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E g higham


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Has any one any info about gunmaker e g higham of Liverpool thanks any would be appreciated

If you find out any info on the gunmaker other than their address and that they were highly respected but little known please pass it on.

I have a nice single barrel 8 bore with rebounding hammer and jones rotary underlever that is an absolute joy to shoot, so what you got or are considering?.

Mike...

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If you find out any info on the gunmaker other than their address and that they were highly respected but little known please pass it on.

I have a nice single barrel 8 bore with rebounding hammer and jones rotary underlever that is an absolute joy to shoot, so what you got or are considering?.

Mike...

ive got a double 8b higham its mint, and very nice to shoot at just under 13lbs, from what i found he didnt make many guns but the ones he did was of good quality.

He moved from liverpool around the midlands area several times.

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E G Higham of Liverpool and Warrington, two brothers, sons of George Higham of Oswestry Shropshire. Basically they completed or refinished Birmingham made guns to a very high standard. George Higham was tragically killed in a motor car accident and it appears all relatives ( sons & daughters ) emigrated to Sydney Australia where they continued as gunsmiths and the daughters appear to have gone to Cape Town SA.

I have a 28gauge EG Higham that was reputed to have been made and used by Annie Oakley when she shot as a guest regularly on the Hardwick Estate Shrewsbury. Lovely pretty gun.

Higham appeared to specialise in very nice sidelock 12 gauge guns.

I would love to hear more about the brothers if any of you live near Liverpool or Warrington Libraries they may have records?

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  • 7 years later...

I have a Higham 12 bore side by side with spare fully choked barrels.. I’ve owned the gun for over 30 years.. the story I have is Purdy made the barrels and Holland and Holland made the action, which were sold under the table, the gun was then put together by Higham. I’ve owed a Purdy and know H&H guns well so I believe this is highly likely.. can anyone shed any light? 

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On 29/09/2019 at 18:51, Corrett said:

I have a Higham 12 bore side by side with spare fully choked barrels.. I’ve owned the gun for over 30 years.. the story I have is Purdy made the barrels and Holland and Holland made the action, which were sold under the table, the gun was then put together by Higham. I’ve owed a Purdy and know H&H guns well so I believe this is highly likely.. can anyone shed any light? 

Like many stories about the gun trade I would doubt its authenticity .Purdey and Holland made very different guns and it would not be possible to fit Purdey barrels to a Holland action .Both companies would have undertaken to rebarrel guns by the other but this would almost certainly have been put out to trade workers .

It is possible but highly unlikely that a Holland action was "lost" .It is also possible that trade out workers who did work for either firm had made he barrels that were fitted to a Holland style action made in both the London and Birmingham trades.  Again I would take this with a large pinch of salt .Is the second barrel set original to the gun ?

London firms such as Robertsons [Boss ]  and EC Green  as did Holloway in Birmingham  made barreled actions and complete guns for the trade , I have seen a Linlsley of Leeds that was made by Robertson that was to all intent a Boss ,  but I have never heard this of Hollands and certainly not of Purdey . 

What proof marks does it have London or Birmingham ?

Edited by Gunman
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  • 6 months later...

I am not a gun person but do collect old and interesting English and French pocket knives.

i very recently acquired an old stag horn handled, single blade, folding knife. 

The blade is stamped “ Higham Oswestry “. This I assume to be George Higham as Oswestry was where his business was located I believe.

Is it feasible that Higham was a cutler/knife maker as well as a gunsmith?

If anyone has any info, I’d be interested to know as it would help me date the knife.
 


 

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There is a noted Boss that is, in fact, under the skin made to a Beesley (Purdey) pattern. So yes, it is possible, that a gun could have been made by an outworker to the pattern of a London maker and for whatever reason then sold by him.

However Purdey, for certain, did, yes sell boxlock ejectors. Not as "shot and regulated by" as did Holland's but marked up fully with James Purdey & Sons. A gun in a syndicate I was in had one maybe thirty years ago. And Purdey indeed did confirm it as one of theirs. So its possible that a barrel maker used by Purdey as an outworker supplied a set of barrels to an outworker who made actions for Holland's.

I have also see London best guns with replacement barrels made by another of the London best makers. Everything is possible. For as Sherlock Holmes said once you've dismissed everything that is possible that which remains, however unlikely, is the only possible answer. 

Through the auctions I've noted Purdey guns with "new barrels by Holland & Holland" and assume this was either because Purdey refused to do the work (maybe the person was a poor payer), the person had had a falling out with Purdey so took his money elsewhere, Purdey quoted a price less favourable thah that quoted by Holland's.

Who knows?

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23 hours ago, Couteau said:

I am not a gun person but do collect old and interesting English and French pocket knives.

i very recently acquired an old stag horn handled, single blade, folding knife. 

The blade is stamped “ Higham Oswestry “. This I assume to be George Higham as Oswestry was where his business was located I believe.

Is it feasible that Higham was a cutler/knife maker as well as a gunsmith?

If anyone has any info, I’d be interested to know as it would help me date the knife.
 


 

Most likely a knife made in Sheffield for Higham and stamped with their name . Many many businesses had products made by others but sold as made by the named person as made by them , in so much it was commissioned by them  before the days of "named brands".

A good example  the guns Webley and Scott made that left ther factory engraved up in the house style and signed as another maker . Snap caps marked as Holland that were bought in ,just a supermarkets and High St retailers sell house branded goods that were made by others .

This not to say that Higham did not do other things as did many small and provincial  makers having many other lines of business . 

 

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  • 1 year later...

Hi, just came across this thread while researching an old .500 nitro express from my father. I'm searching for a hammer for the left side, mine is broken and I'm slowly restoring this beautiful rifle. E & G Higham, Ranelaugh Street, Liverpool 

Has crossed "sword" proof marks and the number 39. Also another mark that I cant identify yet. I found what I assume is a serial number on the for arm wood that reads  29 space 95. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

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