HOLLAND & HOLLAND ‘the Royal’ Gunmaker T h e C o m p l e t e H i s t o ry
D ona l d Da l l as
Quiller
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To Donald, Katy and Judith
Copyright Š Holland & Holland 2014 This revised and updated second edition published in 2014 by Quiller Publishing Ltd. Fully authorised by Holland & Holland, 33 Bruton Street, London w1 6hh British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library isbn 978 1 84689 202 8 The right of Donald Dallas to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patent Act 1988 The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without any guarantee on the part of the Publisher, who also disclaims any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. Design and typesetting by Paul Saunders Printed in China
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Contents Acknowledgements 6 Photographic Acknowledgements 6 Foreword by Daryl Greatrex 7 Preface 8 Chapter 1 — Musical Prelude 11 Chapter 2 — The Tobacconist and The Gunmaker 16 Chapter 3 — Harris Holland Muzzle-loaders 27 Chapter 4 — 98 New Bond Street 45 Chapter 5 — Early Holland Breech-loaders 78 Chapter 6 — ‘Winners of all The Field Rifle Trials, London 1883’ 112 Chapter 7 — From Retail to Manufacture 149 Chapter 8 — The Colonel Commands 200 Chapter 9 — New Premises, New Direction 231 Chapter 10 — ‘The Barrels Must Kiss’ 259 Chapter 11 — Holland & Holland Guns and Rifles 274 Appendices 1. The Holland Family Tree 330 2. Holland & Holland Gun and Rifle Sales in the 19th Century 332 3. The Dating of Holland & Holland Serial Numbers 333 4. Milestones in the History of Holland & Holland 336 5. Trade Labels 339 6. Holland & Holland Trade Marks and Brand Names 357 7. The Diversity of Holland & Holland Guns and Rifles 359 8. The Gunmakers and Staff of Holland & Holland 361 9. Component Suppliers 1907–30 366 10. Holland & Holland Patents 367 11. Cartridges Developed and Introduced by Holland & Holland 387 12. Experts On Guns And Shooting Chapter XVIII 389 13. Unusual Holland & Holland Firearms 415 14. The History of the .700 Holland & Holland Nitro Express 432 Select Bibliography and Sources Used 435 Index 436
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Acknowledgements
Chapter 9 and supplied many of the photographs. David Winks, whose career with Holland & Holland spanned the period 1955–94, lived up to his reputation as an expert on the firm. He willingly gave me a great deal of information and advice on all matters pertaining to Holland & Holland. Sidney Harvey, the machine shop foreman, who worked for the firm for 51 years between 1936 and 1987, was of great assistance in providing an insight into the firm during the war period and must be thanked for his work in naming the personnel in the early factory photographs. David J. Baker, the prolific and respected gun author and writer, was indispensable in supplying many photographs from his archive and for offering much advice on both matters technical and historical. Roger Lake of Bonhams and Butterfields likewise supplied many photographs and an endless discussion on all things Holland in Bruton Street shared much of his research and views with me. David Baker and Roger Lake are co-authors of Paradox, The Story of Col. G.V. Fosbery, Holland & Holland, and the Paradox published in 2010. The noted gunmaker to the trade, David Dryhurst of W.W. Greener, was especially helpful in explaining many difficult technical points regarding Holland & Holland guns. Boss & Co., the gunmakers, kindly let me examine their archives to study John Robertson’s association with Holland & Holland. For the new edition I must thank the present staff of Holland & Holland for all their help and assistance, Daryl Greatrex, the managing director, Andrew Ambrose, the gunroom manager, Tom Fleetwood, multi-media, PR marketing assistant, Shan Davies, PR and marketing co-ordinator and Steve Denny, the director of operations at the shooting ground. I must also thank Russell Wilkin for writing Appendix 14, The History of the .700 Holland & Holland Nitro Express. Finally I must thank Tricia Bruce for helping me conduct much of the research into the Holland family and for her unending proof reading of the manuscript. I must also thank Marion Murray for the many hours she worked on typing it up and Teresa Robertson for typing up the new edition.
