Product Details
HOLLAND & HOLLAND
A 16-BORE 'ROYAL' HAND-DETACHABLE SIDELOCK EJECTOR, serial no. 27408,
28in. replacement nitro barrels by the makers, the tubes engraved 'HOLLAND & HOLLAND. 98. NEW BOND STREET. LONDON', the rib engraved with a flash of scroll at the breech-end, 2 1/2in. chambers, bored approx. 1/4 and 1/2 choke, automatic safety with gold-inlaid 'SAFE' detail, hand-detachable sidelocks, gold-inlaid cocking indicators, best fine floral scroll engraving, the fences engraved with shell motifs, the triggerguard with a Cairn terrier, 13 3/4in. figured stock including 1 1/4in. wooden extension, weight 5lb. 15oz., in a Holland & Holland leather case
Provenance: The makers have kindly informed us that this shotgun was completed as No.2 of a pair with 28in. barrels in August 1913 for 'Mees'.
However, it has been with the Inchcape family since the early 1960s and is being offered for sale by Lady Inchcape, the wife of the 4th Earl.
The title was created for James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape (he was also styled as Viscount Glenapp) in 1929 in recognition for his services to the nation. Mackay was a shrewd and forward-thinking businessman whose career began in India and went on to him seeing that country's adoption of the Gold Standard during a period of great financial instability. He later served as Vice-President of the Suez Canal Company and was also Chairman of the once great Peninsular & Oriental line.
Mackay's third daughter, the Hon. Elsie Mackay, was a fairly well-known actress after the Great War, having married the actor Dennis Wyndham in 1917. She also worked as an interior design artist for her father's company and created lavish interiors on several of the line's ships. She was also a keen pilot and gained her licence with the De Havilland flying school at Hatfield before purchasing an Avro biplane (probably a 504 model). She was clearly a woman of some pluck, ably demonstrated by the fact that she performed an outside loop in the company of fellow pilot Capt. E.C.D. Herne. The outside loop is one of the most uncomfortable aerobatic manoeuvres for the occupants and also places a great deal of negative strain on the airframe. During the loop her harness gave way and she was flung out of the cockpit and only saved herself by clutching on to some bracing wires!
She was determined to become the first woman to fly the Atlantic, and to that end purchased a Stinson Detroiter, an American aircraft known for its long endurance. The aircraft was shipped to Brooklands near Weybridge and was named 'Endeavour'. She and Capt. Hincliffe took off in secret from R.A.F. Cranwell on 13th March 1928. The flight was covert because she had assured her family that she would not make the attempt. Indeed, she had departed using the pseudonym 'Gordon Sinclair'. The plan was to fly the great circle route to Newfoundland where a large crowd had gathered despite the attempted secrecy of the flight. The bid ended in tragedy but with the cause of failure unknown. They were last reported on course by the French steamer S.S. Josiah Macy but nothing was seen of them after that. Her life is commemorated by a stained-glass window in the chancel of Glenapp church, which is on the estate once owned by her father.
Estimate £7,000-9,000
S2