doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com More Worcestershire guns

Tim - That is wonderful work - I will pass it in to Roger. It looks as though we may have taken on a rather larger project than we had initially anticipated! I see on the list is Chris Ashthorp of Severn stoke. I knew Chris and Graham Banks, who worked with him most of his life, still sorts out my guns from his workshop in Worcester. Here are a couple of photos of Chris taking delivery of a large barrel boring machine - which Graham says he never actually managed to get operational. For any of you who don't know Chris developed sleeving and got it accepted by the proof house as an approved way of replacing damaged barrels. His workshop in Severn Stoke has now been turned into a dwelling. I have fond memories of the workshop full of old lathes and drills and rusting barrels piled up everywhere. You actually had to walk on them to get to the back of the workshop where the work took place. It was no good leaving a gun there to be repaired otherwise it would disappear into this mountain of waiting guns - the trick was to say you were going on a shoot the following week then you stood a chance of getting it back. Having said all that his work was fantastic and any repair always worked. My only regret is that I didn't have the sense to photograph it for posterity. Chris is the guy in the woolly cardigan with his back to you in the first photo and the guy on the left in the second.

While the vast majority of those names are British the two Allen Thurber ones I believe would be from Mass, USA.

In fact they are UK. This is what IGC lists for both, though my suspicion is that they are one and the same firm:

Name Alan & Thumber
City/Town Worcester
County Worcestershire
Country United Kingdom
Trade Gun & Pistol Maker
Notes
6 shot pepperbox revolver sold.

&

Name Allen & Thurber
City/Town Worcester
County Worcestershire
Country United Kingdom
Trade Gunmakers
Other Address
Dates 1840
Notes
Allen could have patented a pepperbox revolver mechanism in 1837.

Tim

1831�1837: E. Allen (Grafton)
1837�1842: Allen & Thurber (Grafton)
1842�1847: Allen & Thurber (Norwich)
1847�1854: Allen & Thurber (Worcester)
1854�1856: Allen Thurber & Co (Worcester)
1856�1865: Allen & Wheelock (Worcester)
1865�1871: E. Allen & Company (Worcester)
These are names & locations for a firearms co established by one Ethan Allen in the state of Massachusetts USA. note that from 1847 to 1854 it was located in Worcester Mass. Allen was issued an 1837 patent by the US patent office. He also had an 1845 patent. The company is best known for its Pepperbox pistols, though they made other types as well. Ethan Allen was born Sept 2 1808 in Bellingham Massachusetts & died Jan 7 1871, still in Massachusetts though not sure where, probably Worcester
Sure is an Awful Lot of co-incidents here.
PS; The 1937 patent was on the hammer.

Too many co-incidents! I think IGC need to substitute US for UK in their listing!

Thanks 2-piper, I'll let John know and get him to change his listing.

Tim

Yesterday a friend brought this rather nice Pollard down to the ground. I had a chance to shoot it and it handled superbly well. he has only recently inherited the gun and I am sure it will give him years of pleasure. I offered him �25 for it - he thought about it for all of 1 second and came to the conclusion the family ties were too great and he would have to decline my tempting and generous offer!

Must have been some mighty strong family ties for him to have turned down so generous an offer of �25.

Edwin Goff listed in Worcestershire Gunmakers posted by trw999

Edwin Goff of Dodford was my G.G. Grandfather. He had two sons who were also gun makers. "Alfred" & "Edwin Arthur" Goff. I would be very interested in any information or images that you come across in your research of Worcester gunmakers regarding this family. The Goff family of gunmakers go back to London 1768 working by The Tower of London. There were Goff gunmakers before this date but I cant prove any connections with them. I have never seen a Edwin Goff gun and would love to see images of one if any exsist?

Thanks
Trevor Whitby

The building still exists, a very elegant double fronted Georgian property, one side a cafe, one an art gallery, with accommodation over.

Harry must have been in a substantial business of some kind, this wasn't yer traditional gun trade back yard industrial set up.

You can still buy a gun in Teme Street from Tenbury Guns, and the hardware shop over the road from the cafe will sell you some cartridges.

Unlike Teme Street which is the main street in Tenbury, broad, straight and rather grand, High Street Bewdley is very narrow and higgledy piggledy; you can imagine a small time guy making a living there in a couple of rooms. I had a drink with some old work chums in the Little Pack Horse in High Street a few weeks ago; be nice to think James was there before us.

Much of the Black Country was at one time in Worcestershire before West Midlands sprang into being, so I'd guess a lot of those names from Dudley and Halesowen were lock makers and the like.

Eug

Mr. Molloy, I need an English to English translation. What's an "accommodation over";living quarters or an upstairs bathroom?...Geo