Writing a book like this can never pretend to be a solo effort. I have been fortunate in receiving a great deal of help from many people keen to impart and share their knowledge. Without their help this book could never have been published. It was Roger Mitchell, the ex deputy chairman of Holland & Holland, who was instrumental in creating this book. His wish was that a detailed history of Holland & Holland be written before records and memory faded and to this end he offered me much encouragement, help and full access to all Holland & Holland records. Russell Wilkin, the present technical director who joined the firm in 1963, was a font of all knowledge and especially helpful in explaining many technical points. His keen sense of Holland history and the many suggestions he made have been a great benefit to the book. Peter Boxall, the ex manufacturing director at Harrow Road, took a great deal of time and care to conduct me round the factory and explain the many facets of current gun construction, even unwittingly providing me with a chapter title. Ken Davies, the chief shooting instructor, kindly gave his reminiscences, having been with the company since 1966. I would also like to thank all the staff at Holland & Holland for their constant help and patience whilst I ferreted in every quarter of the shop and factory. The present day descendants of the Holland family were invaluable in providing photographs, documents and reminiscences regarding their ancestors. Patsy Blacklock, Colonel Holland’s grand-daughter, went to much time and effort to allow me to access family photographs as well as giving fascinating first-hand accounts of Colonel Holland himself. Colonel Nicholas Mangnall, the grandson of Colonel Holland, likewise provided photographs. Malcolm Lyell, the managing-director of Holland & Holland between 1960 and 1984, was especially helpful and enthusiastic in clarifying information during the ear of his tenureship. In addition he kindly proof read
Photographic Acknowledgements
photography. The following photographs are credited to him. Pages 31, 35, 36, 37, 40, 41, 43, 44, 53, 54, 80, 81, 87, 88, 89, 90, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 104, 105, 106, 108, 110, 111, 140, 144, 192, 229, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 285, 286, 293, 294.
I owe sincere thanks to many auction houses and private individuals who very kindly allowed me to use their images. This book would not have been possible without their assistance.
Many private individuals went to much trouble to have guns and archive material photographed. All have been an asset to the book. I would like to thank:
Andrew Orr of Holt’s provided a very large number of images for use and I am very grateful to him for this help. The following photographs are all courtesy of Andrew Orr at Holt’s. Pages 22, 39, 73, 82, 83, 84, 91, 101, 102, 109, 133, 134, 136, 143, 174, 178, 197, 202, 209, 210, 213, 220, 222, 234, 235, 237, 275, 283, 284, 287, 292, 295, 297 (bottom), 300, 304, 306, 309, 312, 313, 317, 318, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431.
Frederico Agnetti Colin Greenwood Peter McGowan Ian Crudgington Paul Rossiter Chris Wynn David Baker Malcolm Lyell David Winks Patsy Blacklock Col. Nicholas Mangnall J.P. Loeff Butterfield & Butterfield Ken Davies
Gavin Gardiner of Gavin Gardiner Ltd. kindly allowed me to use his photographs. The following photographs are all courtesy of Gavin Gardiner. Pages 66, 72, 74, 93, 107, 124, 160, 172, 173, 177, 288, 289, 296, 297 (top), 302, 305, 314, 319, 321, 323, 324, 325 (top). Chris Austyn, formerly of the Sporting Gun Department in Christie’s likewise kindly made available Christie’s photographs. The following photographs are all courtesy of Christie’s images. Pages 55, 57, 93, 103, 127, 128, 198, 224, 282, 291, 298, 299, 301, 303, 307, 315, 316, 320, 322, 325 (bottom), 327.
