Thomas Edwin Wild was born in Leicester in 1825. Where he was apprenticed is not known but he was recorded in 1849, probably as an outworking stock maker at Court, 17 Steelhouse Lane. At the time he was living as a lodger with Richard Johnson, a cordwainer (boot and shoe maker), at 42 Whittall Street.
Almost certainly, he did work for Benjamin Watson, and at some time between 1851 and 1857 he married Benjamin Watson's daughter and then moved to 29 Whittall Street. The firm later claimed establishment in 1857.
It has been widely reported that in 1857 Benjamin handed the business over to Thomas Wild, and these reports imply that he ceased to trade, but this is not correct. At about the time of the marriage of his daughter, Benjamin (aged 52) appears to have decided to concentrate on being a "percussioner" to the trade and, in order not to upset his trade customers, he left Thomas to run the retail side of the business under the Wild name. In the 1861 census Benjamin was recorded as a gun percussioner living at 14 Steelhouse Lane with his wife, Sarah, who was recorded as a burnisher. From 1861 to 1864 Benjamin Watson (III) was also shown in the street directories as trading at 73 Moland Street. At this time the firm was probably exporting arms to the USA for use in the civil war. The Moland Street premises had become his principal place of business, but he still lived and worked at 14 Steelhouse Lane. At the time of the 1861 census Thomas Wild and Sarah were living above the shop at 29 Whittall Street.
The 1861 census records the Isaac Watson of Summer Lane (brother of Benjamin noted in the 1841 census) as a gun percussioner aged 38 living at 23 Lower Loveday Street with his wife, Elizabeth (a provision dealer), Isaac (b.1856), Rowland (b.1857), plus three daughters and another son.
Benjamin (III) died in 1870 aged 65. Between 1864 and 1870 it seems that Thomas Wild took over his business and the premises at 35 Moland Street. These premises did not become his principal address, the principal address remained at 29 Whittall Street until 1883/6.
The 1861 census showed Benjamin (IV), aged 29 and a gun maker, living at 37 Bagot Street as a lodger, with his wife, Eliza (a warehousewoman born 1837), and their son Benjamin (V) (b.1857). It is believed they married in 1857. The 1871 census recorded Benjamin (IV) as a gun percussioner living at 37 Bagot Street with his wife, Eliza, and Benjamin (V) who by then was an iron caster aged 14.
In the 1871 census Thomas Wild and Sarah were still living at 29 Whittall Street (no children were recorded), but between 1883 and 1886 the firm's principal place of business changed to 35 Whittall Street which, probably between 1886 and 1894 (just after Thomas Wild died) was named Victoria Gun Works where they also traded as "The Arms and Ammunition Manufacturing Company". The company claimed a head office at 143 Queen Victoria Street, London, and "at Liege".
At the time that he died Thomas Wild was living in Aston. No other census entries for the Wild family have been found, but there may have been a son. A Benjamin Wild worked for BSA then for Midland Gun Co, but in the 1930s he established his own business, Benjamin Wild & Co which is trading today. There were a number of people named Wild in Birmingham at the time, so whether he was related to Thomas Wild or not is not known.
The 1891 census recorded Benjamin (IV), as a gun maker aged 59, and Eliza living at 2 Court, 2 Park Road, Aston Manor, but in 1893 a firm by the name of Rowland Watson was recorded at 17 Whittall Street, as was Thomas Wild & Co. It would appear that Benjamin (IV) retired in 1893 (he died in 1896) and that Rowland Watson (I) took over from him. There are reports that Rowland Watson was the son of Benjamin Watson (III), and was Thomas's nephew but, as mentioned above, he was in fact the son of Isaac Watson of 23 Lower Loveday Street and was therefore Sarah's cousin. Rowland Watson's trade label at this time claimed establishment in 1857 which was the date Thomas Wild started his business, but the trade label used from about 1900 stated the date of establishment of the original Benjamin Watson in 1723.
In the 1901 census, Rowland Watson was recorded as a gun maker aged 44 (b.1857) at 17 Whittall Street living with his wife, Catherine, and their son, Gilbert aged 19. He was recorded not as an employer but as a worker, working from home, and Gilbert's occupation was recorded as gunmaker's assistant, presumably to his father. The firm of Thomas Wild appears to have been operating from 19 Whittall Street, although from about 1901 Rowland Watson's address was also given as 17 Whittall Street.
In 1933 the firms of Rowland Watson and Thomas Wild (& Co) occupied 17 and 18 Whittall Street.
In 1941 Rowland Watson (I) died and his brother Gilbert Watson took over. Gilbert appears to have retired or died in 1951 and his son, Roland H G Watson (Roland (II)) born on 19 May 1910, took over. He was a Guardian of the Birmingham Proof House. The firm remained at 17 and 18 Whittall Street until 1962 when they moved to 32 Lower Loveday Street.
Roland H G Watson retired from the management of both firms in 1987 and also as a Proof House Guardian. He died in 1988 in Solihull, and Barry A King, who had started work with the firm in 1951, bought the business. Barry King started as an errand boy, became a warehouseman, and eventually specialised as a stocker. The firm stocked guns for many Birmingham gunmakers such as Holloway & Naughton, Skimmin & Wood, Midland Gun Co, G E Lewis, William Ford and others.
Guns produced by the firms were marked Watson or Wild, but the same numbering sequence was used for all guns. Obviously, most Watson guns made for the trade were engraved with the name of the retailer rather than with the names of Watson or Wild. The early records of the firms seem to have been lost, but Internet Gun Club has copies of records for 1894 and from 1898 to 1966. The original records are held by Joe Wheater, a retired gunshop owner and the famous clay shooter who represented Great Britain in many international competitions and the Olympic Games in the 1950s and 60s. Barry King retired in 2006. Benjamin Wild & Co occupy premises at Unit FF1, 63 Price Street, Birmingham B4 6JZ, but Colin Wild, the proprietor, has no records or detailed knowledge of his family history.
Other Info
The firm is known to have sold Remington New Club cartridges, they must have sold others as well.
