In Burford, Oxfordshire there was a gunmaker named Henry Holland at around the same time as you gun may have been made. Accounts of the time say the Burford Hollands turned out guns of very high quality. The Burford Henry Holland had, as far as we can tell, no family ties or trade relationship with the London Henry or Harris Holland. One wonders how many people have an Oxford Holland gun that they think was made by H. Holland in London!
This is what IGC has on the Burford Holland:
Henry Holland (Jnr) was recorded at High Street, Burford, Oxfordshire, from 1841 to 1852. These are the same dates that William Holland, possibly his brother, was recorded in Banbury, Oxfordshire. Henry was not recorded in Burford from 1853 to 1861 but was recorded again from 1862 to about 1874. A Henry Holland was recorded trading as a gun maker in 1868 in High Street, Faringdon, Berkshire; presumably this was the same Henry Holland, and the Faringdon business was run by his son, Thomas (it probably traded beyond 1868). Between about 1874 and about 1878 Henry made Thomas a partner in the business, which became Henry Holland & Son. In about 1885 Henry retired or died and Thomas took over the business re-naming it after himself. He appears to have closed in about 1901.
I can find no relevant 1861 patents or firearms patents numbered 61. However, my suspicion would be that CWL refers to Charles William Lancaster, who we know was a prolific inventor of firearms improvements. I'm wondering if your gun may have started out as an unusual base-fire, converted later to centre-fire, only because the illustration in Brown of a Lancaster base-fire mechanism shows remarkably similar hammers to your gun.
Tim
