w calder

[ROBLATCH]

browsing the net for the gun i own ,found nothing then came across some info:-

William Calder

 

1891 – 1893 89 Gallowgate

1893 – 1894 15 Guild Street

1894 – 1897 36 Guild Street

1997 – 1906 30 Guild Street

1906 – 1923 24 Guild Street

 

Between 1912 and 1919 there was also an outlet at 99 George Street, William Calder was, I think father of Ernest Calder. In 1923 the shop was occupied by James Watson. The following comes from Fraser Henderson in New Zealand, William's great grandson and Ernest's Grandson, it charts the story of the Calders business:

William Calder rose from absolute poverty in Rosemount to become a relatively wealthy man. He was a very powerful personality but a hard worker. Ernest Calder, born in King St Place, stood on his father's shoulders, and he too achieved modest wealth from hard work and honesty. No matter how down at heel the customer, if I met him somewhere in town, or at the Donmouth, when I was fishing for flookies on Gordon College's sports day (!) my grandfather expected me to say "Hello!" To overcharge a customer or put one across him, was unthinkable.

William Calder 1849-1918:

William came from generations of keen shooters and fishermen. His great grandfather had been an armed guard for smugglers at Balgownie, when they were unloading rum and gin at the Cot Town from a Dutchman, anchored at night off the Donmouth.

Bill Calder founded a very successful sportshop in Guild St. A keen rough shooter and wildfowler, as well as a fitness fanatic, and Springer Spaniel breeder, he was well known for scrupulous honesty, aetheism and a belief in communism. He directly imported shotguns from Belgium, and was fussy about where his trout, salmon, and mackerel flies came from. (Playfair? His nephew's sister-in-law was forewoman there.)

William had his son serve an apprenticeship first as a locksmith, then brought him into the shop to further serve under a gunsmith employed at the Calder premises. This old man taught Ernest to make gun actions as well as repair them. hence why Ernest Calder called himself a "gunmaker."

When Buffalo Bill came to Aberdeen in Aug 1904, William Calder and his son Ernest, loaded all the cartridges for the show. Buffalo Bill just strolled into the Guild St shop and did business with a handshake. The circus took place in Central Park. A later group of Texan trickshooters also came to the shop on the recommendation of William Cody, and their cartridges were also all hand loaded by William & Ernest, and revolvers and rifles were shot in with the new ammo in the cellar below Guild St. The exhibition of shooting took place on the Town Links and gunsmithing was done for them by Ernest Calder. A San Antonio gunsmith came over to Aberdeen on the recommendation of the Texans, to offer Ernest Calder a partnership. The Texans had been impressed at his gunsmithing. But Ernest stayed loyal to his father.

William Calder in 1910

Ernest Calder 1875-1956:

After some silly quarrel, Ernest went into opposition as a sports dealer against his father in 1913 at 67/69 King St. He was a champion cyclist at the Torry Racing Track, and added cycles to the business range. He was also a keen sea angler, golfer, foil swordsman, gymnast, and a superb rifle, shotgun and revolver shot. He also was a taxidermist and sold ferrets!

He suffered a damaged heart from a bout of rheumatic fever, and could not serve officially in WW1. But he was made an acting sergeant by the Gordon Highlanders, and taught marksmanship with the .303 rifle as well as revolver shooting to officers. His teams did well in national competitions.

One of his novelties was to tie a No 6 hook to a silk line and sell it as a penny hook for catching flounder. Many a slum kid started a lifetime's fishing passion with a Calder penny hook. All good for business!

He sought the best quality he could find at reasonable prices, as most of his customers were working class people. But estate managers and gamekeepers also became customers because of the quality at a good price.

He had a forge in his shop, and as well as gunsmithing, he browned and blued barrels. He carried an extensive range of cheaper firearms from Birmingham, as well as a variety of second hand shotguns & rifles, and a wide variety of fishing rods, reels, flies, spoons, spinners, etc. One spoon was an invention of his son-in-law, and never patented, but very popular for sea trout. His target market was the working class people of Aberdeen and the countryside. In attending to that customer base, he won trade from estates, gamekeepers, and all sportsmen keen on value. This approach served the business well throughout the Great Depression. He also repaired rods, and replaced guides, etc but preferred not to! It returned a poor profit!

