Product Details
GUNMAKERS COMPANIES - ROWLAND WATSON AND THOMAS WILD
THE NAME, PARTIAL RECORDS AND INTERESTING EPHEMERA OF THE FIRM ROWLAND WATSON AND THOMAS WILD,
the whole presenting an opportunity to acquire one of the many respected makers of the Birmingham gun trade, the Lot comprises full legal entitlement to the company name, full certificates of incorporation and registration lodged with Companies House, a letter from R.H.G. Watson on the occasion of his retirement announcing the passing of ownership to Barry King, Esq. dated March 1987, interesting plaster casts of a Watson sidelock engraved by William Woodroffe circa 1921 showing the two lockplates, floorplate and triggerguard, the whole set in glazed frame, five Rowland Watson leather hard-bound day books showing all orders from gun no.1135 to 22664 corresponding to the years 1894 - 1997, the last order being for a .470 double rifle for an American client, together with numerous items of ephemera pertaining to the company and a quantity of both Watson and Wild trade labels.
Provenance: The firms of Rowland Watson and Thomas Wild can be traced back over a deal of time, and whilst there was a filial connection between the two from the mid-19th Century, it wasn't until comparatively recently that they amalgamated.
Benjamin Watson was a locksmith who then set up in business as a gunmaker in 1723. The company became Ryan & Watson in 1777 when the former was taken into partnership. Ryan was a Guardian of the Birmingham Proof House, and the company invested in the original sale of stock of the proof house in 1813. The partnership lasted until 1830 when the company reverted to its original name, in which form it traded until 1857.
The hierarchy of the company at the time was fairly complex; following the cessation of the partnership Benjamin Watson took the reins, he was the namesake and grandson of the founder. Thomas Wild was Benjamin Watson Jr.'s son-in-law, and Wild's nephew was Rowland Watson. The company traded as Rowland Watson from 1893 but had an affiliation to the firm of Thomas Wild. The namesake and great-grandson of Rowland Watson took control of the company circa 1966 and it was then that application was made to unite the two companies.
Watson remained at the helm until April 1987 when he retired. Ownership then passed to Barry King and thence to the vendor.
Literature: We are obliged to Nigel Brown's excellent book 'British Gunmakers', which has been of great assistance in researching the company.
Estimate £3,000-5,000