Pages 310, 311 Pages 76, 77 Pages 131, 226, 228 Page 51 Page 186 Page 23 Pages 46, 51, 147, 162 211, 212, 218, 223 Pages 238, 240, 241, 243, 246 Pages 238 Pages 187, 188, 189, 201, 203, 204, 205, 206, 218 Page 188 Pages 68 Pages 180, 244, 245 Page 242
Peter Hughes of Photoview took most of the images for this book and must be given great credit for his expertise in the difficult field of gun
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Foreword
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Offering a new edition of the book has allowed Donald Dallas, the author, to further research the company, uncovering additional details that have enabled him to expand and revise the original content and to bring the reader up to date on all that has happened during the intervening years. To include, for example those special commemorative guns and rifles that were probably not even on the drawing board when the first edition was published. More information has also come from other quarters. In a somewhat unexpected turn, a gun belonging to our founder, Harris Holland, a 4-bore percussion live pigeon gun, no 575, has been located in the United States, the owner only realising the provenance after seeing it featured in the earlier edition. Whilst much has happened here at Holland & Holland since we first published our book, what does remain constant is the dedication and enthusiasm of our craftsmen and staff, without whom our time honoured tradition of gunmaking would wither and die. It is thanks to them that we are and will remain ‘The Royal’ Gunmaker.
lthough Holland & Holland was established in 1835, it was not until 2003 that our book ‘The Royal’ Gunmaker, was first published. Setting out, as it did, to provide a definitive history of the company was an ambitious undertaking, one that involved hours of meticulous research, working slowly through our factory and day book archives. Nevertheless, it was a task long overdue, given our standing amongst the elite London gunmakers. The result is a work that gives a fascinating insight into the long and distinguished history of the company through the many facts, figures and photographs it contains. As insightful as this evidence is, what is really portrayed throughout, however, is the tremendous innovation required to produce a gun or rifle that satisfied the practical demands encountered by our clients in the field and the fact that this tradition of innovation is as important today as it ever has been. A good example being the .700 H&H Nitro Express ‘Royal’ Double Rifle and other new proprietary calibres designed for hunting in the modern day.
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Daryl Greatrex
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Preface
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its history, as indeed it continues to be. Harris Holland purchased very early on in the 1850s a ‘field’ at Willesden that was used to test all the Holland guns and rifles in the 19th century. This facility to test and regulate rifles was a major factor in creating the reputation and accuracy of the Holland rifle, few other firms having such a resource. The astute promotion of semi-smooth bore rifling in the 1880s meant that the firm gained the reputation as the leading rook and rabbit rifle manufacturers and laid the foundations for Holland & Holland as pre-eminent rifle makers. The success in the 1883 Field rifle trials was a public relations coup that was seized upon by the firm to promote the prowess of Holland & Holland rifles. Even the ‘Royal Engraving’ introduced in the 1890s, with its bold foliate scrollwork based upon the designs of the period, was innovatory and created a design that was instantly recognisable as ‘Holland & Holland’. In addition to the constant flow of invention and innovation, Henry Holland also created a very large business, the most prolific and diverse within the London gun trade. His construction of a very large and modern factory in 1893 allowed him to produce many and varied Holland guns and rifles. The variety on offer from punt gun to small-bore gun, from rook and rabbit rifle to 4-bore rifle set the firm apart from other London firms in the 19th and early 20th centuries. And coupled with the second quality guns and rifles such as the Dominion and Badminton, Holland & Holland became one of the best known gunmakers.
he history of Holland & Holland is very different from that of many other gunmakers. There was no gunmaking tradition in the Holland family, the founder of Holland & Holland, Harris Holland (1806?– 96) being an entrepreneur with an interest in shooting who eventually turned this into a business. In 1860, his nephew Henry Holland joined the firm, thereby creating later on, in the year 1876, Holland & Holland. Henry Holland was a skilled gunmaker with a flair for invention and this combination of a ‘Holland’ and a ‘Holland’ established the credentials of the firm that are so well respected today. The majority of written work on Holland & Holland has been haphazard relying on works published a great many years ago. This has failed to give a clear overall picture of the achievements of the firm. The success of Holland & Holland in the field of gunmaking has been truly remarkable, some 51 patents being registered in the firm’s name between 1861 and 1950. A great many of these innovations have been of long standing importance, the Royal hammerless action of 1883 and the belted rimless cartridge case of 1904 with its subsequent use in the .275 Magnum of 1910, the .375 Magnum of 1912, the .240 Apex of 1919, the .300 Magnum of 1925 and the .244 Magnum of 1955. The self-opening mechanism of 1922 is regarded as one of the simplest and best of all self-openers. Whilst undertaking the research necessary to fully document the history of Holland & Holland, I was consistently aware of how innovative the firm had been throughout —
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facts and to seek out unpublished photographs. I hope that this book will detail the accomplishments of Holland & Holland and fully recognise their long standing contribution to the field of gunmaking. Since the original edition was published in 2003 I continued to collect material to further my research on Holland & Holland. When this book sold out, the opportunity was taken to write a new second edition containing much fresh material and many new photographs as well as bringing the history of the firm right up to date.
