According to Brown, that gun would have been built at the end of 1872.
If its also helpful, here is what IGC have on Pape:
Name William Rochester Pape
Address1 44 Westgate Street
Address2 44 Westgate Street and 16 Bondgate, Alnwick
Address3 29 Collingwood Street & 36 Westgate Street and 16 Bondgate, Alnwick
Address4 29 Collingwood Street, 36 Westgate Street,
Address5 21 Collingwood Street
City/Town Newcastle-upon-Tyne
County Northumberland
Country United Kingdom
Trade Gun, fishing rod & tackle maker
Other Address 29 Fawcett Street, Sunderland.
Dates 1830-1937
Notes
William Rochester Pape was born on 1 August 1832 in Amble, about 15 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland. He was the son of a game dealer, James Pape (b.1806 in Netherton) and Dorothy (b.1806 in Shilbottle). James Pape seems to have been more than a game dealer, he appears to have had fishing rights near Amble and a business making fishing rods, flies and tackle. In the 1841 census, the family were recorded in Collingwood Street, Newcastle. At that time William had one brother and two sisters, Dorothy E (b.1834 in Amble), Anthony (b.1838 in Newcastle) and Helen J (b.1840 in Newcastle). In the 1851 census two more sons, James A (b.1843) and Thomas (b.1845) were recorded, together with another sister, Isabella S (b.1846), all born in Newcastle. At that time the family was living in the Spital Tongues area of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. W R Pape (then aged 20) was recorded as a game dealer working for his father who probably also dealt in powder, wadding and shot and, maybe, guns. William's later achievements suggest that he served some kind of apprenticeship in the gun trade, almost certainly with William Davison of 63 Pilgrim Street (see below). In 1856 William Rochester Pape married Dorothy Crawford (b.1835 in Alnham). There are reports that he married "Beryl", after whom he named a cartridge, but no record of a Beryl Pape has been found. The name may refer to a daughter who died as an infant but again no record has been found however, he did have a champion dog named Beryl.
In 1857, W R Pape established his own business as a gun, fishing rod and tackle maker at 44 Westgate Street. The firm later claimed an establishment date of 1830 but this would have been the date William's father established his business. In 1858 and 1859 he was a winner at the London Gun Trials organised by the Field magazine. In 1858 William opened a branch at 16 Bondgate, Alnwick, about 30 miles north of Newcastle but only 12 miles north of Amble. These Alnwick premises he seems to have shared with Miss Mary Pape (his aunt?), a confectioner but at various times a grocer, confectioner and a rabbit dealer, and her brother Albert Selby Pape at various times a grocer, and bird and animal stuffer. This branch of the gun business was later in the 1860s managed by William's brother, Anthony Pape. The 1871 census records Anthony living at Bondgate Street (no number stated) with his daughter Helen Sophia (b.1868 in Alnwick) and a servant. Anthony had married Sophia Honoria Foulger (b.1843) in 1865 but she had died in 1870. The branch closed in about 1872. William, like Joseph Lang in London, was an accomplished gun dog breeder and trainer (pointers and setters) and used Coquet Lodge, Warkworth, to train them. Warkworth and Coquet Lodge were on the banks of the river Coquet where James had his fishing business. In 1859 William organised in Newcastle what is thought to have been the first dog show in England (the first public field trial took place in Bedfordshire in 1866). Between 1859 and 1862 William's business moved to 29 Collingwood Street in Newcastle. These premises were formerly occupied 1829-1834 by William Greener, they were on the corner of Collingwood Street and Westgate Street with frontage onto both. Reportedly, they were once occupied by Sir John Fife but this has not been confirmed. The Westgate Street entrance was No. 36. The accommodation comprised a shop on the ground floor and a flat above, in which he lived.
