Jump to content

I.5 inch punt gun by George Sherwood, Portsmouth. Help!


mudpatten
 Share

Recommended Posts

Whilst doing some confirmatory research online I unexpectedly came across a reference that I had not seen before despite considerable research into local gunmakers. In 2014 Yorkshire auctioneers Tennants sold a 1.5 inch percussion punt gun in fairly rough condidition. Originally valued at much less, it sold for £2.200 so may have had some life left in it. It bears the name of George Sherwood, a Portsmouth gunmaker who was in business up until c1843. I`m particularily interested in tracing the whereabouts of this gun for historical research purposes. Has anyone seen it? Is it your gun? Regards, Nick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, mudpatten said:

Whilst doing some confirmatory research online I unexpectedly came across a reference that I had not seen before despite considerable research into local gunmakers. In 2014 Yorkshire auctioneers Tennants sold a 1.5 inch percussion punt gun in fairly rough condidition. Originally valued at much less, it sold for £2.200 so may have had some life left in it. It bears the name of George Sherwood, a Portsmouth gunmaker who was in business up until c1843. I`m particularily interested in tracing the whereabouts of this gun for historical research purposes. Has anyone seen it? Is it your gun? Regards, Nick.

Have you got a picture from the catalog?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadly beyond my technical ability but the catalogue pic is only of the guns lock/stock and does not include the barrel for some reason.

I`ve just tried to do a link to the catalogue but thats not working either. I originally googled "George Sherwood,Portsmouth gunmaker"  and scrolled down to "Militaria and Ethnographica", and then down a few guns in the first page of the displayed catalogue - if that helps!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My partner in research has located the current owner of the punt gun and the actual story behind it is highly unusual. The iron barrel, it is`nt damascus, is that of an Indian rampart gun which was brought back to the UK early in the 19th century. It probably started life as a match or flintlock but this was removed and replaced by a percussion lock bearing the name of George Sherwood of Portsmouth. The question is, did Sherwood convert it to a punt gun? Sherwood himself was in debtors prison in 1845 and died a short while later so it might be that the gun found it`s way back here, to some unknown corner of the UK, where it was converted to a punt gun which just happened to utilize a lock randomly bearing the name of Sherwood. The research continues!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...