doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The pinfire game gun

The previous posts of mine and others have presented some fine guns built or retailed by provincial gunmakers outside of the gunmaking centres of Birmingham and London. Clients in towns and villages that were not from the higher strata of British society would only be able to afford cheaper offerings, of the type put up by "the trade," a catch-all term encompassing the several hundred mostly independent craftsmen operating from Birmingham's Gun Quarter. In the next posts I will be covering guns made by "the trade," but before departing the subject of provincial makers entirely I have to mention how such guns were essential to the makers who did not do their own actioning, lock work, barrel work, and so on. So today's gun is a basic utility game gun most likely made in Birmingham for a small-town gunmaker. What is interesting about this gunmaker is that he was British, but not technically in Britain...

I learn something new every day, such as why I couldn't find any reference to John William Hunt in any of the usual reference works on British gun makers, a maker who operated in St. Helier, Jersey, in the Channel Islands. I was surprised to learn the Channel Islands (the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey, and a number of uninhabited islets), located off the coast of Normandy, France, are not considered part of the United Kingdom at all, though these islands are held by the monarch of the United Kingdom. Specifically, these crown dependencies are island territories that are self-governing possessions of the crown. Jersey, located just 12 nautical miles off the coast, was part of the Duchy of Normandy, whose dukes went on to become kings of England from 1066. After England lost Normandy in the 13th century and the ducal title surrendered to France, Jersey and the other Channel Islands remained attached to the English crown. Jersey has enjoyed self-government since the division of the Duchy of Normandy in 1204.

The 18th century was a period of political tension between Britain and France as the two nations clashed as their ambitions grew, and the Channel Islands were caught up in the turmoil. Then, after the Napoleonic wars (1803-1815), the number of English-speaking soldiers stationed on the island and the number of retired officers and English-speaking labourers who came to the islands in the 1820s led to the island gradually moving towards an English-speaking culture. The population of Jersey rose from 47,544 in 1841 to 56,078 in 1861, largely due to agricultural development and industries such as ship-building and commodities such as cider and wool, and later the famous Jersey cattle. The parish of St Helier accounted for approximately half the population of Jersey at the time, and the urban portion of the parish made up the largest town on the island (it still does).

The gun maker P. Vincent established his business in 1833 at Royal Square, St Helier, Jersey. In 1847 H. Vincent took over the business and moved to Parade, St Helier. In 1855 his sons joined the firm and the name changed to H. Vincent & Sons. In 1858 the business moved to 23 Halkett Place, and in 1861 to 7 Saville Street. In 1863 H. Vincent was recorded at 4 Hampton Place, Parade, St Helier, but not after that year. It would have been around this time that John William Hunt took over the business from H Vincent & Sons (though one of Hunt's advertisements mentions taking over the business somewhat earlier, in 1860). In 1889 John Hunt was recorded as a gun maker at 69 King Street and 26 Broad Street, and he was also armourer to the Jersey National Rifle Association. It is interesting to note that early local advertisements for the firm appear in both English and French, a reflection of the mix of cultures on the island. Unfortunately, reference works on British gun makers only list those recorded within the territory of the United Kingdom, and therefore gun makers and gunsmiths operating in the crown dependencies have been excluded and there is very little in the way of information on them.

The gun is a 12-bore double-bite screw-grip rotary under-lever pinfire sporting gun signed John William Hunt of St. Helier, Jersey, with no serial number. The 30 1/16" damascus barrels have Birmingham proofs and the maker's marks "C.N" and "HB" (the latter is possibly Henry Bayliss, Birmingham barrel maker 1855-1869, or Henry Boot, Birmingham barrel maker, 1867). There is also the mark "J.M" on the barrel flats. These marks may identify who actually built the gun for John Hunt, as this is a typical utilitarian low-grade pinfire that Birmingham built for the trade in the late-1860s -- and more likely to have been used by a farmer than a wealthy sportsman. From the estimated age the gun may have been retailed from the 4 Hampton Place, Parade, St Helier, address. The top rib is simply marked "J. Hunt Jersey", and the back-action locks are signed "J. Hunt". The gun is in poor, worn-out condition, with evidence of old repairs and part replacements. A curious modification is a simple V-notch sight added between the fences, suggesting the gun was used at some point for shooting ball. As there are no large-game species on Jersey (I'm discounting the mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses last hunted on Jersey during the Ice Age), I have no ready explanation to propose, and it might have been added at any point in its long period of service. The bores are pitted, and the gun weighs 7 lb 1 oz.