The majority of these weapons, upon completion, were given a serial number, The Wilkinson Sword archive of records, the earliest of which start on 1 January 1854 with serial number 5000, record details of the weapon, blade length and width, type of arm, date finished and purchasers name, sometimes the purchaser would be a retail outlet, other. Wilkinson Sword Ltd, sword and gun manufacturers This page summarises records created by this Business The summary includes a brief description of the collection(s) (usually including the covering dates of the collection), the name of the archive where they are held, and reference information to help you find the collection.
Easton Antique Arms LtdThis page is intended to help researchers of Britishmilitary swords.Articles by Matt Easton.d.?.Videos by Matt EastonI run a YouTube channel which has a great quantityof educational videos. I have a playlist specifically forantique swords here:Identifying British military swords ForBritish military swords, the 'bibles' are:.Swords of the British Army, by Robson.The British Cavalry Sword, by DellarYou will find on mywebsite here archives of previously-sold items, withdescriptions. This should help you to learn the differentpatterns and variations.For example- Further items can also be foundon my ' ' page.
Ifyou have a sword that you cannot identify then I recommendenquiring on the,where you will also find a great many other useful resourcesfor the hobby. Another very useful resource is- this contains a database of military swords from acrossthe world, as well as details about makers, retailers etc. Iam afraid that I do not have the spare time to identify yoursword for you myself.
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If your swordhas initials etched on the blade, a crest or some otheridentifying feature linking it to an officer, then you canresearch the military careers of British officers throughHart's Annual Army Lists. You can search through scans ofmany of these on archive.orgResearching WilkinsonswordsPrivate puchaseWilkinson-made swords from 1854 onwards carried serialnumbers and most of the records for these sales survive andare accessable through Richard Milner. These records givethe date of manufacture of each blade and sometimes includethe buyer's name, which can aid in researching the officerswho carried these swords. You can contact Richard Milner andfind out how to order a record here: JohnLatham of the Wilkinson Sword Company (he took over afterHenry Wilkinson died) gave a fantastic lecture in 1862 onthe shape of sword blades.
Forinterest, the chemical composition tolerance of steel usedby Wilkinson in the 19th century was:Carbon.0.90 to 1,00%Silicon.0.20%MaximumManganese.0.15 to 0.35%Sulphur.0.02%MaximumPhosphorous. 0.02%MaximumThis is a high carbon steel, approximatelyequivalent to modern 1095 steel, but it was specially madefor Wilkinson and is not exactly matched by modern steels.I have compiled a list of Victorian-era Wilkinsonserial numbers and dates here below, which I hope will easequick dating for fellow sword collectors (the 'from' and'to' show the range of serial numbers). I have stopped atthe end of the Victorian era, but you can find the dates forlater serial numbers on the Oldswords.com website. I have added a graph below to show annualproduction levels, which I think is of interest - note thatcertain Victorian campaigns, such as the Crimean, Egyptianand Sudanese expeditions, and the Boer War, seem to haveresulted in an increase in production of officer's swords.If you want to access the specific record for a numberedWilkinson-made sword then please contact Richard Milner.Contact: [email protected].
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