Volume 1, Issue 1, 2004

Arms & Armour

Contents

Editors' Preface Graeme Rimer	3
ARTICLES
Diplomatic gifts of arms and armour between Japan and Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries IAN BOTTOMLEY	5
'Master Jordan, who made the King's trebuchet' DEREK RENN	25
An early harquebusier's pot THOM RICHARDSON	33
The iron hat from Shaw House THOM RICHARDSON	39
An unusual sword in the Royal Armouries PHILIP J LANKESTER	43
From the field of Waterloo - the dating of French cavalry sabres PAUL WILCOCK	69
Some trade cards of Hull and Beverley gunmakers ARTHUR G CREDLAND	75
Indian firearm curiosa                        IAN BOTTOMLEY	81
Mr Mills' grenade MARTIN PEGLER	89
New acquisitions by the Royal Armouries Compiled by THOM RICHARDSON	101

Vol. 1 pp. 5-23 2004

Diplomatic gifts of arms and armour between Japan and Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries

Ian Bottomley Senior Curator, Oriental Arms and Armour, Royal Armouries

During the late 16th and early 17th centuries, a number of Japanese armours arrived in Europe, mainly as diplomatic gifts. This article sets out to list the present whereabouts of the surviving armours and details of those that are now lost.

Vol. 1 pp. 25-32 2004

'Master Jordan, who made the King's trebuchet'

Derek Renn - Derek Renn is a retired actuary who has written a monograph, several guidebooks and many articles on castles

In 1217,  the first trebuchet was brought to England to besiege Dover castle. By 1224 Master Jordan was making one at Dover and the next year another at Windsor, probably finishing it in 1228. This seems to have been his only task. He was paid separately from other artificers of King Henry III and it is possible to follow the ups and downs of his rewards continuously over six years to 1230. He may then have gone to Western France and had a hand in the building of another trebuchet there which was brought to Bristol castle in 1238 for storage.

Vol. 1 pp. 33-39 2004

An early harquebusier's pot

Thom Richardson  Keeper of Armour, Royal Armouries

The recent acquisition by the Royal Armouries of an example of an early form of English harquebusier's pot of the 17th century led to a 

reappraisal of the small group to whichthe helmet belongs. It is decorated in relief with suns in splendour, a unique form of decoration for this 

group of helmets. However, there are a series of decorated helmets for pikemen of this period, and comparisons between these and the 

early harquebusier's pots leads to some interesting conclusions about the dating of the series. The article includes a note of each of 

the known early harquebusiers' pots, and of the comparable pikemen's pots.

Vol. 1 pp. 39-43 2004

The iron hat from Shaw House

Thorn Richardson Keeper of Armour, Royal Armouries

The small unpublished group of armour of the mid 17th century from Shaw House in Berkshire, scene of fighting in the 2nd battle of Newbury in 1644, is preserved in the West Berkshire Museum in Newbury. The group includes an exceedingly rare form of helmet of the period, one made in the form of a broad brimmed hat. The article discusses the small group of known examples, and illustrates the closest comparable iron hat from the Scott collection in Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries.

Vol. 1 pp. 43-69 2004

An unusual sword in the Royal Armouries

Philip J Lankester Senior Curator Weapons Department, Royal Armouries

The Royal Armouries' collection contains an unusual sword (Ix.455) of British manufacture. The blade is marked 'Coales', probably Robert 

Coales of Birmingham who was trading as a sword cutler by 1767 and died in 1804. In the latter part of his life he was mainly or solely 

engaged in a bank which he had founded and from which he retired in 1800. Certain features of the Royal Armouries sword suggest a date in 

the period 1760 1780. A second blade by Coales, on a sword in the National Army Museum, is also discussed. The intended function of 

the Royal Armouries sword is uncertain: it seems too short for mounted use and too heavy for infantry use. Links with cutlasses and 

machetes are explored. An appendix demonstrates the use of X -radiography for examining marks on blade tangs.

Vol. 1 pp. 69-75 2004
 

'From the field of Waterloo?' - the dating of French cavalry sabres

Paul Wilcock Director of Student Services and part-time lecturer in the Department of History, University of Huddersfield

The collecting of French cavalry sabres has becoming increasingly popular in the UK. This article seeks to explore some of the issues surrounding the identification, manufacture and origin of these swords and illustrate some of the more interesting anomalies for the collector to be aware of.

Vol. 1 pp. 75-81 2004

Some trade cards of Hull and Beverley gunmakers
 

Arthur G Credland  Keeper of Maritime History at Hull Maritime Museum

Three trade cards of Hull and Beverley gunmakers including that of John Blanch Jnr who arrived from London, to occupy 26 Silver street, in 1833. Three years later he was in Hobart, Tasmania, using the same trade card with amended address. He was succeeded by Samuel Mozeen a former apprentice of George Wallis; his Silver street trade card was already in the Hull Museum collection but the new acquisition has his original Mytongate address. Both Blanch and Mozeen supplied shooting requisites to Burton Constable Hall. The card of William Taylor, Market Place Beverley, established c. 1813 is decorated with masonic symbols. Both he and Blanch supplied airguns and crossbows as well as firearms.

Vol. 1 pp. 81-89 2004

Indian firearm curiosa

Ian Bottomley  Senior Curator, Oriental Arms and Armour, Royal Armouries

The Royal Armouries collection contains many Indian combination weapons - many of which have neither been published nor displayed. This article sets out to describe three unusual firearm related items. These are what appears to be an elaborate gunner's staff of a unique type, a pair of guns that can be combined and shot as a combination and finally a percussion gun shield

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Vol. 1 pp.89-101

Mr Mills' grenade

Martin Pegler  Senior Curator, Weapons Department, Royal Armouries

The article looks at the early development of the grenade from its use by the Chinese in the early medieval period, through to the more sophisticated forms of cast-iron types that were issued to Grenadiers in the 19th century. Experimentation pre- WWI by a Belgian designer named Roland led to the first self-igniting hand grenade. The War Department believed their use in trench-warfare would be invaluable and an engineer and designer named William Mills, of Birmingham was asked to look at improving both the mechanism and means of manufacture. Mills redesigned the grenade to make it safer and more efficient, and decided to manufacture it by casting. By 1916 the Mills, No.5 Mk 1 hand grenade was in widescale production by four British contractors, including the Mills Manufacturing Company in Birmingham. During the course of WWI, some 75 million Mills grenades were manufactured and William Mills was knighted for his services in 1922. An improved variant of his grenade, the No. 36, remained in service as the standard British hand grenade until 1972.