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**QUALITY**C1800 Napoleonic Wars Era English 28 Bore Flintlock Naval Captain’s Brass Barrelled Pistol Period Converted C1830 By Blyths Brothers London. Sn 22426:38 - 22426:38 Thomas Blyth (1764-1839). Thomas Blyth was born in 1764 in Ballingry, Fife, Scotland. He was the son of David Blyth and Elizabeth Ramsey. He was baptised in Ballingry Church on 14th October 1764[1], although his name there is spelled 'Blayth'. We know that this is the same Thomas Blyth who started the Blyth shipping company because his company records show him as having "a sister named Allison who married a Kirkcaldy man named William Scotland"[2]. This fact confirms that his parents were David Blyth and Elizabeth Ramsey.
He married Isabella Forster in Stepney, London, in 1793[3], and the couple had eight children.Blyth went to sea at an early age and later became an experienced sea captain in the south seas trade. He commanded at least three vessels - the Lively, British Tar and Cornwall on whaling voyages between 1790 and 1805. He was a bold an enterprising mariner during wartime, and while in command of Cornwall in 1799 and armed with a Letter of Marque - his vessel and another British whaler, the Kingston, captured a Spanish trading vessel, the Nostra Senora de Bethlehem, off the coast of Peru and sent the ship to New South Wales with a prize crew, where its cargo of grain and other food supplies alleviated a shortage of provisions in Sydney. Blyth retired from the sea around 1810 and became a prominent shipowner with at least 17 vessels, most involved in whaling and sealing. In 1810 he bought a large wharf and adjacent premises at 45 Fore Street (now part of Narrow street) in Limehouse, East London. He set up in business as a sail-maker and ship chandler in the name of "Thomas Blyth and Company". Later he extended his business to include coopering, oil-sanding, and the making of whaling gear. He had shares in a number of South Sea Whalers (e.g. "Eliza Anne") and he traded in sperm whale oil. In 1826 he took his second and third son, James and Henry David, into the firm and changed the name to Thomas Blyth and Sons. His family house, with his wife Isabella and their children, was in Church Row, Limehouse, near the River Thames. Shortly before his death they moved to Park House in Grove Road, Mile End, then in open country about a mile and a half north of the Thames. He died at Limehouse, London, in 1839 and was buried in a private vault in the basement of St Ann's Church, Limehouse. It is more than likely the his sons carried on the business after their father’s retirement & death. This quality made Georgian Naval Captain’s Pistol is in excellent condition. The pistol originally a flintlock made C1800 has its action plate signed ‘Blyths Brothers’ indicating that this pistol was period nipple & drum converted to percussion and or retailed by the sons of Thomas Blyth (we cannot find any gunmakers named Blyth Brothers in our books or online. It is 13 ½” overall length with an unsighted 8” smooth bore brass 2 stage barrel which is 28 bore. The barrel is crisply stamped with English black powder proofs and is signed ‘London’. The smooth bore has staining & residue consistent with age and use. The all original full wood stock is excellent and has brass furniture. The pistol has an ebonised wood ram rod with brass end cap and wood tip with brass ferrule. The price for this attractive, quality made piece worthy of further research includes UK delivery. NB As an antique percussion pistol no licence is required to own this item in the UK if retained as part of a display or collection. Sn 22426:38
£975.00
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