Sally, Many thanks for your contribution about the Reilly family and it is remarkable. The birth dates of EM from 1816 to 1817 and the date of the death of JC from 1863 to 1864 have been corrected.

The date of the move from 316 High Holborn to 502 New Oxford has been kept as 23 March 1847 rather than 1848 per the following London newspaper advertisements.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 March 1847, "Morning Post" ("Removing to another establishment..")


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03 April 1847 "London News" ("Removed from Holborn")


BLISSETT occupied 316 High Holborn and advertised in April 1847 that these were the former premises of Reilly.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 April 1847, "Illustrated London News" ("Formerly Reilly's")


The effect of anti-Catholic sentiment in Britain at the time on JC and EM Reilly has been a curiosity. Also, England at the time was such a class conscious society. One of my favorite books is "Mr. American," of course written by George MacDonald Fraser (creator of "Flashman" series), about an American gun fighter who made a fortune, wound up in England about 1895 and ran smack into the English class structure...there were something like 175 identified classes and the "proper etiquette" for each class towards each class seems almost as complicated as the Hindu Caste structure in India at the time.

Also it doesn't surprise about the egos or managerial practices of either JC or EM - both created and ran an important company; I think EM had a real gift for marketing.

In the above I've tried to recreate the Reilly serial number chronology and have concentrated on the gun-making. Now we all have something concrete about the men and the family - this fills out the picture of the idividuals. We look forward to more about Edward Michael. For history, we'd all be particularly interested in who ran the company after his death in 1890 and how the Reilly name came to be associated with Charles Riggs in 1922. And, if you have any pictures of either man, they would be much appreciated. Again many thanks - what a pleasant surprise and a historical gift.

Gene Williams

Edit: Also anything you might have on on his Paris branch would be much appreciated. Do you have any info on who ran the Paris store and why EM closed it? The fact his sister spent a lot of time there is fascinating.

Last edited by Argo44; 08/31/18 06:36 AM.

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