The 1861 census records William and Dorothy living at 7 Westmorland Terrace. William described himself as a gun manufacturer employing 9 men and 4 boys. Their children were Dorothy (b.1858), Annie (b.1860) and William Dunbar (b.1861), all in Newcastle. Hannah Crawford, William's mother-in-law was staying with them, as was one servant. In the 1861 census James was recorded as a game dealer and fishing tackle maker employing 1 man and a boy. The family, living at 2 North Lane, comprised James and his wife Dorothy, Dorothy E (aged 26 employed as a fish fly dresser), Anthony (aged 22 employed as a gun maker by his brother, William), Helen J (aged 20 b.1841), James A (aged 18 b.1843 employed as a chemist), Thomas (aged 16 b.1845 employed as a fishing rod maker probably by William rather than his father - see below), and Isabella S (aged 15 b.1846). In 1866 William won the London Gun Trials, but on 29 May 1866 W R Pape registered patent No. 1501 for a single bite self-tightening action, and barrels tapered internally at the muzzle (choke bored). The patent appears to concentrate on the action which employed two bolts on a vertical spindle the spindle being turned by a thumb lever in front of and to the right of the trigger guard. The patent gave details of choke boring but it was not renewed when it lapsed in 1873, so it appears that William did not greatly value choke boring until later when he claimed to have invented choke boring and, in 1875, won a prize for the invention. This amounted to 10 guineas donated by a Mr A J Lane through the Field magazine. W W Greener is often credited for the invention of choke boring. He certainly developed and popularised it, but neither William Rochester Pape nor William Greener "invented" it. The idea had been fairly common knowledge throughout the gun making world since the late 17th century. On 2 March 1867 William registered patent No. 594 for an extractor and re-tracting strikers which never got past the provisional stage, but on 3 September 1867 he was granted patent No 2488 for an improved design incorporating a rotating bolt single bite snap action with a thumb lever, a short stem extractor in which a projection on the extractor married with a "T" shaped slot in the action face, and a retracting striker worked by a lever pivoted outside the lock plate and linked to the hammer. The thumb lever was part of a vertical pivot behind the action face at the top of which was a curved bolt rotating horizontally into a slot in the rear lump. On 15 March 1870 he patented a bar action lock for a hammer gun with internal strikers linked to the hammers (No. 752) which was a further improvement on patent Nos. 594 and 2488.
By the time of the 1871 census William's brother Thomas had become a gun maker and was living at 34 and 36 Westgate Street. One servant was employed. On the night of the census William's son William Dunbar Pape (aged 10 b.1861) was staying with him. The census records William Dunbar as a brother but he was his nephew. By 1881 Thomas had become a fishing tackle manufacturer, he may well have taken over his father James' business in 1875. William, aged 38, was recorded living at Warkworth Mills on the south bank of the river Coquet, with Dorothy, Helen Beatrice (aged 4 b.1867), James Victor (aged 3 b.1868), George Crawford (aged 1 b.1870). Also living at Warkworth Mill was John Alexander Dunbar (aged 19 b.1852 in Scotland), William's fishery manager who appears to have been related to the Pape family, a cook and a general domestic servant. William described himself as a gun manufacturer employing 26 men and 5 boys. On 9 May 1874 William patented top lever which worked to the left and the right, and a snap-action bolt (patent No. 1645). In 1875 the Field magazine organised trials of choked and cylinder bored guns. In these trials the choke bored guns threw tighter patterns at longer ranges. Pape's cylinder bored guns came 1st in the cylinder bore competition, and his choked guns came 2nd and 3rd in the choke bore competition. This did not please him. He was criticised by Dr. John Henry Walsh ("Stonehenge", b.1810 d.1888, editor of The Field magazine 1857-1888) for being a bad loser! Alternative accounts of this trial have been reported; they state that Greener won in all three classes and Pape came second, and also that Pape's gun had balled shot (shot fused into one lump) because he had hollowed out his wads, and that the gun was disqualified in consequence. Reportedly also, and interestingly, in these trials W R Pape entered three guns in his own name and three guns in the name of Davison of Morpeth (about 12 miles north of Newcastle). It is speculation, but Davison may have been the son of William Davison, and may have been employed as his barrel borer (see George Davison of Alnwick and Newcastle on Tyne 1810-1826, and William Davison of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1827-1859).
James Pape died on 9 June 1875 at which time he was living at 69 Maple Street Newcastle. His estate was valued at under 800. On 21 July 1876 a further trial took place at the Notting Hill Gun Club. This trial was won by cylinder bored guns but it was criticised as worthless and not a true test, because the cylinder bored guns used "concentrators" (paper or wire mesh shot containers) which threw a pattern equivalent to half choke bored guns. In 1877 a further trial in which concentrators were banned was organised. James Purdey put up a 50 guinea silver cup. The choke bore proved to be the winner. In the 1881 census W R Pape described himself as a master gunmaker, he still lived at Warkworth Mills but by this time had another daughter, Flora J (aged 6 b.1875). In 1887 the firm won a medal at the Royal Mining, Engineering and Industrial Exhibition, and in 1888/9 they won a certificate of merit at the Glasgow exhibition. Reportedly, William retired in 1888/9 aged 56/57, but if true it seems he only withdrew from the day-to-day running of the business which was left to Victor. The 1891 census records William living at Coquet Lodge with Dorothy. He described himself as a gun maker. William Dunbar Pape was described as an engine maker, but George Crawford Pape, James Victor Pape (known as Victor) and Thomas Pape were all described as gun makers so it is clear that the firm did not lack day-to-day management. Thomas was not recorded in later censuses, perhaps he died.
