Footnotes

• Henry Alfred Alexander Thorn (1854-1914)
  Born in Kensington of a Norwich coach-building family, he joined the firm of Charles Lancaster as an apprentice at the age of 16. In 1875 he married Annie Cooke, who died of typhoid fever three years later leaving Thorn a widower and a single father, but with enough money that he was able to purchase Lancaster's business after the death of C.W. Lancaster in 1878. A highly-innovative gunmaker, Thorn was responsible for updating existing patents held by the company as well as some of his own design, including four-barrelled rifles and pistols as well as his own single-trigger. The company went on to greater successes, and in 1889 he first published The Art of Shooting, which would continue through various editions well into the Twentieth Century. During the Boer War the company became the sole agents for Sir Charles Ross' rifle, and when Edward VII ascended the throne in 1901 Thorn presented him with both a Ross and a Lee-Enfield rifle. The King appears to have shown his appreciation with this warrant, and Thorn was to continue to supply various members of the Royal Family until his death from influenza in 1914
  
  This particular warrant is discussed and illustrated in Don Masters' book, Atkin, Grant & Lang, (Long Beach, 2006), p. 147 & p.152

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Category: Arms and Armour / Sporting Guns

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