Throughout the 20th century the firm did not rest on its laurels, but continued the policy of new ideas, new models and constant adaptation. The new CNC technology of the 1980s was quickly recognised as the way forward enabling Holland & Holland to produce even better quality guns and to introduce new models such as the Royal O/U, Sporting O/U and the round bodied action. I was fortunate to be asked by Holland & Holland to write a detailed account of their history and achievement. It was my prerogative to examine all the historical material within Bruton Street and the factory, to read Henry Holland’s letters, to discover Harris Holland’s grave, to find many new
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Donald Dallas, BSc (Econ.)
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T HE T HREE G REAT G UNMAKERS OF THE H OLLAND D YNASTY
Harris Holland 1806?–96
Henry Holland 1845–1930
Jack Holland 1879–1957 —
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Chapter One
Musical PRELUDE
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The Holland family were in fact builders of organs, an instrument requiring great skill to construct as well as a knowledge of music to set up. The founder of Holland & Holland was Harris John Holland, born into the family at a time when organs were being constructed by both his father and grandfather. Harris John Holland was born to William and Mary Holland around the year 1806 in London. Unfortunately it is impossible to be more specific than this. In the early 1800s, the Holland family did not solemnize their births or marriages. There is nothing unusual in this, as registration of births, deaths and marriages in England and Wales was not compulsory till 1837. Unfortunately this creates problems for the researcher, there being no apparent reference in the parish registers to Holland family births and marriages at that time. Perhaps religious ceremony played little part in their lives. Trying to ascertain Harris Holland’s year of birth is further complicated by conflicting evidence from various primary sources. The 1851 census states that he was 42 years old, indicating that he was born in 1809, whereas the 1881 and 1891 census show that he was 70 and 80 years old respectively giving us a birth date of 1811. His burial certificate of 1896 states that he was 89 years old, hence born in 1807. To complicate matters even further, his death certificate of 1896 states that he was 90 years old, which would place his birth in 1806! I suspect that both Harris and his widow wanted him to reach that magical figure of 90 years in 1896. The fact that Harris Holland had re-married for a second time in 1880 to a lady considerably younger than himself, some 43 years younger in fact, might have a bearing on statistical fact. ‘Holland’ is a name frequently found in Essex, Lancashire and Lincolnshire. The origins of the name are most probably from the Dutch meaning ‘hollow-land’ in reference to the flat terrain of that part of Europe. The English district of Holland in Lincolnshire bears a physical resemblance to its continental namesake complete with low-lying land and tulip fields. In Old English, the derivation ‘Hoh’ and ‘Land’ refers to
he gunmaking firm of Holland & Holland has its origins in the differing talents of two men, an uncle and his nephew. The uncle, Harris Holland, was a flourishing entrepreneur with an interest in shooting who established the firm in the first half of the 19th century; his nephew, Henry Holland, was a very able gunmaker of considerable ingenuity who made the firm world famous in the second half of that century. This combination of a ‘Holland’ and a ‘Holland’, the entrepreneur and the inventor, was to prove to be highly successful. The origins of Holland & Holland are very different from the beginnings of most famous gunmaking firms in that the tradition of gunmaking was not handed down from one generation to the next. In fact, in the early history of the Holland family, gunmaking played no part in their activities and yet by dint of fortune, acumen and technical expertise, a gunmaking company of considerable size and repute was created rapidly in the 19th century. Compare for example Thomas Boss (1790–1857) who established the firm of Boss & Co. around 1816. His father, William Boss (1757–1809), was a gunmaker at Joseph Manton’s and had been apprenticed on 17th August, 1773 to Thomas Ketland, the gunmaker of Birmingham. Likewise, James Purdey (1784–1863), who founded the famous firm in 1814, owed his gunmaking origins to his father James Purdey (1739–96) who worked as a blacksmith or gunsmith in the Minories near the Tower of London in the late 18th century. In the context of comparative time, gunmaking was of no consequence to the Holland family, for theirs was a family of skilled tradesmen set within a background of musical accomplishment. Even when the Holland gunmaking firm was well established in the 19th century, their musical talents continued to flourish; one sister of the nephew Henry Holland, Annie Holland, became a music teacher and another sister, Fanny Holland, a vocalist.
