From
what I can remember and my notes I made contact with the HBSA a few
times over the last seven years and although the first approach
solicited no real response, I believe this was because Thomas Wilson and
his firearm systems are hardly known in the UK to most of your
members. I think it was Rob Davidson who placed my request on the HBSA
Forum back in 2008. I again approached the association in 2012 and my
request for information brought a reply from Bill Curtis, but
unfortunately nothing new. My
more recent request was to Tony Cattermole and Stephen Barrett in 2012
and as far as I can remember this related to informing and providing
details for your members about a London bookseller who had bought up
the old Manchester Patent Library and amongst the 1.5 million patents he
had 10,000 firearms patents going well back into the 1840’s which were
available for purchase. I thought this would be of interest as I this
interested many of my contacts in Australia who possess some very
interesting and rare examples of early breech-loaders. It was after
noting their interest I decided to advise amongst others the HBSA and
the MLAGB. Many
of the patents were snatched up by collectors particularly the early
patents of Colt , Winchester, Snider, Westley Richards, Manton, Forsyth,
etc, etc. Some patents went for thousands of pounds but many of their
updates and variations went for several hundreds and there are many
still available for just £ 100 each for well-known names of the
1860’s/70’s. Of Wilson, I purchased the key patents and drawing, so I
am happy. Interestingly two contacts of mine recently purchased the
primary patents for the rare George Kufahl Needle rifle of 1852, the
Johann von Poppenburg breech-loading rifle of 1865 and the George
Fosbery breech loading rifle patent, November 1868, all at £ 100 each. I
had a computer glitch a while ago so I cannot check, but I am sure I
sent out the attachment you have just received to Tony Cattermole for
publication in your newsletter. I saw this as my last approach to
institutions in the UK before focusing my efforts to complete archiving
my data etc, before getting down to the process of writing. Concerning
the MLAGB, I contacted David Minshall who took all my material as sent
to you and he loaded this onto their Discussion Forum and also linked my
request to Research Press and its research projects which have yielded
some good results particularly a new find in Australia. David must have
had some spare time on his hands as he got stuck in and supplied me with
whatever he could find about Wilson on the Web which in most cases I
had already archived, but some useful contacts came up. This exercise
has proved fruitful to me because it demonstrates just how little
Information exists and also how few Wilson Long/Short rifles and
Carbines are in circulation in the UK. There is more information
available in the UK , but I have been there twice for research purposes,
but I really need to live there for a few months to travel and spend
more time in the library archives. Unfortunately the exchange rate
prohibits this and in reverse that is why thousands of UK visitors and
Germans etc. descend on South Africa during your Winter. Just
for interest Australia regards the Wilson capping breech-loader as one
of the country’s rarest small arms and is well documented. Through
contacts in Tasmania I have been able to trace and compile a list of
owners with details of their individual pieces. Tasmania originally
placed an order to equip the Tasmanian Volunteer Cavalry with Wilson
carbines and to date I have traced about 30% of the original order on
the London company - Hebbert and Co. Prices in Aussie run from A$3000 to A$5000. One rifle (Possibly a
barter exchange for provisions when the Shenandoah docked down there at
one time), with it sword bayonet and scabbard with Confederate markings
was purchased by an American from an Australian auction house and later
put on the block some years later in Dallas, where it sold for $22,705
back in 2006. America has cottoned onto these rifles and a superb
example was sold only last year in June by an online retail operation in
the states to a high end private buyer for $23,000. I
must stop here and apologise, as I seem to have rambled on, but it does
give you some insight and flavour of the information and work I am
currently involved in. Again thank you in advance for help and anything
that you might find in your archives Andrew Appleby |
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