W M Needler Hull, 12g Hammergun

[the_commoner]

i have picked up a 12g hammer gun, good condition with lovely damascus barrels that have been rebrowned and reproofed recently.

 

i know nothing of the maker other than seems to have been based in silver street hull upto about 1860 - that would make my gun 150 yrs old !

 

i can make head nor tail of some of the marks, its has a patent number stamped on the action flats and other marks / stamps i can find no info on (view / nitro proof etc marks i can identify)

 

has anyone got the faintest on how i can date the gun or any info on the maker other than the limited amount i have found on the net

 

cheers guys

Edited July 30, 2010 by meinderby

[mattslaptop247]

Historical Data for William Stevenson Needler

 

Name William Stevenson Needler

Other Names

Address 1 27 Silver Street

Address 2 19 Paragon Street

Address 3 8 Trinity House Lane

City/Town Hull

County Yorkshire

Country United Kingdom

Trade Gunmaker

Dates 1893-1895

Notes

William Needler was the son of Michael Needler. He was born in Pocklington, Yorkshire, in 1820. He was apprenticed in London, but who employed him is not known. In the 1841 census he was recorded as a gunsmith (it seems he had completed his apprenticeship) and was living at 128 Chancery Lane (appears to have been a boarding house). Also living there was his brother Arthur (a brazier) who was also aged 20.

 

In 1843 he moved to Hull and established his own business at 15 Scale Lane, moving in 1846 to 22 Scale Lane.

 

In 1847/48 he moved around the corner to 26 Silver Street, this appears to have been a large building with shops on the ground floor and residential accomodation for at least thirty five people above.

 

In 1851 the Needler family comprised William and his wife (born 1822 in Glasgow), Jane (Stevenson?), and their children (all born in Hull). They had eleven daughters but only one son, William Stevenson Needler, who was born in 1850.

 

In 1848/49 the family moved to 27 Silver Street.

 

In 1853 William Needler bought the business of a gunmaker named Donaldson in Beverley, just north of Hull. This business was previously owned by a Mrs Taylor (and presumably by a Mr Taylor).

 

In 1855 William rented additional premises at 59 Queen Street. By this time the business had earned a reputation for harpoon guns.

 

By 1871 the family had moved to live in Cottingham Road, not far from Silver Street; William S Needler was aged 22 and a gunmaker.

 

By 1881 William S had left the family business and was a coal merchant living with his wife, Ann, at 16 Pemberton Street. His father had moved back to live at 27 Silver Street, probably due to ill-health, he died in 1882.

 

It appears that William S was a businessman with many talents, having been a gunmaker around 1871, he was a coal merchant around 1881, and a tallow merchant around 1891 (at this time he was living at 21 Morpeth Road). In around 1901 he was an estate agent with, no doubt, several properties of his own.

 

From 1882 W S Needler probably managed the gun making business on behalf of his mother, but in 1888 it was sold to George Walter Webb, formerly of Oxford. George did not keep the business for long, he sold it back to William S in 1893, and William S sold it to W W Greener in 1895.

 

There are reports that William S Needler died in 1895, but in 1901 he was living 22 Albert Avenue, Hull. He was a widower living with his son, Wilfred S Needler (a wine and spirit clerk aged 18), Marie G Needler, his daughter, and Albert Needler (aged 8 and still at school).

 

Greener continued to trade under the William Needler name. He had bought the business because William Needler had been a major competitor in the manufacture of harpoon guns and, by buying a business in Hull, Greener obtained direct contact with whaling ships and the firms operating them. In 1900 Greener moved the business to 19 Paragon Street, and in 1912 to moved to 8 Trinity House Lane. It ceased trading under the Needler name in about 1914

 

 

Hows that!

Edited July 30, 2010 by mattslaptop247

[mattslaptop247]

I think you need to be posting a pic of it after all that!

[the_commoner]

cheers for that,you are obvioulsy a better googler than me !!!!

 

i will pop some pics up later today or tomorrow.

 

if i can i will try and get some pics of the stamps / marks and hopefully someone may be able to help date it ?

[mattslaptop247]

You wont find it on google! I'm a member of the internet gun club. It's a bit pricey for looking up just one gun, but if you have several to research it's well worth the money.

[Bodysnatcher]

I too have a Wm Needler single 12g hammer, number 6441. The gun was given to my dad in the 1930s and he used it regularly until he gave it to me when I was 14.

He always used modern nitro cartridges even though the prooving was only for powder but as I now only shoot it occasionally, I fire black powder, I love the deep boom of the shots and the cloud of smoke.