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H O L L A N D & H O L L A N D : ‘ T H E R O Y A L’ G U N M A K ER
‘Hoh’ being a hill and ‘Land’ a district. In the flat areas of Lincolnshire there are no hills in the accepted sense, the reference referring to raised salterns by the coast as places where salt was obtained from pools of evaporated seawater. Both Harris John Holland’s father, William, and grandfather, Henry, were organ-builders. His grandfather, Henry Holland, was an organmaker of some repute. He appears to have been apprenticed to his uncle, the famous organ maker George Pike England, who is credited with the building of many English church organs. Henry took over his uncle’s business and carried on his own organ-building business from around 1784 to the 1820s. In the 1780s his business was conducted from Bedford Row, Holborn and in the 1790s from 48 St. James’s Street, Piccadilly. By the beginning of the 19th century his business address was 21 Marshall Street, Golden Square. Like gunmakers, organ-builders produced flamboyant trade labels to advertise their work. A surviving barrel-organ of Henry Holland’s bears the label with the royal coat of arms and the inscription:
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seven years later in the year 1800. William Holland was married briefly for a first time but unfortunately his wife died. He remarried, in 1803, Mary Chute. The Parish Register for St. Martin-in-the-Fields states, ‘Mr. William Holland, Widower, and Mary Chute, Single and Unmarried were married in this church by license of the Bishop of London. Twenty Fourth Day of March 1803 by Joseph …’. William and Mary Holland gave birth to a boy around 1806 that they named Harris John Holland. He was to be the founder of Holland & Holland. As explained earlier they appear not to have had Harris christened as there is no record of his birth in the appropriate parish registers. The name ‘Harris’ is unusual and must have come from a surname, perhaps the maiden name of the wife of another Holland. The name appears in at least three generations of the Holland family. Although there are references to ‘Harrises’ marrying ‘Hollands’, I can make no direct connection. A second son was born in the year 1809 whom they christened John Holland; once again no record exists of this birth. This use of essentially similar Christian names, all very confusing for the researcher, was not uncommon in earlier times. Offspring bearing the same Christian name were named after different antecedants of the same name. Hence their similar Christian names were ‘different’. John Holland went on to become a grocer and his importance to the Holland & Holland story is that he sired in 1845, a boy, Henry William Holland, the nephew that would go on to establish Holland as a world-famous firm. John Holland died on 29th December, 1857 aged just 48. A third brother, William Holland, was born in 1810. He went on to become a solicitor and the father of eight daughters – quite a household! This William died on 22nd June, 1879.
Henry Holland, Organ Builder and Patent Grand and Square Pianoforte Makers,Corner of St. James’s Street, from Bedford Row, nephew and successor to the late Mr. Pyke, organ builder to His Majesty. Sells all sorts of Music and Musical Instruments, music books, music paper, ruling pens for do. Harpsichord wire, Guittar do; the best Roman strings, with every other branch in Music on the most reasonable terms. Instruments let out on hire, Tun’d and repair’d by the month, quarter or years NB. Any lady or gentleman having a pianoforte and wishing to have an organ under it may have it on reasonable terms at the above warehouse.
