Wilkinson refers to himself as “Successor and Son-in-Law to the Late Mr. Henry Nock.”
A label inside a case for a pair of pistols made after Wilkinson took over the business reads:
James Wilkinson
Gun Maker
To His Majesty
and the Hon East Indian Company
Successor to the late H. Nock
Ludgate Hill
London
James Wilkinson had been foreman and general manager of Nock’s many workshops all over London. He was, however, quite inventive himself and a superior businessman. Wilkinson became Gunmaker-in-Ordinary to the king in 1805. Contracts with the East India Company ensured the success of the business. The name became James Wilkinson & Son around 1818 when James’ son Henry joined.
PAIR OF DOUBLE BARRELED ENGLISH FLINTLOCK COACH PISTOLS BY JAMES WILKINSON, LONDON, CIRCA 1810
Because of the company’s superior work in creating bayonets and swords it eventually became Wilkinson Sword and continued to make fine weapons until 2005. The company survives making razor blades and other products.
Edward James Bond
45 Cornhill
Established 1816
Took over father’s Gunmakers business at 59 Lombard Street up to 1810.
Gunmakers business at 45 Cornhill 1800 to 1816. A family business for several generations.
A 32-Bore Brass-Mounted Flintlock Pistol
1820
With two-stage barrel (light pitting overall), octagonal breech engraved with maker’s address along the top, foliate engraved tang, signed border engraved flat beveled lock lightly decorated with foliage and with stepped tail, engraved safety-catch, semi-rainproof pan and roller, figured full stock with chequered rounded butt, border engraved mounts comprising butt-cap, trigger-guard with pineapple finial and decorated with a Britannia shield and foliage on the bow, vacant brass escutcheon, slotted ramrod-pipes, and original horn-tipped ramrod with iron worm.
Edward London
50 London Wall, 1826-7
51 London Wall, 1828-66
Established 1826
This company appears to have had a fairly long history. There was an Edward London, gun maker of London Wall in 1734, who appeared as a witness in an attempted murder case. In 1838 there is record of Edward London, gun maker of 51 London Wall, insured with the Sun Fire Office. It is not, however, clear when the company went out of business.
Four bore percussion game rifle made by Edward London
Boss & Co. Gunmakers
73 James’s Street
Established 1812
The Boss family originated from Leicestershire and had no roots in gunmaking when William Boss began an apprenticeship in 1773, aged just 15. His commitment to becoming a gunmaker was clear, and he moved away from his family to Birmingham to be closer to his mentor; gun and pistol maker Thomas Ketland.
Excelling at his craft, and already making a name for himself, William Boss then moved to London where the finest guns were being produced. There he could further refine his skills and become a part of the dominating London gun industry.
Soon he found a new mentor: Joseph Manton, a leader in his field and a man who only employed top-rate journeymen which, by this time, William was now known.
Staying with Manton for a number of years, William fathered three sons during his time with the firm, each of whom became an apprentice to their father. Sadly, while teaching his youngest son Thomas the art of gunmaking, William died. At this time, the death of a gunmaking father marked the end of any apprenticeship for his remaining sons. But Manton made an exception for the 19-year-old Thomas and allowed him to continue with the firm as his natural talent for the craft was clear.
Eventually Thomas established a name for himself as a top gunmaker. Working mostly as an outworker, a position that saw him finishing guns for the best-known gunmakers of the time, was something he excelled at.
This way of working continued for many years and the sheer scale of the London gunmaking business at this time meant he was a man in demand. The quality of his workmanship ensured his reputation as a gunmaker of esteem across the city.
In 1812 Thomas placed adverts in newspapers addressed to gentlemen, sportsmen and others, announcing the establishment of Boss & Co. These adverts promoted ‘self-acting safety guns, constructed to remove all apprehension of danger as they cannot be discharged except when held in the shooting position’. These guns were manufactured ‘in a superior style of elegant workmanship’ by Thomas Boss of Edgware Road, London.
At this time Thomas provided home visits to potential customers by day, and at his private home of an evening, but that was soon to change.
As is true of any company wanting to make a name for itself amongst established competition, Thomas Boss knew the importance of image.
A home visit was a great way to start, but the monied gun buyers of London liked the kudos of visiting premises where they could touch and feel the product and see it being made. A move to the West End sent out the right message, and 73 James’s Street became the home of Boss & Co.
As the reputation of Boss & Co grew, so did the number of customers through the door. Soon Thomas Boss sought his own apprentices and journeyman gunmakers, needing up to ten skilled staff and two apprentices. Two of these new employees were nephews of Thomas Boss, men who would go on to play an important role in the future of Boss & Co as it developed.
Boss & Co dueling pistols made for the Great Exhibition in 1851
Charles Lancaster was Joseph Manton’s barrel maker and in 1811 he went on to set up his own shop in Drury Lane, supplying barrels to Manton and the rest of the London Gun Trade and later went on to making complete guns in 1826 at 151 New Bond Street.
