Darwin war history
A Curiously Named Sword29/3/2018 AuthorBY Norman Cramp, Director Darwin Military Museum This fine 1827 Georgian Naval Officer Presentation Sword is an unusually rare sword. It is characterised by the list of owners inscribed upon the guard. The story is that the weapon was bought or handed on, with owners inscribing their names – or if their predecessor had not, theirs too – inside the guard. The sword has a slightly curved pipe-backed blade of 30.5 inches, with darkening due to age patina, and upon which there are traces of etched decorations of a crown, fouled anchor, etc. The blade is unusual in that it is a falchion design, meaning the blade width gets to its widest near the point. The twin edges of the blade following that to the point are known as a spear point blade. The copper-gilt hilt is surmounted by a chiseled lion’s head pommel, and has a crown and fouled anchor motif upon the front. The names of the owners, and presumably their locations are:
Jeremiah Horsfall, Fairfield Hall George D Greenwood, Woodhouse William Greenwood, Ditto Revd George Fenton BA, Miley William Scriven, Ditto Thomas Stephenson, Ditto Paul Bottomley, Ditto Capt. Maud Burley, RN, Barley Lewis Seaman, Otley I have made only a small attempt to rationalise the list, but it appears the first owner was established in Bolton Abbey in the mid-1800s, and the next four owners all have records existing in the same mid-England area. It will be an interesting project to trace the whole list. wwII history
2 Comments
Debbie Elverd
17/4/2018 16:06:08
Hi Norman,
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Kate
12/9/2023 09:37:41
Hello, This sword seems to have been first owned by my husband's Great great great grandfather. He ran a cotton mill in Addingham in Yorkshire. In 1826 it was attacked by Luddites, so interesting that he may have bought this sword after that. I think it was around 1850 that he went bankrupt and disappeared. So he is likely to have left the sword behind at that point, since it bore his name. Nice coincidence that I came across this post!
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