The Wolverhampton Gunlock Makers
© C. V. Clark 2004
(Revised
February 2008)
This site was originally published and continues to be updated with the aim of detailing the author's ongoing research into the obscure history of those who carried on the trade of gunlock (or gun lock) making in Wolverhampton. Historically, this trade has to a large extent been overlooked or ambiguously recorded and there is a scarcity of documented evidence specific to the trade. However, from many sources, including church records, civil registration documents, censuses, etcetera, and in collaboration with the descendants of gunlock makers, it has been possible to establish not only the genealogy of many of the Wolverhampton gunlock-making families but also their involvement and associations with the trade.
Although the author had initially made available online the full version under the sub-heading 'A Sketch History from Within the Trade' (February 2004), now only the abridged two-page version will be accessible. However, the author can be contacted specifically about the following families' involvement with the Wolverhampton gunlock trade and their genealogy:- [St] Aubin, Bassett, Brazier, Brittain, Chilton, Dodd, Daly, Grainger, Homer, Law, Mansfield, Rigby, Stanton, Stilliard.
The only click-linked page available is an explanation and simple animation of How Gunlocks Work
The
author can accept no responsibility for errors or omissions or for any purpose
outside his control for which this work and the information it contains might be
used.
Inquiries
or points of interest concerning the Wolverhampton gunlock-making families
can be emailed to:
Wolverhampton-glms
(at) fsmail.net
********
Gunlock-Making in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton,
now a city within the English West Midlands, has always been involved with
metal-working industries. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution and the
town's proximity to the extensive coal, iron ore and limestone underground
deposits, Wolverhampton saw a considerable increase in artisan trades working in
iron and steel. All kinds of tools, implements and fittings were produced for an
ever-increasing diversity of markets. A contemporaneous expansion of nearby
Birmingham and its established gun trade led to a need for gun part
manufacturers, upon which the skilled metal-workers quickly seized. An integral part of any gun is the mechanism by which it is
fired, and is referred
to as the lock (as in the old saying 'lock, stock and barrel'). Within a
relatively short period and mainly through their growing reputation for
quality work, the Wolverhampton gunlock makers ensured that the prestigious
London gunmakers became principal patrons of their trade. By the mid-nineteenth
century many London-made guns were being furnished with locks from
Wolverhampton.
It is not known who the first gunlock maker was to set up in Wolverhampton, and it is unlikely that they would have been engaged solely in gunlock-making; the trade not then being as specialised as it would become. Around 1660 John Perry was known as a gunsmith in nearby Bilston, a chapelry of Wolverhampton. Of some significance are the suggested associations between the Perry family and several Wolverhampton families later involved with gunlock-making.
Gunlocks were being produced in
Wolverhampton before the beginning of the eighteenth century, although there is
very little documented history of the town's small businesses prior to the last
quarter of that century. The neighbouring villages of Coseley and Ettingshall
had various types of lock making industry. In that area Edward Brassman and
Joseph Bullock were recorded around 1760 as carrying on their trade as gunlock filers. The parish
records of both All Saints and the later Roman Catholic St George's churches of
adjoining Sedgley contain the surnames of many of the families who would become known as gunlock makers of Wolverhampton: Perry, Newton, Homer, Brazier,
Stanton, Law, Grainger. Of those, Thomas Newton was shown in the 1780
Birmingham Directory as carrying on his trade of gunlock maker in St John's
Square, Wolverhampton.
The gunlocks produced up until the end of the first quarter of the nineteenth century
were flintlocks for fowling pieces (shotguns), muskets and pistols. A lucrative
source of income would have been government contract work for military weapons
such as the famous 'Brown Bess' musket. A new best quality London
double-barrelled flintlock shotgun would then have been priced in the region of
£45, the pair of locks for which costing about £4. Flintlocks continued in
production throughout the 1800s, long after the invention and adoption of the
percussion cap during the 1820s.
The gunlock trade was comprised
mainly of businesses having just one or
two tradesmen. Eventually the larger gunlock businesses had an owner/master gunlock maker, skilled in all aspects of his trade.
