Pistol & case, flintlock duelling pistol

These high quality flintlock duelling pistols originally belonged to Thomas Davies, a captain in the Hackney Volunteer Riflemen. He was awarded them by men from the militia in gratitude for his service as an officer.

The Hackney Association for the Preservation of Peace, Liberty and Property was established in 1792 by wealthy parishioners to prevent the spread of sedition in the wake of the French Revolution. When Britain declared war on the French Republic in 1794, the Association formed the Hackney Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation consisting of two companies: one comprised of wealthy local residents keen to make a public display of their patriotism, the other of poor parishioners who were paid to join.

Local voluntary militia were formed in London throughout the 1790s as fear of French invasion and popular unrest generated by the financial crisis grew. After the Peace of Amiens in 1802 the Hackney Volunteers were disbanded. The organisation was reactivated the following year as the Hackney Volunteer Riflemen after war broke out with France again and the Military Services Act came into force. After the Battle of Trafalgar the militia entered a decline and was once again disbanded before the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

In the case with these pistols are the necessary accessories for cleaning and loading them. These include a brush, a powder flask, a ram rod, a bullet mould and a ladle for pouring the molten lead to make the bullets. The style of the case was fashionable in France at the time which suggests that these guns may have originally been made for sale there or in a French colony. The decorative silver wire inlaid on the stocks also suggests that they were intended for export to a foreign market, possibly in the Levant or the Middle East.

The barrels of the pistols are double-stamped with the mark of two crossed sceptres beneath a crown. This records that they were made privately and proofed (test-fired) at the Board of Ordnance proofing house in the Tower of London. The pistols are fitted with rain-proof flash pans, an innovation that kept the powder dry in bad weather. The name on the lockplate 'Toms' is likely to be an engraving error. The pistols were probably made by William Tomes, a gunsmith with a workshop on Whitechapel Road. Tomes was a military contractor who supplied guns to the East India Company.