WEBLEY & SCOTT AG (LIMITED) HISTORY OF WEBLEY & SCOTT

In 1827, 14 year old Philip Webley was apprenticed to Benjamin Watson, a gun lock filer. Having completed his apprenticeship, he joined up with his brother in 1835 and formed Webley Brothers - Percussioners, Gun Lock & c. makers in Weaman Street, next door to William Davis. Philip began courting Caroline Davis, who following the death of her father three years earlier was running the family business alongside her mother. When the pair married in 1838 the two firms amalgamated. Over the next sixty years P. Webley and Sons prospered and grew, sons Thomas and Henry joining the company.
During the 1850s the company began manufacturing percussion cap and ball revolvers. This was a time of unrest across the globe with the Crimea War, Indian Mutiny and the American Civil War and it created great demand for Webley's products. The last quarter of the 19th century witnessed the rise of muzzleloaders, the breech loading rifle and the conversion from black powder to smokeless powder. In 1887, the company took over the well known firm of Tipping & Lawden of Constitution Hill, Birmingham, England and in the same year saw the award of the first of many Government contracts for the supply of revolvers from its new, modern and automated factory. Philip Webley died in 1888 aged 76 leaving the firm in the hands of his sons. In 1896, they built a second factory in Weaman Street for the production of rifles, notably the Martini-Henry Target Rifle.
W & C Scott was founded in 1832 by the brothers William and Charles Scott, who had moved to Birmingham from their native Suffolk and by the mid 1840s were gaining a reputation for the production of high quality double guns. Two of William's sons, William Middleditch and James Charles, joined the company and it was renamed as W & C Scott & Sons, and in 1855 moved to larger premises at 94-95 Bath Street, Birmingham. In 1864 the continued success of the company necessitated a move to larger premises and the building of the world famous Premier Gun Works on Lancaster Street, Birmingham.
The Scott brothers were innovators with many patents to their name, some of them truly historic. One of the earliest was the Scott spindle in connection with the top lever, this is still used today by makers of high grade breech loaders. They introduced the block safety catch for hammerless guns and later still the double catch hammerless lock which is still in use today.
William Middleditch Scott was a brilliant engineer, having his first patent filed in 1865 and in 1878 he became the first man to design and patent a successful sidelock shotgun. This shotgun was manufactured under royalty arrangements by a number of firms, including Holland and Holland. He retired from the firm in 1894 and James became head of the company until he too retired at the time of the amalgamation of the three companies in 1897.
The amalgamation in 1897 of the three companies created a new public company registered under the name Webley and Scott Revolver and Arms Co Ltd, with a total capital of £335,000. Thomas Webley became Managing Director. Martin Scott, Richard Ellis, William Henry Ellis and Albert Ellis became departmental managers. Webley revolvers and Scott shotguns were popular and the new company prospered.
Over the 20th century, many forces came to bear on the company such as the 1920 Firearms Act that virtually barred individuals from owning handguns, the compulsory purchase of the Weaman Street factory for a road widening scheme and a general increase in competition from abroad. The company changed hands several times and in 1965 the company took over the gunmakers W.W. Greener who had moved to Birmingham in 1844.
The company diversified, producing parts for cars, airguns and general engineering components. At the end of the 1970s the production of shotguns was terminated at Webley and Scott and a separate company was formed, W&C Scott (Gunmakers) Limited. In January 1985, this entire business was sold to the world famous shotgun makers Holland and Holland. Holland and Holland had been one of the companies which originally bought firearms "in-the-white" from Webley and Scott. Shortly after being acquired by Holland & Holland, firearms manufacture was discontinued while airgun production resumed.
In 2006, Webley & Scott was purchased by AGS, and once again began making shotguns under the name Webley & Scott.
To list all the types and models of guns and rifles produced by the company over the centuries would fill a separate book, but some of the more famous are the Webley falling block rifles, the Scott Imperial Premier Sidelock Hammerless shotgun and the Model 700 Boxlock Hammerless Sporting Shotgun.
Historical information courtesy of Webley & Scott.