Many salmon poachers bought their gear from Calders! Calder's hooks did not snap, the alloy was malleable, an indispensable characteristic in the dark.

No flies were tied on the premises, but were bought from reputable wholesalers.

By the late 1930's his customers were nationwide, and queries regularly came from overseas. His Aberdeen Firearms Dealer Licence was Number 1. On his death, his daughter Gertrude Henderson continued the business in trust for his family as manager.

[ROBLATCH]

and this :-

 

I live in South Africa and saw the article in the August 2011 issue ofLeopard written by Fraser Henderson about his grandfather and great-grandfather, Ernest & William Calder the gun makers.

I own a William Calder shotgun and have for many years unsuccessfully searched the internet every now and then for information about William Calder.,,,,,,

Occasionally, the Calders had special guns made to order by London gunmakers, such as Cogswell & Harrison, again with their trader name on the barrels. I have a Churchill type, with 25-inch barrels, made about 1936 by Cogswell & Harrison, with Ernest Calder on the barrels.

The family had a friend in Johannesburg, Lovell Robertson, who had a big jeweller’s shop there, and who kept in contact until his death in the 1950s. I wonder if it is possible that that is the connection?

Both Ernest and his dad had correspondence all the time from people worldwide, with Calder shotguns.

An imported hammered 12 gauge from Belgium retailed at 30 shillings in 1910, while a hammerless could be anything from double that, to £100 in 1936 for a London gun.

i dont know if this is a good or bad thing for my gun,, would love to know the original maker.

Edited August 31, 2013 by ROBLATCH

[Blackpowder]

A remarkable well researched history, could not make out which town though , is Donmouth a clue?

 

Blackpowder

[ROBLATCH]

some place in aberdeen ?

 

When Mum and I walked home from her work in the late 1940s, we would go down the Shiprow, past the spot where they used to test poor, wretched old women accused of witchcraft. Later they’d burn them alive, just down from the Castlegate.

Then round we’d go into Guild Street, past the shop once owned by my great-grandfather, William Calder, on to South College Street, then home to Bonaccord Street. It was a bleak walk, through some deadly slums.

My great-grandfather had traded in Guild Street as a gun dealer from 1890-1918, with my Granda as his shop assistant and gunsmith until 1913. Last time I had a look, the shop was tenanted by Ladbrooks bookmaker. The holes in the granite from which a huge golden shotgun was suspended are still there, but the gun – carved by a Hall’s shipyard joiner – is long gone, and with it the art of carving figureheads for Aberdeen clippers.

This area had been the centre of trade for hundreds, if not thousands of years, from the days of Mesolithic hunters chipping their flints and swapping them for goodies at the mouth of the Denburn, to the time of the Friars and the medieval market in the Green.

The harbour fishmarket was booming back in 1900; all the country people disembarked from their buses here. The London train was loaded with Aberdeen’s produce, even the millions of cassies made by hand for London’s streets. The Green bustled, and the Tivoli theatre entertained the masses.

Auld Bill Calder did very well here as a trader. My Granda, Ernest Calder, used to tell me the story of their most famous customer.

In 1904 Granda had been married for eight years and had two daughters, Lena and Mary. He lived next door to his parents in King Street, and worked in his father’s shop in Guild Street. Sporting goods were the core of the business, overlaid with other lines – from musical instruments to bicycles and toys.

There was no licensing of firearms owners until the Thirties. Bill Calder imported shotguns from Belgium, which he sold for 30/- (£1.50) a piece, with his name engraved on the barrels. That was three weeks’ wages for a man back then. He traded rifles, revolvers, airguns and shotguns, new or second hand.

In the cellar under the shop, Bill Calder manufactured rifle, shotgun and pistol cartridges and carried out all kinds of gunsmithing – my Granda could make a firearm from scratch. They stocked a large range of ammo and could make cartridges of any calibre, loaded to your specification. Their ammo was delivered by parcel post all over Britain: to big estates, fairs, and fussy people unhappy with local cartridges. Their prices were keen and the quality was good.

In the cellar, they had a shooting range for testing firearms and ammunition. There William and Ernest kept their hand in, practising with cartridges from bulk batches. All below busy Guild Street.