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Redoing the history/chronology - New date for closing 16 New Oxford Street - from "1898" to first week of May 1897


In addition, when I first started using the UK national newspaper database in 2017 there was almost nothing about Reilly from 1888 - 1912. I was unable to verify that Reilly actually closed 16 New Oxford Street in 1898 as numerous experts had claimed. However, after a two year hiatus I paid for a month subscription again and got back into the database to check a few things. Millions pages have been added and there were a lot of advertisements for Reilly throughout the 1890's and some ads right up to Bankruptcy. It was evident that 16 New Oxford St. was not mentioned in any ad in 1898.

Researching 1897 advertisements...16 New Oxford street is mentioned in a 01 May 1897 ad but not in an 08 May 1897 ad. So he closed the workshop the first week of May 1897 a full year earlier than previously reckoned. This was verified by looking at numerous advertisements leading up to May 1897 and subsequently. This was much like the research that showed rue Scribe closed in 1885, not 1886. I will have to change the history and chronology to reflect this...it'll take some time: (and it means that my hammer gun 12 bore, SN 34723, is now early 1897 vice late 1898....going to be interesting to squash the chronology and it'll show the Reilly decline more dramatically after the death of EM in July 1890)

. . . . . . .01 May 1897 "Sporting Gazette" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 08 May 1897 "Sporting Gazette"


There are two national UK newspaper databases. The two apparently do not have all the same newspapers. This is the one I'm using. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
Caution: using this database to search key words is finicky...you can search what you think is logical and nothing comes up. Imagination then comes into play. Still...an amazing resource!!! Worth paying for..it you have a specific objective in mind.

Reilly disappears from the newspapers downloaded into the library of this database in late February 1903, still advertising as being at 277 Oxford Street, and doesn't reappear again in advertisements until May 1904, located at 295 Oxford Street. I assume this database will ultimately download more papers...but I may have to take a look at the second database to see what happened to 277 and 295. For the moment, the date of the move is "March 1903."

Modification of the date charts is complete. There is some logic to the new chart. It moves the gun Toby Barclay sold, 35079 back to late 1898. That gun still had pre-1896 proof marks on the barrel. But at least a case can be made that the gun sat on the rack for 2 years...rather than the 4 the old chart would have mandated.

By the way from the ad: 1897 - "English Damascus"??! Raimey will have a cow - what's the chance that a Damascus barrel was made in England in 1897? Almost 100% certain these would have been Liège made barrels....proofed in England. Right?

Last edited by Argo44; 06/13/20 11:30 PM.

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