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T Page-Wood & Co
Entry Information:
First Address: 29 Nicholas Street
City/Town: Bristol
County: Gloucestershire
Country: United Kingdom
Other Addresses:
26 High Street
29 St Nicholas Street
8 Pipe Lane, Off Colston Lane
28 St Nicholas Street
Old Park Hill, Park Row
8 Pipe Lane, Off Colston Lane
13 market Place, Frome, Somerset; 1 Westgate, Cardiff, Glamorganshire; Walcott Street, Bath, Somerset; 21 Castle Street, Cardiff, Glamorganshire; 19 High Street, Shepton Mallet, Somerset.
Information
Trade: Gun makers; ammunition makers
Dates: 1876-1964
Notes:
Thomas Page-Wood established his business in 1876 at 29 Nicholas Street, Bristol.
In about 1885 he opened branches at 13 Market Place, Frome, Somerset, and at 1 Westgate, Cardiff, Glamorganshire.
In 1887 he patented his own cartridge loading machine and formed the Patent National Cartridge Company, the patent was improved in 1892
In about 1890 the address of the main business in Bristol was given as 26 High Street, but it may be that the 26 Nicholas Street shop was retained. The Frome branch closed, the Cardiff branch moved to 21 Castle Street, and new branches were opened at 39-40 Walcot Street, Bath, and 19 High Street, Shepton Mallet, Somerset.
Precisely when T Page-Wood started loading cartridges is not known but on 18 November 1887 he registered patent No. 15848 for a cartridge crimping machine which reduced the top of the cartridge case to 16 bore before crimping it. A further patent, No. 10220 of 28 May 1892 was for a more comprehensive cartridge loading and crimping machine. In 1894 they established the Patent National Cartridge Company Ltd with Ł15,000 share capital. This company purchased two patents for improvements to shotgun cartridges from T Page-Wood and Septimus E H Chambers, who had his own business at 63 Broad Street, Bristol in 1888. The directors of the company were T Page-Wood, Septimus Chambers, R G Webster, J Sinnott and T W Jaques. The business continued to operate with Septimus Chambers as manager. The Patent National Cartridge Company Ltd went into voluntary liquidation in 1895 and T Page-Wood continued the business.
In 1900 the firm started buying guns from Thomas Wild and Rowland Watson, other suppliers followed from time to time.
In July 1901 T Page-Wood Junior opened a gun shop at17 Nicholas Street, Bristol.
In about 1905 all the branches appear to have closed and the only address of the business was 26 St Nicholas Street (street re-named?).
In 1907 the business was registered as a limited company, T Page-Wood Ltd.
T Page-Wood had promoted themselves as "The Gun Makers of the West", and they acted in a wholesale as well as a retail capacity. They had agents in Malta, Cyprus and Canada. They made a folding aperture sight for shotguns, an elliptical aim corrector (which was a metal half circle mounted over the barrels in front of the fore-end), and a fore-end elevator (an enlarged fore-end which was clipped over the existing fore-end to discourage low shooting.
T Page -Wood thought the over-shot wad and rolled turnover deflected some of the pellets resulting in poor patterns, so he developed a smaller over-shot wad and used a slightly cone shaped closure on the tube rather than a rolled turnover.
In about 1920 the company moved to 28 St Nicholas Street.
In 1924 the firm patented a shotgun cartridge with a stepped turnover (cone shaped case) and therefore a smaller than usual over-shot wad. This was thought to ease loading and reduce recoil and without impairing pattern quality, advertising material described it as "anti-recoil economic cartridge" and "The cartridge that gets you more kills".
In 1942 the company's premises were bombed and by 1955 they were trading at Old Park Hill, Park Row. In about 1961 the company and T Page-Wood Junior were sold to the Sheldon Bush & Patent Shot Co Ltd, but reportedly in 1964 it traded as T Page-Wood Ltd at 8 Pipe Lane, off Colston Lane, Bristol. They were not recorded after 1968.
Other:
The firm sold cartridges under the names:
"Anti-Recoil Cartridge" (post 1920)
"Anti-Recoil Economic" (post 1920)
"Bristol"
"Climax Cartridge"
"Double Crimp"
"First Quality"
"Imperial Crown"
"Lion"
"National Choke"
"Page-Wood D S 4"
"Park Row"
"Second Quality" (Nobel Glasgow 16 bore post 1919)
"Shield"
"Special .410" (post 1927)
"Trapshot"
"Wildfowler"
Headstamps on the cases were:
Kynoch Birmingham 1895-1919,
Nobel Glasgow 1919-1926,
Page-Wood Bath,
Page-Wood Bristol,
Smokeless Made in Great Britain (Greenwood & Batley),
Eley Kynoch (ICI) post 1926.
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