When did Wm Evans stop (or did he) using the “From Purdey’s” to sign his work? I ve seen guns marked with and without this. Thanks

Don’t know, but if it helps I have a matched set of box locks made in 1902 that have it engraved on them.

I was looking at a 1916 hammergun that had thé From Purdey on the locks and top rib

Odd that he never signed himself "from Holland and Holland" who he worked for after he left Purdey
This claiming was a sales gimmick as any one who had worked for the likes of Purdey even in the capacity of an shop assistant/sweeper , could claim to be late of that company .
Myself, I could claim to be " From WW Greener " or "late of W&C Scott", having worked for Webley and Scott .

Did Evans apprentice for Purdey? If so, perhaps what he was saying was he was a graduate of their program. Sorta like being a Harvard Lawyer is different than being a University of Iowa lawyer.

It has always been my assumption that he learned his trade at Purdeys, wherever he went from there.

According to Richard Beaumont’s book “Purdey’s The Guns and the Family” William Evans was not apprenticed at Purdey or employed by Purdey as a gunmaker ,it appears that he was only employed in the shop for a short time. This was restated in the Donald Dallas’ book “Purdey The Definitive History”

Hmmm, so that begs the question, where did Evans learn to build guns? He certainly made some nice ones. I owned a hammer 16 of his that was probably from the 1870 or '80s. I'd still have it if fit me better.

He did not build guns but contracted with the trade to have guns built in his name, same business model as W.J. Jeffery used.

My understanding was that William Evans was a great salesman who , without the overheads associated with a workshop and retained workers, used the Birmingham trade predominantly Webley to source shotguns for clients.

True .

The Army and Navy stores sold guns under their name but did not present themselves as gunmakers. Evans uses the description gunmaker for their business. Is there any proof that Evans actually built guns in their own workshops? Did they have a workshop?

I think Army and Navy stores were a cooperative that were not confined solely to trading in guns ,that may explain the lack of the term gunmakers in their title.
Edit to add Army and Navy stores were bought over by House of Fraser, information on specific guns sold I believe is now held at Glasgow University.

In this line we discussed a 20 ga William Evans, made in 1902, given to my wife by MGen D.K. Palit in India.

https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=475388&page=all

I called William Evans several times. The records are extensive. - who ordered what and when. I asked specifically what factories made those guns. I never got a reply.

Same as most of the British trade.......

Imperdix,
That is a very cruel and inaccurate comment!
Most of the British Guntrade did have factories or workshops , but of course it is a product that relied on the skills of many outworkers if you happened to be a small manufacturer.William Evans should be congratulated on being able to open the wallets of many gullible individuals. Some years ago I loaded for an American who kept his gun at William Evans in London to save flying it back and forth . William Evans Ltd looked after his guns and needs . The Gent shot extremely well on very high Welsh Pheasants despite his gun not having any multichokes fitted because William Evans had forgot to fit them.

There were gun makers and gun Masters . A Gun Master ran a company that had very small " in house " workshops but used many trade out workers and jobbers .William Evans , would have been a gun Master
They commissioned guns from larger makers to be made to their specifications both for stock and individual orders . As they had the guns made to order using subcontractors it was considered to be that they were the gunmaker .
How many items do we have in our home with a branded name that in fact were made in some factory in China for example ?
Up until the mid 70's in the UK with the introduced the Trade Descriptions Act , to prevent people claiming to be " maker " unless they had done a certain percentage of the work themselves , in an effort to prevent cheap imported goods being passed of as British made .
As a result for example ,guns then made by W & S for the likes of Dickson , Cogswell etc. had to be marked as " Made for " or similar , usualy on the rib but the action and tubes would have only the name of the " maker " .

Thanks for the replies. It seems the lines are very blurry between gunmakers and gunmasters (never heard that term before). Seems like all the names portrayed themselves as gunmakers.

`Economic with the truth` would describe many trades in years gone by......and still does in some.

I did not see in that earlier thread where you ever finally unbent and rebutted the gun. What was the final solution?

My latest Cashmore has about the same amount of cast off. In looking at the lower tang, I'm quite certain that it was bent after leaving the factory.

We haven't touched it Brent. My wife doesn't shoot anymore. If I were to take off the extension it would be too short for me or my son, to whom she gave the gun. It is a bit too long but shootable with the cast off. So he's kept it as it was given to us. He may at some point in the future decide to work on it but for now it is as it was.

Well, it's an awesome gun no matter what. That sort of history is so rare and so unobtainable.

I'm planning on straightening about half the cast off on my gun, but really I just need a little more drop to be totally happy.