Barrels supplied to the trade during this period were marked with CL, now days if you can find an English gun with initials CL on the barrels then they are made by Lancaster even if they have another maker’s name on the top rib.
By 1843 Charles Lancaster had been awarded his first Royal warrant from the Prince Consort and there were many more that followed.
Lancaster died in 1847 and the business was carried on by his son, Charles William and in 1855, a second son Alfred, joined the company, but left in 1859 to set his own business as a gun maker trading as A. Lancaster, Gun & Rifle Manufacturer.
Four-barreled Charles Lancaster gun
James Purdey & Sons
4 Princes Street
314 ½ Oxford Street (1826)
Established 1814
James Purdey was 14 when he was apprenticed to the gunmaker Thomas Keck Hutchinson. The guns of the day were flintlocks and James set his mind to learning every aspect of making them. He forged Damascus barrels out of nails from old horseshoes, heated up, hammered into strips and then beaten around rods. Horseshoes were believed to make the toughest of steels, having been hardened by trampling hooves.
James completed his apprenticeship in 1805. In seven years, he earned a place with Joseph Manton of Oxford Street – England’s greatest gunmaker. Manton had transformed the sporting gun into a thing of exquisite beauty. James Purdey was later to say: ‘but for him we should all have been a parcel of blacksmiths’.
James rose to Head Stocker at Manton’s in three years. In 1808, after learning all that he could, James left to join another famous gunmaker, Forsyth at 10, Piccadilly. Dr Forsyth had invented a new kind of lock, which worked by detonation. James spent the next four years there, as stocker and lock-filer, again learning all he could.
James Purdey founded James Purdey & Sons Limited in London in 1814 on Princes Street in a modest shop off Leicester Square, building single and double flintlock guns, dueling pistols, and rifles.
By 1824 Purdey was being called the finest gunmaker in London. In 1826 the company moved from the Princes Street location to Manton’s former premises in Oxford Street.
The founder’s son, James Purdey the Younger, took over the running of the company from his father in 1858.
One of the costliest pistol ensembles ever made by James Purdey, selling for £101 10s in 1831. They were made for one of the most famous British aristocrats of his era, the fourth Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne. The duke purchased the set for self-defense three months after being assaulted by a mob in the streets of Newark due to his opposition to the Reform Act.
Born in 1784, at the age of 16 John Blanch was apprenticed to London gun maker, Jackson Mortimer. After a short-lived partnership with Mortimer, who at this point had become Blanch’s father-in-law, Blanch established his own business in 1809. He worked mainly for John Manton, but he soon became well established and respected as a gun maker in his own right. Blanch’s respected standing as a businessman and gun maker is evidenced by his rapid advancement through the ranks of the Farriers Company, culminating in 1834 with the prestigious appointment of ‘Master’.
He was an early advocate of the breech loading gun.
In 1826 the business was moved from the premises in Fish Street Hill to 29 Gracechurch Street where it would stay for the next 89 years.
Physical Description
Small steel blade foresight let into 16-pointed star inlay of gold. Two gold breech bands with an engraving of game. Steel screw in vent under nipples, hand hold guard bow, wooden stock, chequered grip and cheek piece. Mounts finely engraved with game and leaf scrolls. Silver monogram plate.
Ezekiel Baker
24 White Chapel Road
Established 1775
Ezekiel Baker was apprenticed to gunsmith Henry Nock and opened his own shop in 1775. He wrote a book about his experiences making and using rifles—Twenty-three Years Practice and Observations with Rifle Guns which was published in 1804. His greatest accomplishment was the design for what became known as the Baker Rifle.
The British Army experimented with rifles after the American Revolutionary War, but found all available rifle designs either too fragile, cumbersome or slow firing to be able to use in a generalized war. On 4 February 1800, a number of leading gun makers were invited to Woolwich to trial their rifle designs by the Board of Ordinance, who were responsible for the procurement of weaponry for the army. Baker’s design was chosen, and he was given an initial order for 800 rifles. That same year the “Experimental Corps of Riflemen” was raised by Colonel Coote Mannington and Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. William Stewart. The corps was manned by volunteer officers and soldiers from a variety of British regiments and militias. It was renamed and normalized into the army under the name the 95th Rifles Regiment of Foot.
By 1810, five British battalions, three of the 95th and two of the 60th Regiments, as well as several light companies of the King’s German Legion were equipped with the Baker rifle. The rifle was renowned for its accuracy and range. It was used throughout the Napoleonic Wars and continued in service until the 1830s.
A .65″ Baker type smooth bore flintlock cavalry carbine, combining elements from the 1803 pattern.
Shooting the War: Frontline Home Movies, is a documentary that uses home movies, both British and German, shot on the front lines to document WWII. Their films captured all aspects of the war, including life on the home front, camp life, battles and the D-Day Landings. Narration and interviews with ex-servicemen and experts put the films into context. Absolutely fascinating stuff. (1 hour)
