GUNS

Samuel Colt

Samuel Colt s inspiration for the revolver was derived from watching ratchets in use on a sailing vessel. He raised money to develop his idea by going on a laughing gas tour of theatres. He produced the revolver commercially. His business went bankrupt. The United States went to war against Mexico.

In 1840 William Cubitt built a brick factory in Pimlico. In 1844 it was acquired by the government to facilitate the rebuilding Palace of Westminster. It produced castings for the construction of the Crystal Palace. Samuel Colt displayed a revolver he had developed at the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was inundated with orders. He acquired the lease of a property in Pimlico. Production started in 1854. The workforce was noted to have a very high proportion of women. However, during the Crimean War British officers showed a clear preference for the pistols that were manufactured by Roberts. Much of the Colt operation's output was mothballed. Financially, it failed. In 1856 the factory was closed.

Location: Aylesford Street, SW1V 3RN. The factory. (purple, yellow)

14 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5LU. Colt's London office. (orange, red)

Website: www.colt.com

The Gunmakers' Company

Trades that were viewed as being either dangerous or obnoxious tended to be carried on outside of the City of London's walls. This accounts for why Whitechapel is the home of the Gunmakers' Company Proof House. The prevailing westerlies meant that the district was downwind of the City for most of the year.

Location: Proof House, 48-50 Commercial Road, E1 1LP (orange, yellow)

Website: www.gunmakers.org.uk

Holland & Holland

The gunsmiths Holland & Holland have been making guns since 1830.

In 1959 Holland & Holland merged with Westley Richards (Agency), which owned Jeffery's the gunmakers and Farlows the fishing tackle business.

Holland & Holland had a shooting school at Northwood.

Inflation made it hard for Holland & Holland to make a profit from making guns that took two years to build. The company responded to the situation by launching the presentation gun, these were functioning weapons that were also works of art.

Holland & Holland has a factory near Kensal Green Station. Possibly on Wakeman Road.

In 1989 the business was bought by the Wertheimers, the French family that then controlled Chanel.

Location: 31-33 Bruton Street, W1J 6HH (red, brown)

Ducks Hill Road, Northwood, HA6 2ST. The business's shooting grounds.

Website: https://hollandandholland.com

Machine Gun

William Gardner (1844-1887), an American, invented the portable machine gun in 1874. The Royal Navy purchased rights to manufacture it. Gardner moved to England to oversee the weapon's manufacture. The Army adopted it although the Royal Artillery made clear its unhappiness about this development

Location: 49 Curtain Road, EC2A 3ER (orange, blue)

The Maxim Machine Gun

Hiram Maxim an adept inventor of electrical devices. In 1881 the American moved to Britain. He opened a workshop in Hatton Garden and set up the Maxim Gun Company, which developed a machine gun. He patented every innovative aspect of the weapon. The British military establishment proved to be receptive to the device. In turn, he was responsive to the suggestions as to how it might be refined. In 1888 his business merged with that of Thorsten Nordenfelt. This happened at the prompting of Basil Zaharoff, who had been selling the Swedish industrialist's weapons for over a decade. The new business established a manufacturing plant near Crayford, Kent. Maxim was active as a salesman for his gun, travelling throughout Europe, often working closely with Zaharoff. In 1896 the business was acquired by Vickers, which changed its own name to Vickers, Son & Maxim.

In later life Maxim became deaf.¹

The British forces continued to use the Maxim gun until 1963.

Location: 57 Hatton Garden, EC1N 8HP (red, brown)

Sandhurst Lodge, 390 Streatham High Road, SW16 6HX. Maxim's home. Streatham ice rink occupies the site.

¹. Machine guns can be very loud.

James Purdey & Sons

The firm was founded in 1814 by James Purdey (d.1863), a blacksmith who had walked from Inverness, in the far north of Scotland, to London to found the business. (Lionel Purdey, a member of the family, who was a veteran of the First World War, campaigned for shell shock to be recognised as a medical condition.) During the 1930s the Purdey family ceased to be involved with the business, which came to be controlled by Vend me, the company that owned of the Cartier and Dunhill luxury goods brands. Such is the company's waiting-list that anyone wishing to buy a set of Purdey sporting guns new will have to wait well over a year for them to be constructed.

Location: 57 South Audley Street, W1K 2ED (orange, purple)

Website: www.purdey.com

Watson Brothers

Watson Brothers is a gunmaking business.

In 1989 the business was bought by Michael Louca, a former Purdey employee.

Location: 41 Tower Bridge Road, SE1 4TL

Website: www.watsonbrosgunmakers.com

David Backhouse 2024