Library Updates – October 2024

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There have been three recent Library updates. The author, Brian Godwin, is an established authority on 16th and 17th century firearms and ephemera and has published numerous articles on the subject. He was the National Trust Adviser on Firearms, and has catalogued the Trusts collections of historic firearms.

  • English and Welsh Gunsmiths and Gunmakers, 1550 – 1850 – This document contain a list of English and Welsh gunsmiths and gunmakers from around 1550 to about 1850, but excluding London gunsmiths/gunmakers. The list has been compiled from free on-line sources such as County Record and Archive Offices and The National Archives, but it must not be considered a definitive list, as new information is added from time to time. A new version of the above is now available. Published in October 2024, it has been expanded to 333 pages.
  • Wilding, Salop – Gunmakers – The story of Richard Wilding, gunsmith, begins in Shrewsbury during the 1670s. A remarkable leather bound book with the records of the Company of Smiths (blacksmiths) in Shrewsbury has survived and contains details of all the apprentices taken on by Company members between 1622 and 1764. An entry for the year 1689 records that Edward Morris was apprenticed to Richard Wilding, Senior, for the term of seven years. This document confirms that there were two Richard Wildings, father and son, that they were both gunsmiths, and that Richard senior was a member of the Company of Smiths in Shrewsbury during the latter part of the 17th century.
  • The Conservation of a fine, silver mounted Flintlock Sporting Gun – This is a report and record made of the conservation of a fine, silver mounted flintlock sporting gun by Thomas Richards of Birmingham, dated 1748. Over a 5-month period the gun was dismantled, its components cleaned, conserved, notes made and a photographic record taken.

Thanks to Brian for providing these articles.