The employees were generally
divided into specific sub-trades: forgers, filers, pin makers and spring makers,
some engaged as outworkers using their own smaller workshops. The work was
labour-intensive, with the smiths working at forging hearths, benches, vices and
foot-treadle lathes. The hammer, chisel and file were his principal hand-tools,
with simple dies, jigs and implements made in-house specifically for particular
operations. The assembling, spring making, hardening and tempering and
regulating/finishing required the considerable skill acquired through an
apprenticeship which would last seven or more years. The trade continued on the
common practice of employing family members; usually a father apprenticing his
son either to himself or a relative, with the accepted presumption that the
family business would be passed down through successive generations.
With
motive power in the form of steam engines driving overhead take-off shafts and
the increasing availability of machine tools, the preliminary 'roughing'
procedures became more mechanised, particularly the forging of bar steel into
rough components. Progress in the steel-making industry led to improved quality
control of materials. Better and more closely controlled grades of steel led to
greater reliability in gunlocks through the components being more durable and
the tools with which they were made being more efficient. The transition from
muzzle-loading to breech-loading guns after 1860 saw the gunlock industry of
Wolverhampton take on the production of breech-loading actions and expand
accordingly. Then the trade had become as large and specialised as it would ever
be, with the companies of Joseph Brazier & Sons, John Stanton & Co and Edwin Chilton
& Son recognised as the finest gunlock makers in the world.
The last
decade of the nineteenth century saw the development of new metal-working and
engineering industries catering for mass-markets. Bicycle manufacturing and then
the automotive trade became the town's large employers. Because the wages were
better with such companies as Sunbeam and Clyno, many skilled men left the gunlock trade in search of a
higher standard of living. From around 1900 until WWI
it became increasingly difficult to attract young men into gunlock-making
apprenticeships, particularly when the trade began to be regarded as not only
underpaid but declining. Although both WWI and WWII saw the remaining gunlock
companies involved once again in government contract work, there was to be no
long-lasting renaissance for the trade.
The
quality of the best gunlocks made throughout the second half of the nineteenth
century has been equalled but never surpassed. Sub-contracted production
drop-forging and electric motor-driven precision machines running
high-speed-steel and tungsten-carbide tooling progressively reduced the time
taken for roughing out, but the hand fitting and finishing were always essential
operations.
By the
late 1950s, although the three most famous gunlock-making companies in
Wolverhampton were still in existence, the families whose names they bore played
no part in them. Within twenty years the trade was reduced to two companies.
Another twenty years saw just one company remaining in the Wolverhampton area
which could offer a production facility for gunlocks.
********
A List of Names Involved with the Wolverhampton Gun Trade
© C.V. Clark 2004
(Revised February 2008)
Please Note:
The following alphabetical list is only a general guide. The approximate period date only refers to that time where there is some evidence to support it. It does not imply that the individual was only working during that period. Likewise, the addresses given may not be the only ones where that person worked/lived during their working lifetime. Where a person founded a company, that company may have continued after the founder’s death, either as an ongoing family business or not. For reasons of privacy etc., the list only covers those who are deceased.
There is a source of confusion that the reader should be aware of: Some gunlock-making families had more than one relative with the same forename. In the absence of descriptive genealogies (intentionally omitted), misunderstandings and incorrect conclusions may arise where there are multiple same-named individuals in the same working period or not. A most pertinent example of this occurs several times in the Brazier family; just two illustrations of which are the three individual Benjamins being father, son and great-nephew, and the four individual James', being uncle, nephew and two great-nephews.
The person may have had more than one trade during their lifetime; where that is known the other trade (or trades) is given. Some trades were carried on in conjunction with others, often of completely dissimilar nature.
Much of Wolverhampton has changed over the years. Therefore places that went under a particular name may now have another name or even not exist, eg: what was the location of St Paul’s church is now a car park off the St John’s ring road.
