====== *84 1890: Death of E.M. Reilly and aftermath TEXT ======

*84 1890: Death of E.M. Reilly and aftermath:

In July 1890 EM Reilly contracted broncho-pneumonia and passed away.*84a, 84b, 84c

Of Reilly's “acknowledged” sons Charles A. was 20, Herbert H. was 15, and Gerald Atol was 13 - all still in school, none apparently with the hands-on gun-making expertise that EM had in his upbringing. His first "son" Edward Montague, who he referred to as “my reputed son,” was 23 and apparently working as a locomotive mechanic (see below).

In his will*84d E.M left a sum of about £8,000 (about $1.2 million today). Thus was in addition to the two buildings held freehold (probably by the company), the guns, the tools, etc. (The structure of the company and Reilly’s partners, if any, are still not known).

His wife Mary Ann was in her 40's. Business was still lively. Widows did successfully manage companies in England at the time after the deaths of their husbands. EM specifically did not leave his wife the "trade books."*84e However, newspaper articles on the later death of her son Edward Montague seem to indicate that Mary was indeed running the company during this time.*84f

With EM’s death, somehow the light of Reilly entrepreneurship went out. Mary Ann Reilly had to operate in a "man's world" and no matter how strong willed, there were serious obstacles for her.

Subsequently, his sons on their majority did not seem to have the hands-on knowledge of the gun manufacturing trade that EM had hammered into him in the 1830's. Nor did they have the generational connections to the business, or the understanding of the complex entertwinings of its execution. The gun-trade was always a sort of dance while juggling a number of balls
-- relationship to outworkers,
-- handling in-house bench workers,
-- dealing with importation of parts (from Belgium) and the licensing for manufacturing others' patents,
-- contacts with Birmingham mass production factories
-- kow-towing to the upper class,
-- staying abreast of market trends,
-- and always advertising and promoting.

By the time Bert actually exerted control over the company, surely around 1899 after Mary’s death, its reputation and place in the English gun-making fraternity had been seriously eroded. (And Bert not bothering to attend assemblies of English gun-makers probably didn't help - fraternization, even in a cut-throat business, always is a plus).*84g

==== *84 1890: Death of E.M. Reilly and aftermath TEXT ====

Last edited by Argo44; 06/05/22 11:03 AM.
Baluch are not Brahui, Brahui are Baluch