On 2nd January, 1770, this Henry Holland married Hannah Shelton in the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Some nine years later they had a son, William Holland, christened on 19th September, 1779 in the Parish of St. Pancras. This William Holland was Harris Holland’s father. Like his father, William Holland became an organ-builder. Although I have no evidence, it seems highly likely that he was apprenticed to his father beginning his apprenticeship, aged 14 in 1793 and ending
William Holland, Organ-Builder, 39 Lambs Conduit Street, Holborn William Holland went into business for himself building organs and selling musical instruments and music at 39 Lambs Conduit Street, Holborn in the year 1820. The Ratebooks for the Parish of St. Andrew,
The marriage certificate of Harris John Holland dated 24th July 1880. Notice that his father was ‘William Holland Dec. Organ-Builder’. Harris was aged 74 and this was his second marriage. He married Charlotte Puddick aged 31!
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by to King Street, where Harris Holland would commence business in the 1830s as a tobacconist and later a gunmaker. Living within his family’s music business, Harris Holland developed the musical talents with which he would later become associated. Apparently set for a musical career, he would become expert at the construction of barrel organs, he would sell music, he would be knowledgeable about musical instruments and he would develop a good ability to play music. Musical accomplishment in the early 19th century was anything but universal. It was only when the middle classes rose to predominance in the mid to late 19th century that the piano and musical education became part of everyday life. The main type of instrument that William Holland constructed was the barrel-organ. Although no organ by William Holland appears to exist there is a reference in the diary of a contemporary organ-builder, Alexander Buckingham, in October, 1828 to ‘a small barrel-organ at Ilam Hall, Derbyshire by William Holland of Somers Town, consisting of four stops, each with only sixteen pipes, together with drum and triangle’. Barrel-organs were at the height of their popularity in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Their operation was simple. By turning a handle perfect pre-set music was produced without requiring any musical knowledge or skill. Most barrel-organs were relatively small and to work properly had to be built to a high standard. Many churches had
Holborn show that the premises were empty in 1819 and that William Holland commenced paying rates in 1820. William Holland and his family did not take the entire building, they shared it with another family. Although the Trade Directories of the period state ‘William Holland, Organ Builder, 39 Lambs Conduit Street’ the Ratebooks give the address as 38 Lambs Conduit Street. The reason behind the Ratebooks giving a different number is that they were narrowing down the exact portion of the building that Holland had to pay rates on. I found the same situation in my researches on the early occupancy of James Purdey at 314½ Oxford Street, the Ratebooks stating that he occupied 313 Oxford Street. At this time Harris Holland was a teenager, around 14 years old and most probably about to begin his apprenticeship as an organ-builder to his father – a reasonable assumption given the long tradition of organbuilding within the family. That Harris Holland was a practical man there is no doubt as stories have been handed down throughout the generations of his abilities to repair firearms, and what is remarkable is that the original building of 39/41 Lambs Conduit Street survives to this day. It is fascinating to walk up the street, to look at 39 Lambs Conduit Street and ponder over a youthful Harris Holland living there in the early decades of the 19th century. This move to Holborn in 1820 was important to future events in the Holland history. Lambs Conduit Street is parallel and very close
above Richard Horwood’s map 1792–99, updated by Richard Faden in 1819 showing Lambs Conduit Street at the time when William Holland lived there. Note how close the street is to Southampton Row, the extension being King Street where Harris Holland began his gunmaking business in the 1840s. right 39/41 Lambs Conduit Street today, the home and business premises of William Holland 1820–1830 and the house where Harris Holland grew up.
