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 4" Brown Bess with New Land Pattern Shoulders Dated 1803

OA 551mm Bl 430mm Sl 103mm Mrd 22.5mm Sm 53mm Bw 31mm

    

 

 

 

 

The blade is marked with the maker 'WOOLLEY & DEAKIN' [1],  Birmingham makers working in Edmund St.,  Birmingham, 1803-1812.  The date on the blade is very interesting and unusual,  it is possible (though unlikely) that it relates to the partnership between Woolley and Deakin which began on the 30th April 1803.  It is more likely to relate to a specific contract,  I have another example of a 4" Bess, but with India pattern shoulders made by Dawes,  also marked 1803 on the blade,  this example however has the worn remains of the East India Company heart mark.  I have also found another example by Woolley&Deakin marked '1803' but with India Pattern shoulders.

New Land pattern shoulders.

(Click to enlarge)

(1) British & Commonwealth bayonets by Ian D Skennerton and Robert Richardson,  page 398,  ISBN 0 949749 04 4