In 1894 William filed three further patents, No. 2327 for a chamber and barrel cleaner, No. 2799 for draught excluders, and No. 3156 for windows for railway carriages. By this time the firm was known as "the Purdey of the North" because of the excellent quality of their guns. He claimed to be !a manufacturer who builds the gun throughout from raw materials" but his less expensive guns were probably made in Birmingham. In the 1901 census William was recorded as a widower living at Coquet Lodge with his daughter Flora and one servant. James Victor Pape lived at 5 Loranie Row with his wife, Edith M (nee Simpson b.1872), and their son, William Rochester Pape (aged 3 b.1898). Victor described himself as a gun manufacturer. The 1901 census records George Crawford Pape living on his own means (no occupation) at 22 Camden Road, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk with his wife Mary (nee Ripley b.1877 in Newcastle upon Tyne. They married in Great Yarmouth in 1901. Presumably one or both of their parents did not approve of the marriage. George may have returned to work for the family firm. Mary died in 1911 in Durham. George re-married, this time to Georgina Barbara. George died in 1937 in Blyth, just north of Newcastle. William Rochester Pape was an executor of his will which was proved at 6225.6s.8d. In 1902 the firm moved to 21 Collingwood Street which they called the "North of England Gun Works", by this time they were a military contractor to the Japanese Government. In the 1911 census William was recorded living at Glendarnel, Harlow Moor, Harrogate, Yorkshire. He was living with Adllina (?) Hannah Horsley (aged 48 b.1863) who was described as his daughter (no occupation). They employed a house keeper. William described himself as a widower and retired gun maker.
The 1911 census records Victor as a 43 year old gun maker living at Ferndale, Clayton Road, Newcastle, with Edith and his son William Rochester (aged 13) and a daughter Dorothy Cranford (b.1903). William Rochester probably joined the family business as a gun maker but this has not been confirmed. In 1911 / 1912 Ward's Directory records W R Pape in business at 29 Fawcett Street, Sunderland. The firm survived the First World War but its founder, William Rochester Pape died on 15 April 1923 in a road accident near his Westgate Street premises. At that time he was living at Lynton, 45 Moorside, Fenham, Newcastle upon Tyne, which may have been Victor's home. Victor proved his will, he left effects valued at 6337. 18s. 10d. By 1935 the gun trade was a shadow of its former self, and Victor sought to pursue other business interests at the premises at 21 Collingwood Street. The gun making side of the business was sold to two employees Bagnall & Kirkwood, who opened their own business at 31 Westgate Street in that year. They bought all the unfinished guns and parts, and Victor sold all the remaining finished guns between 1935 and 1937. The firm retained the W R Pape name but re-located to 52 Grainger Street. The firm of Bagnall & Kirkwood continues to trade as gunsmiths. James Victor Pape died in 1955. William Rochester Pape, grandson of the founder, died on 17 November 1957 in Newcastle General Hospital. His will was proved by his wife Vera Armstrong Pape and his estate was valued at 15,097. 17s. 1d.
The original records of the firm are held by Rodney Ford, 51 South End, Bassingbourne, Hertfordshire SG8 5NL; Tel: 01763 243736. Bagnall & Kirkwood also hold copies. The Internet Gun Club have details of serial numbers and dates.
Other Info
As W R Pape, the firm sold Pegamoid cartridges (Post 1910) under their own name and the Collingwood Street address, and cartridges under the names "Beryl" (after 1910), "Grouse" (post 1910), "Heather" (post 1910), "Mauve" (Eley Nobel 20 bore post 1929), "Setter" (12 bore and 20 bore Kynoch ICI post 1927), "Pink" (post 1922), "Pointer", "Special" and "Special Sixteen" (post 1910), "Ranger" (post 1900), "Ranger Smokeless", "Setter" (.410 post 1900) and "Smokeless". The firm also sold cartridges without brand names but with illustrations of game or guns and one had a picture of the shop front (post 1900).
Tim
Last edited by trw999; 12/10/15 02:01 PM.
