Occupation: 'Something' of small arms

[Shropshire Lass]

Hi Nigel

Thanks for the link.  I've been googling lots of combination of words trying to find a site like this - but I didn't get this one up.

If I get a definite answer, I'll let everyone know.

Monica

[jimmymac]

Re Jan's message of 27 May: Warwickshire may be relevant as the British Small Arms factory was in Birmingham. My 2x great grandfather was a gunsmith in London in 1861, them moved to Aston in Birmingham which is near the BSA factory. I assume he worked at the Royal Small Arms factory in Enfield as his daughter was born in that borough in 1861.

[Shropshire Lass]

Hi jmccarthy

Thomas was my husband's great, great grandfather.  He started life in Birmingham and then after working in London and Devon ended up back in Birmingham, working as a gunsmith (1881 census).  There's a good chance that he also worked at the BSA factory.

Thanks for the info.

Monica

[manmack]

hello monica,i think the word you may be looking for is reviewer of small arms,it was his job to look after the stands of arms in the armoury,the original armoury had burnt down in 1841,destroying a 150,000 stands of arms,it used to form part of the tower on the north side east of st.peters chapel,it was known as the "great armoury" or the storehouse,the heavy ordnance like cannon and artillery pieces would come under heavy armaments,hes basically an armourer,the RM is like you said,its royal marines,marines as well as soldiers served at the tower,mack

[Davy Boy]

I believe it could be 'viewer'. Who knows whether the person making the entry could spell or, had adequate knowledge of the English Language. Lots of people put 'i' before 'e' or the reverse!
Within engineering and other trades 'viewer' is a job in itself, checking the quality of the item being 'viewed'

[Shropshire Lass]

Hi Davy Boy and manmack

Thanks for your contributions.

I have emailed the Tower of London but haven't had a reply yet.  I hope they don't just ignore it.

Monica

[peckham]

If all else fails why not contact the Royal Armouries?

website and just some of the contact points at its website are listed below.

http://www.royalarmouries.org/extsite/view.jsp?sectionId=82Royal Armouries


H M Tower of London
London
EC3N 4AB
UK

The Royal Armouries is always happy to hear from you. To help you contact the right people, a list of useful numbers and email addresses are given below.

Please note that, because of the amount of spam these addresses are currently attracting, some genuine enquiries might be deleted. If you have not received a reply within fourteen days, please contact us again.

GENERAL ENQUIRIES
Leeds
Royal Armouries
Armouries Drive
LEEDS
LS10 1LT
24 hour info line: +44 (0)8700 344 344
Information desk: +44 (0)113 220 1916
E-mail: raenquiries@gmail.com

Tower of London
Royal Armouries
H M Tower of London
LONDON
EC3N 4AB
Tel: +44 (0)20 7480 6358
Fax: +44 (0)20 7488 0486

Fort Nelson
Royal Armouries
Fort Nelson
Portsdown Hill Road
FAREHAM
PO17 6AN
24 hour info line: +44 (0)1329 822 985
Information desk: +44 (0)1329 233 734
Fax: +44 (0)1329 822 092
E-mail: fnenquiries@armouries.org.uk

[Shropshire Lass]

Thanks for the continuing replies to my query. 

I got a lovely reply to my email to the Royal Armoury.  They have been trying (unsuccessfully) to open my attachment with the mystery word on it which was why they hadn't replied earlier.  I'm going to send it through the post as I can't work out why my document won't open.

In the meantime, I am becoming convinced that the suggestions of a mis-spelled Viewer are correct.  I trawled through pages and pages of the same handwriting until I finally found another capital V (thank goodness someone had a visitor on census night!) and I'm sure it's the same.  I'll ask the Armoury to confirm it but I think that is the answer.

Incidentally, Thomas Hubbard was listed as a Gunsmith's Finisher in the 1861 at age 24 so guns were obviously a central part of his life from early on.

Thanks to all who have offered advice and help.
Monica

[jimmymac]

Gunsmiths and gun makers:

I posted a help request in a recent issue of Practical Family History. The reply was helpful and included a recommendation to consult  Stan Cook:
< genealogy376-gunmakers@yahoo.co.uk >. Stan was incredibly helpful; he has built up a vast knowledge of gun makers and their places and traditions of work over the years and is well worth consulting if anyone has this occupation in ther family tree.