6/8/2022 – Frontier Firearms from the Lifetime Collection of Larry Ness

.60 caliber. 36.5″ pinned three-stage octagonal to round barrel with baluster turned rings at the transitions. SN: NSN. Heavily oxidized metal, brass and iron furniture, walnut stock. Reconverted flint lock marked “WHATELY” in a vertical arc at the tail and with the “{Fox in a Circle}” trademark under the unbridled around and fenced pan. Top flat of barrel marked “LONDON” and with the same “{Fox in a Circle}” trademark. Breech retains what appear to be the remnants of British Board of Ordnance proof marks. The gun has early production features including the elongated, pointed tail lock, the tang screw entering from the bottom through the front of the the triggerguard plate and a simple nailed brass butt with what appear to be period added screws. The stock is marked “WS” under the replaced serpent sideplate and the stock has been shaped and slimmed through the comb area in a style often encountered on Native American used firearms. The forend of the gun has been replaced. Little is known of Whately, with more information provided in Jim Gordon’s Great Gunmakers for the Early West (Volume I) than in most other references. Several English makers named Whately (and/or Whaetely) worked during the second half of the 18th century and the early 19th century, but the most likely candidate is the firm of Henry & John Whately of Birmingham who worked during the first quarter of the 19th century and had a Board of Ordnance contract for trade guns during the War of 1812, delivering 1,580 between 1813 and 1815. The presence of Board of Ordnance markings suggests that this is one of those 1,580 guns. Interestingly Gordon notes that no contracts are known between the Whately firm and either the Hudson’s Bay Company or the American Fur Company.