Henry Nock

His high quality duelling pistols and double-barrelled shotguns were much sought after and it is largely through Nock that the latter became the weapon of choice for hunters.

As well as supplying the military and civilian markets, Nock made expensive pieces for the aristocracy and royalty and was an appointed gunmaker to the king.

In 1797, Nock put into production a 9-inch pistol (pattern 1796) for heavy dragoons with a calibre matching their carbines.

The new lock could be dismantled by removable pins rather than the previous more cumbersome and time-consuming screws, and were intended to have interchangeable components.

These include uses of this volley gun by the characters Patrick Harper in Sharpe[4] and Jim Bowie in The Alamo.

[7] Intended as a naval weapon fired from the rigging to repel boarders on the deck, it was retired by the Royal Navy in 1804.

The great variety is perhaps illustrated by his coach blunderbuss which, like naval pistols, had a more corrosion resistant brass barrel.

[11] Nock continued to innovate until his death – late in life he was making breech loading muskets.

In this period Nock turned to the civilian market, but also had profitable orders for locks for light to medium calibre (3–12 pounder) naval guns.

A few years later the French Revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic Wars ensured that Nock was not short of government business.

[19] In 1789 Nock was appointed gunmaker-in-ordinary to King George III, largely as a result of his patented breech for hunting guns and other inventions.

Henry died in 1864 but the company continued making firearms and bladed weapons and became known as Wilkinson Sword.

[25] That pushed the company into changing direction and it henceforth concentrated on razor blades and other domestic products.