John Rigby & Co.. Gunmakers Ltd.. London.

John Rigby & Co.. 

Gunmakers Ltd..

London

           Refer to the attached links for overview of the present company trading in London today.
                           
                              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rigby_%26_Company.
                                              
                                               https://www.johnrigbyandco.com/

                      Please refer to our earlier blogs related to the history of this company.

                                             Dave Stroud ramrodantiques.co.uk

1855 Dublin Trades Directory.

1855 

Dublin Trades Directory

    We are always interested in material related to any of the above gunsmiths/gunpowder merchants.

                                                   Dave Stroud. ramrodantiques.co.uk

Wm Cole, Gunmaker, Belfast.

William Cole

Gunmaker

Belfast

 

      Birmingham proofed, round barrel with top flat, percussion pocket pistol by William Cole.

                     Back-action lock, bun-nut to dolphin hammer and platinum vent plug

           Please refer to our earlier blogs regarding this gunmaker dated 3/11/2016 & 20/10/2015.

              We are always interested in any weapons produced or retailed by Irish gunmakers

Dave Stroud. ramrodantiques.co.uk

 

Kings County's unique registering system. 1843 Act.

        A superb Englist O/U flintlock pistol, with full rainproof pans by Smith of London.
            The case hardening evident on the barrels. Combined frizzen and mainspring.  

Kings County's (K-S) unique branding detailing the fact that this weapon was one of at least seven weapons held on licence K-S 1010.

                                   Please refer to our earlier blog dated 21/4/2016

                       Photography courtesy of Morphy Auctions, Pennsylvania, U.S.A..
                              Links attached: http://www.morphyauctions.com/auctions/

                                               Dave Stroud. ramrodantiques.co.

Thomas Donough. Gun Furnishing Warehouse.

 

Thomas Donough

Gun Furnishing Warehouse

2 Essex Quay

Dublin.

This company appears in the Pigot's Dublin trades  directories for the years 1831 & 1832 therefore we can assume they commenced  in 1830. The address of 2,Essex Quay is the earlier trading address for Michael Murphy, Gunmaker/Inventor c.1824. Please refer to our blog of 24/12/2016.

The goods on offer from this company are not fully documented but were possibly foundry related items? viz; brass and steel castings.

This company was yet another short lived venture which seems to typify the Dublin guntrade during this period as it slowly entered terminal decline.

We are always interested in any material related to the early Irish guntrade.  

Dave Stroud. ramrodantiques.co.uk

 

 

George Whitfield. Gunmaker. Belfast & Sydney

 

George Whitfield

Gunsmith & Taxidermist

Sydney

 

+George Whitfield, early Sydney gunsmith and taxidermist : autograph letter, signed, dated 1840

WHITFIELD George (1808-1864)

# 14023
Entire letter addressed to Robert J. Pennent Esqr., Belfast, Ireland, cancelled with oval PAID SHIP LETTER SYDNEY OC 9 1840 in red, and straight-line SHIP LETTER in black; arrival marking BELFAST FE 17 1841; manuscript in ink written in a neat hand on 3 sides of one folded folio sheet of gilt-edged writing paper; address panel on the outer side; original folds; clean and legible.
George Whitfiled, a native of Belfast, arrived in Sydney early in 1834. A skilful gunsmith, he first went into partnership with the gunmaker John Samuel Lambard, but by 1839 had opened his own business, G. Whitfield's Gun Manufactory and Repository of Stuffed Birds. Whitfield soon became the largest firearms dealer in the colony; his shop was illustrated in Fowles' Sydney in 1848, and he supplied the guns for Edmund Kennedy's ill-fated Cape York expedition. An account of Whitfield's remarkable life and career in Sydney, which ended with his being shot by a disgruntled employee, may be read in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
George Whitfield's letter was carried on the ship William Wise, which sailed from Sydney on October 11 1840 and arrived at Gravesend on February 13 1841; the letter was delivered in Belfast a mere four days later. He writes to Robert Pennent concerning his own nephew, William John Whitfield, for whom he is arranging a passage on a ship to Sydney. Whitfield has paid £30 to Messrs. Martin and McDowell, which he hopes will enable his nephew to 'come here in respectable stile'. Whitfield continues with news about his own business in Sydney:
'I flatter myself that it will give you pleasure to know that my circumstances are daily improving, so as to exceed my most sanguine expectations, and I am at present Master of the Principal Gun Establishment and Bird Preservatory in N.S. Wales, and from this circumstance I pledge myself that from the arrival of William John Whitfield in this Colony it shall be my most anxious endeavour to make him fit as a Mechanic for that Society in which it will be his priviledge to move, without aspiring to any thing beyond an upright Mechanic, which was his poor Mother's last request of me when dying.'
Whitfield then gives Pennent instructions regarding a sum of money he has deposited into a Belfast bank account which is intended 'for the sole benefit of the boy' and is not to be drawn until 'he, William John Whitfield is of age (should it please Almighty God to spare him)'.
William John Whitfield (1823 - ?) did indeed help fulfil his mother's dying wish. He came to Sydney in the early 1840s and worked in his uncle's business for over two decades. With George's murder in 1864 he took over the business and ran it until 1866. William also inherited George Whitfield's personal estate.

$ 1,350.00 AUD


This letter should be read in conjuction with our blog of 23/9/2015.

The above item kindly forwarded by Douglas Stewart Fine Books Pty Ltd..
Photographs of the document are available via the attached links.
Our sincere thanks to Doug Stewart.

DOUGLAS STEWART FINE BOOKS Pty Ltd

720 High Street
Armadale
Victoria 3143
Australia

Opening Hours:

Monday – Friday 10am – 6pm
Saturday 11am - 4pm

Telephone: +61 (0) 3 9066 0200

[info@DouglasStewart.com.au]info@DouglasStewart.com.a
www.DouglasStewart.com.au


In addition, we would like to thank Mr Leslie Martin for bringing this item to our attention.

                                            Dave Stroud. ramrodantiques.co.uk

Dublin Trades Directory 1879.

Dublin Trades Directory1879

                   We are always interested in material related to any of the above gunmakers.

                                                    Dave Stroud. ramrodantiques.co.uk