A shotgun that was made for one of the richest men in England is to go under the hammer this week after turning up in the gun cabinet of a Yorkshire farmer.
The bespoke gun was produced in the workshops of the world famous London gunmaker James Purdey.
It was especially made for Thomas Powys, 4th Baron Lilford, a Victorian aristocrat who inherited huge estates in Northamptonshire, Lancashire and Kensington worth close to a hundred million pounds in today’s money.
The gun will go under the hammer at a Scarborough's David Duggleby Auctioneers this Friday.
The auctioneer's militaria specialist Graham Paddison said: “Lilford was quite an enigma, a shooting man who had guns made for him by Purdey, the Royal gunmaker, and yet he was also one of the most distinguished ornithologists of the Victorian period - and one of this country’s earliest conservationists.”
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“He loved birds. He was a founder member of the British Ornithologists Union in 1858, served as its president for thirty years, built aviaries filled with exotic birds from all over the world that he allowed the public to visit, introduced the little owl into Britain and published a seven volume work ‘Birds of the British Islands’, one of the great ornithological books of the 19th century.
“The Lilford gun is a side-by-side double-barrel 12 bore, one of a matching pair that Purdey made for him in 1884.
"The pair stayed together until 1950 when it was split and this gun eventually became part of an extremely good private collection owned by a Yorkshire farmer.”
The farmer’s collection also yielded what is expected to be the star entry in Friday’s auction in Scarborough, a superb competition shotgun made by Prince Albert’s favourite gunmaker, Westley Richards of Birmingham.
Mr Paddison said: “The Westley Richards dates from around 1910 and is what’s known as a live pigeon gun, a specialist double-barrel 12 bore that was manufactured for competition shooting.
"Live pigeon shooting matches, the precursor of the sport of clay pigeon shooting, had a big following at the time, indeed there was believe it or not live pigeon shooting in the 1900 Olympic Games.”
He added: "Whilst we rate Lord Lilford’s gun at £1,500 to £2,500, we expect the Westley Richards to make £8,000 to £12,000.”
Elsewhere the auction will see an important private collection of bayonets for sale and other noteworthy entries include a collection of historic police memorabilia being sold on behalf of a serving Yorkshire officer.
It ranges across helmets, capes, tunics, truncheons and memorabilia, issued by a variety of police forces, some long gone, such as Hull City and the North Eastern Railway among others.
The auction takes place at the Vine Street Salerooms in Scarborough on Friday, August 26 from 9am, with with online bidding through DD Live and thesaleroom.com.
Lot viewings take place on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
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