The author cannot accept any responsibility for errors or omissions.
|
Surname/Forename |
Trade* |
Approximate
Period |
Locations |
|
Adey Solomon |
GLM |
1871 |
71 Zoar St |
|
Allcock Charles |
GLM |
1877 - 1939 |
Employed by |
|
Allmark Thomas |
GLM |
1851 |
Ablow St |
|
Aston Noah |
GLS |
1802 |
37-38 Bilston Rd |
|
[St] Aubin Charles |
GLM & LS |
1838 - 1869 |
Pountney St & |
|
[St] Aubin William Henry |
GLM & GAM |
1865 |
Wolverhampton |
|
Barnett James |
App GLF |
1861 |
Bradmore |
|
Barrett
James |
GLS |
1901 |
Owen
Rd |
|
Basset James |
GLF |
1880 |
Compton St |
|
Bassett Henry F. |
GSM, |
1861 - 1921 |
82 Ash St & 248 Gt Brickkiln St |
|
Bassett Sidney |
GLM |
1901 |
39 Oak St |
|
Bassett
Stanley H. |
GLS |
1901 |
39
Merridale St West |
|
Bassett Thomas |
LS & GLM |
1871 - 1901 |
Oak Road & 39 Oak St |
|
Bassett William John |
GLS |
1873 |
Pool St |
|
Beddows William |
GLM |
1851 - 1861 |
Merridale St & Gt Brickkiln St |
|
Bellingham Richard |
GLS |
1871 |
29 Zoar St |
|
Bennett
James |
GLF & GLM |
1871 - 1875 |
3,
Zoar St & Gt Brickkiln St |
|
Blanton Charles S. |
Lic Vic &
GS |
1881 |
‘Wheatsheaf Inn’, Gt Brickklin St |
|
Blanton Henry Edward |
GS, GLS &
Lic Vic |
1871 - 1880 |
37 Russell St & Lewis St & |
|
Booth
John |
GLM |
1727 |
Bilston
|
|
Bradney James |
GS |
1861 - 1871 |
Bradmore |
|
Bradney John |
GLS |
1854 |
Lewis St |
|
Brasier James |
GLM |
1815 - 1845 |
St John’s Square |
|
Brassman
Edward |
GLF |
c1760 |
Bilston
(Ettingshall) |
|
Brazier Benjamin |
GLM & GM |
1787 - 1832 |
Ettingshall & 9 Gt Brickkiln St |
|
Brazier Benjamin |
Lic Vic &
GS |
1864 - 1881 |
Noakes Buildings & |
|
Brazier Benjamin |
GM |
1833 - 1839 |
Cock St & (latterly) London |
|
Brazier Charles |
GLM |
1865 - 1893 |
Merridale St & Victoria Rd & Bradmore |
|
Brazier Donald B. |
GLM & Cycle
Maker |
1861 - 1931 |
22 Temple St & Raglan St & |
|
Brazier Edwin |
GLM |
1841 |
Tanhouse Lane |
|
Brazier Edwin |
GLM |
1861 |
(Lodging at) Townwell Fold |
|
Brazier Frederick |
GLM |
1858 - 1871 |
Pountney St & Pool St & |
|
Brazier George |
GLS & GLM |
1861 - 1921 |
Townwell Fold & Oak St & |
|
Brazier James |
GLM &
Maltster |
1826 - 1864 |
‘King’s Head’, Bell St & |
|
Brazier James |
GLM |
1845 - 1862 |
Market St & Graisley Hill & |
|
Brazier John |
GLM, GAF &
Lic Vic |
1865 - 1884 |
Pool St & Paul St & Drayton St & Wellington
(Shrop) & |
|
Brazier Joseph Sidney |
GLM |
1887 - 1908 |
Strode Rd |
|
Brazier Joseph |
GLM, GIM, GAM
& GM |
1811 – 1864 |
Gt Brickkiln St (later at ‘Ashes’) |
|
Brazier Joseph |
GLM |
1858 - 1879 |
North Rd & Ash St |
|