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Chapter Two
The Tobacconist and The Gunmaker
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n the early 1830s the vocation of Harris Holland changed direction completely. Not only did he leave his long-standing address of Lambs Conduit Street, he left the world of barrelorgans, musical instruments and sheet music and entered the retail tobacco trade. He opened up a tobacco shop at 5 King Street, Holborn, a street that cut a very different image from Lambs Conduit Street. It was a very busy main thoroughfare exiting on to High Holborn and connecting northwards with Southampton Row and eventually to the future Euston Station. Even in the 1830s, the horse drawn traffic would be considerable and the pavements congested with pedestrians. King Street as such does not exist today as it was incorporated, along with Upper King Street, into Southampton Row in 1864 and renamed in its entirety as Southampton Row. Due to the rapid growth of London in the second half of the 19th century and the increasing sophistication of the postal service, much rationalisation of street names and street numbering took place in this period. Obviously ‘King Street’ was a very common name – there were for example three ‘King Streets’ in Holborn alone and literally scores of ‘King Streets’ in the capital itself. Even today there are eleven ‘King Streets’ within London. Because King Street, Holborn was a simple extension of Southampton Row, it appeared logical to absorb it into the street to minimise confusion. At the time of Harris Holland’s move, King Street housed a typical assortment of 19th century trades, booksellers, bookbinders, carpenters, printers, steel engravers, lamp-makers and coachmakers. Due to the very busy nature of the street and the large variety of shops and trades within it, it was an ideal location for a tobacconist’s shop depending upon volume trade. The original building does not exist today, the Georgian buildings being demolished in the late 19th century to be replaced by the very tall examples still in existence. It is impossible to be specific as to when Harris Holland entered 5 King Street. The problem is that the property must have been rented as
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the Ratebooks of the Parish of St George, Bloomsbury show no mention of a Harris Holland paying rates. These Ratebooks show that the rateable value of the property was £56, that the property was owned by the Duke of Bedford and that a landlord, Mrs Richley, paid the rates. Harris Holland is first mentioned at 5 King Street as a tobacconist in the 1834 Trade Directory. Trade Directory listings must be viewed with a certain degree of caution as they are frequently out of date. Due to poorer communication in these days and slower printing processes such errors could easily occur. If the first entry was in 1834, then the chances are that he was in situ at 5 King Street in 1833. And if we assume that he left Lambs Conduit Street at the end of 1831 as borne out by the Ratebooks of that street, then it seems reasonable to suggest that Harris Holland began his tobacconist business around 1832. For some reasons the Trade Directories list him as John Holland or John Harris Holland, I presume an error. Why did he enter the tobacco trade? Harris Holland was in his early 20s at the time and had experienced difficulties in running a successful music business. The tobacco trade was booming in the early 19th century. With high consumer demand due to rising population, the volume of turnover would be great and it would be far easier to sell tobacco products rather than pianofortes, guitar strings, sheet music and the like. Harris Holland was a budding entrepreneur and profit was his logical motive. Whatever his reasons, I think that we should all be grateful for his change in trade. Later on in the 1840s he combined his tobacconist’s business with a gun business, the gun business becoming predominant to create the future firm of Holland & Holland. If he had remained as a musical instrument seller, I cannot see the combination of music shop and gunmaker shop as a realistic proposition. As the time of Harris Holland’s tobacco shop in the first half of the 19th century, the consumption of tobacco was very popular. The discoverers of the New World learned the habit of smoking tobacco from the natives and on their return the practice spread to the Continent
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Richard Horwood’s map 1792–99, updated by Richard Faden in 1819, of Holborn, London showing King Street. King Street was incorporated into Southampton Row in 1864.
