doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com E.M. Reilly; History; Chronology; Serial Numbers

========== *34 Aug 1858 - Apr 1861: Four changes in the Name TEXT ===========
This post will mostly be of interest to those trying to date guns and labels. The dates of the name changes, descriptions are a best guess; multiple advertisements in newspapers and magazines can be found with differing descriptions/names running at the same time. This does, however, have something to do with research and scholastic rigor..i.e. it's important even if it seems a bit pedantic.

As noted above for 10 years after the 1847 move to 502 New Oxford Street, the company was known in advertisements as “REILLY, GUN MAKER (sometimes “Gunmaker).*34 There were exceptions previously mentioned for J.C. Then with J.C’s 1857 retirement, E.M began a series of radical moves which included name changes.

*34 August 1858 - April 1861: Four Changes in the Company Name

. . . . .*34A “REILLY & CO., GUN MAKERS” - August 1858 - March 1859

. . . . . . . . . .-- When Reilly opened 315 Oxford Street in early August 1858 with “new partners,” the company’s name appears to have changed from "Reilly, Gun Maker" (singular) to "Reilly & Co., Gun Makers"(plural) for a short while from circa August 1858-March 1859 per a few advertisements & references in books. (Note: Many advertisements until January 1859 and even beyond that date continued to use only "Reilly, Gun Maker."

. . . . . . . . . .-- Newspaper ads only began mentioning this name from January 1859 but it may have been registered in some way in trade directories.*34Aa “Reilly & Co.” is referred to in occasional books and newpaper articles.*34Ab No trade labels exist with this name. A few advertisements using "Reilly & Co." can be found as late as September 1859.

. . . . . . . . . .-- 315 Oxford Street at the same time used all sorts of names in advertisements: "Reilly Armoury House," "Reilly’s Armoury House"; " Reillys, the Armoury House"; "Reilly’s London Armoury House." However, these were never "official" company names.*34Ac
. . . . . . . . . .-- Two extant Reillys, both Prince Patent rifles, have "Reilly & Co.” on the barrel (see Prince breech loading rifles above).
. . . . . . . . . .-- Note: November & December1858 there were a few outlier Ads for "REILLY, MANUFACTURER.” It appeared in three newspapers but apparently had no effect on the name of the company but was a harbinger of things to come.*34Ad

. . . . .*34B ”E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MAKERS” - February 1859 – August 1860:

. . . . . . . . . .-- By February 1859 the company's name used in newspaper and magazine ads changed definitively to "E.M. Reilly & Co.", a name which continued in use for the next 100 years.*34Ba

. . . . . . . . . .-- His labels for both branches changed at this time to reflect the new name, "E.M. Reilly & Co., Gun Makers" (note the plural):

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- NEW LABEL: 502 New Oxford St. continued to use the standard scolloped corner rectangular label illustrated by the sketch of the building and the 1851 & 1855 World’s Fair medals;*34Bb



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- NEW LABEL: 315 Oxford Street continued to have a different rectangular label still without scollops but now also with the “E.M Reilly & Co.” name and the 1851 and 1855 medals.*34Bc



. . . . . . . . . .-- 315 Oxford Street continued to use all sorts of names in advertisements per above, none of them official.*34Bd

. . . . . . . . . .-- The first extant serial numbered gun with "E.M. Reilly & Co." on the barrel is a 3 band Enfield SN 11227 dated per the below chart to autumn 1859.*34Be

. . . . .*34C “E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURER” (singular) - August 1860 – April 1861:
. . . . . . . . . .-- In August 1860 Reilly began using "Gun Manufacturer" (singular) rather than "Gun Makers" in his advertisements. The Trade Labels did not appear to change.*34Ca. (Note: some long-term advertisements continued to refer to E.M. Reilly & Co., Gun Makers during this period as did the trade labels.

. . . . .*34D “E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURERS" (plural)” - April 1861:

. . . . . . . . . .-- In circa April 1861 the company's description on labels and in advertisements changed from "Gun Makers" to "Gun Manufacturers"(plural).*34Da From this point on the company was known definitively as "E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURERS," a name and description which continued in use for the next 40 years.

. . . . . . . . . .-- NEW LABEL: At that time the sketch of 502 New Oxford Street was dropped from his case labels. The separate label for 315 Oxford Street also was dropped. The new label had 502 as the featured address. A label mentioning 315 during the time frame 1861-1868 has not been found.*34Db)



(After 1868 Reilly labels mention 315 as a "branch establishment" in scroll work on the label.) The basic format for the new label remained fundamentally consistent for the next 30+ years with variations (additions of medals, branch addresses in scroll work, occasionally mention of royalty, etc.) There were a few outlier labels. The advertising scroll work at the bottom of the label changed slightly after 1885. (See the separate chart dating Reilly labels).

. . . . . . . . . .-- PRESENTATION LABEL: Reilly Presentation cases also at this time changed to adopt both the new name and sometimes the "Gun Manufacturers" description; three examples exist, each slightly different.*34Dc
. . . . . . . . . ._____________________
. . . . . . . . . |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . |. . . .Reilly Label. . . . .|
. . . . . . . . . |. .Presentation case . . |
. . . . . . . . . |____________________|

. . . . . . . . . ._____________________
. . . . . . . . . |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . |. . . .Reilly Label. . . . .|
. . . . . . . . . |. . . Presentation . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . |____________________|

. . . . . . . . . ._____________________
. . . . . . . . . |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . |. . . .Reilly Label. . . . .|
. . . . . . . . . |. . . Presentation . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . |____________________|

======== *34 Aug 1858 - Apr 1861: Four changes in the Name END TEXT =========