Brazier Joseph |
GLM |
1861 - 1901 |
Townwell Fold & Oak St & |
|
Brazier Mrs Eleanor |
GLM |
1862 - 1880 |
22 Temple St |
|
Brazier Mrs Elizabeth |
Lic Vic &
GLM |
1857 -1872 |
‘Yew Tree’, Pool St |
|
Brazier Mrs Helena |
Owner |
1866 -187? |
‘Ashes’, Gt Brickkiln St |
|
Brazier Richard |
GLM, GAM |
1841 - 1864 |
‘Ivy House’, Tettenhall & |
|
Brazier Sarah? |
GLS |
1841 |
‘Ashes’, Gt Brickkiln St |
|
Brazier Thomas |
Lic Vic GLM
& GM |
1805 - 1857 |
‘Seven Houses’, Dudley Rd & Pountney St &
Bloomsbury St.... |
|
Brazier Thomas |
GLM & GS |
1838 - 1881 |
Gt Brickkiln St & |
|
Brazier Thomas |
GLM |
1838 - 1871 |
Tanhouse Lane & |
|
Brazier William |
GLM & |
1851 - 1874 |
Graisley Hill & Pountney Pool & |
|
Brewster William |
GSM |
1861 |
Oak St |
|
Bristow Joseph |
GLS |
1871 |
72 Zoar St |
|
Brittain Bernard |
GLF |
1861 |
Oak St |
|
Brittain James |
GLM & GLF |
1859 - 1861 |
Graisley Row & Oak St |
|
Brittain Samuel |
GLS, GLF &
GLM |
1841 - 1851 |
‘Ashes’, Gt Brickkiln St & |
|
Bullock John Thomas |
GLM |
? - 1925 |
Employed by |
|
Bullock
Joseph |
GLF |
c1760 |
Bilston
(Ettingshall) |
|
Bullock
Leonard |
GLM |
1901 |
166
Merridale St West |
|
Butler George |
GL Forger &
GLM |
1853 – 1865 |
Philip St? & Dale St |
|
Cartwright Isaac |
GLF |
1869 - 1879 |
Pearson St & Hallett’s Row |
|
Challinor Thomas |
GLF |
1861 |
Townwell Fold |
|
Chilton Edwin |
GLM |
1872 - 1924 |
Lowe St & |
|
Chilton William Bradshaw |
GLM |
1901 - 1964 |
41 Newhampton Rd West & |
|
Churm John |
GLS |
1901 |
5 King Edward's Row |
|
Cliff Henry |
GLF |
1870 - 1879 |
Graisley St & Yew St |
|
Collins Thomas |
GSM |
1861 |
Oak St |
|
Cotterhill Joseph |
GLM |
1839 |
? |
|
Cotterhill William |
GS |
1861 |
‘Prince of Wales’, Russell St? |
|
Cresswell Benjamin |
GLM |
1793 - 1802 |
Wolverhampton |
|
Daly William
|
GLF & GLM |
1861
- c1900 |
|
|
Daly William Bernard |
GLF & GLM |
1891
- c1935 |
2 Perry St & |
|
Daly Frederick Raymond |
GLF & GLM |
|
|
|
Daly Arthur
Valentine |
GLF & GLM |
|
|
|
Dangerfield Edward |
GLM |
1856 |
Bradmore |
|
Dodd George |
GLF |
1901 |
30 Zoar St & 12 Bond St |
|
Dodd Henry |
GLF & GLS |
1861 - 1881 |
Oak St & Gt Brickkiln St & |
|
Dodd William Henry |
GLS |
1884 - 1886 |
Zoar St |
|
Dudley Thomas |
GLF & GLM |
1841 - 1864 |
‘Ashes’, Gt Brickkiln St & |
|
Dudwell Edward |
GLS & GLM |
1871 - 1882 |
'Fox Inn' & 28 Zoar St |
|
Dudwell William Henry |
GLM |
1916 - 1962 |
Employed by J. Stanton & Co Ltd |
|
Duncombe George |
GL Forger |
1901 |
86 Gt Brickkiln St |
|
Edge Thomas |
GLS |
1871 |
Compton St |
|
Evans William |
GLM |
1855 |