By the mid 19th century tobacco was sold in three main forms. The most common was tobacco leaves cut up into shreds for smoking in pipes. Clay pipes were the most frequent type encountered and manufactured in their millions. Cigars tended to be purchased by the more affluent as they required good quality leaves and were more labourintensive in their production. The last very common use of tobacco was one that has gone out of fashion today – snuff. Snuff consisted partly of the stalks of the leaves and partly of the leaves themselves, both of which were finely cut and ground into a power. With this background we can picture Harris Holland’s shop – the large tobacco jars full of tobacco to be weighed out in the days before pre-packaging, the cigars in all shapes and forms, clay pipes, wooden pipes, matches and, of course, a large variety of snuff. Harris Holland remained at 5 King Street until 1840 when he moved close by to bigger premises at 9 King Street. The tobacco business must have prospered as he wanted to take on bigger premises and in addition had a more secure tenancy paying the rates on the new building. The Ratebooks for the Parish of St George Bloomsbury show that at 9 King Street in 1841 the rates were paid by Harris John Holland, the rateable value being £66 and the property being owned by the Duke of Bedford. In addition 5 King Street was shown as being ‘empty’. Harris Holland and his wife Eliza lived over the 9 King Street shop as they are both listed in the 1841 and 1851 Census as being resident there. It was at 9 King Street that the gradual changeover to gunmaking occurred, several early Holland guns bearing this address. Harris Holland remained here until
of Europe. The settlers who accompanied Raleigh on his expedition to colonise Virginia from which they returned unsuccessful in 1586, introduced the habit to Britain. The consumption of tobacco grew steadily as the Board of Trade figures show. By the 1780s around 6,000,000 lbs were imported into Britain, rising to around 10,000,000 lbs in 1801 and to around 16,000,000 lbs in 1831, the approximate year when Harris Holland set up his business. It must also be remembered that there was a very rapid population increase at this time. In 1839 the Board of Trade stated that there were 158,385 dealers of tobacco in England alone. Retail dealers of tobacco like Harris Holland were regularly inspected by Excise Officers due to the high levels of duty on tobacco and subsequent attempts at evasion by smuggling. Another part of their regular inspection was to ensure that the common Victorian practice of adulteration of products did not occur. Tobacco frequently had ‘additives’ such as sugar, treacle, grape, lime, sand, seaweed, moss, weeds and leaves – anything to increase the bulk, lower the amount of tobacco required and as such evade a proportion of the excise duty! The cultivation of tobacco was extensive in the U.S.A., using slaves as labour. The tobacco leaves were compressed by powerful presses into hogsheads and then shipped to Britain. As far as the metropolis was concerned, the hogsheads were conveyed to bonding warehouses at London Docks as a very high import duty was imposed upon entry into Great Britain. Each hogshead was examined and any injured tobacco leaves were burned to avoid paying duty, the chimneys employed jocularly being termed the ‘Queen’s tobacco pipe’.
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th e to b a c c on i s t a nd th e gunm a k e r
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above Five trap pigeon shooting at Hornsey Wood Rise. Taken from The Shotgun and Sporting Rifle by Stonehenge 1859. Note the close range of the competitors, the fairer type of trap and Barber standing beside the basket of pigeons. It is highly possible that Harris Holland is portrayed in this engraving.
Harris Holland’s personal live pigeon gun. Note how short the barrels were and how no ramrod was fitted proving that it was a live pigeon gun. What is incredible is that since the first edition of this book was published, No. 575 has surfaced, Harris Holland’s own live pigeon gun. It is indeed a cannon weighing 7 lb 14 oz, but the barrels are very short, only 28½" long (shortened from the original 29"). Although a big bore, the gun is of excellent quality with finely scroll engraved locks engraved ‘H. Holland’. The stock is finely chequered with drop points and as befits a live pigeon gun, there is no provision for a ramrod. A typical Harris Holland big-bore live pigeon muzzle-loader is shown on page 23. This gun is a double-barrel 6-bore with no serial number. However the fact that the barrels are engraved ‘H. Holland, 98 New Bond Street, London’ helps date it to around 1858–60. The barrels are 34" long with platinum plugs. The front action locks with flat hammers are engraved in flowing script ‘Holland’ and are of good quality. There is no provision for a ramrod, the forend ending in a horn finial. There is only one double 6-bore listed in the Number Books for this period, no. 652 built in 1858 and this could be this gun. In the early period, although guns were given a serial number in the records upon order, such numbers were often not engraved due to guns being built elsewhere.
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The record in the Number Books of Harris Holland’s personal live pigeon gun. ‘Double gun no. 575, 4-bore, 2’5" long. Dam’s Barrels. Weight of Gun 7 lb 14 oz. When finished made for Mr Holland. No rod.’
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H O L L A N D & H O L L A N D : ‘ T H E R O Y A L’ G U N M A K ER
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Harris Holland’s own personal live pigeon gun, double 4-bore percussion gun no. 575 built in March, 1856.
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