A fine cased .450 (CF) Webley 'No.4' (Pryse) revolver, no. 2073 Retailed by Lang & Sons In a G. & C.B. Vaughan leather case, the paper trade-label inscribed across the top Kenneth R. Balfour, 3rd Bat. Northumberland Fusiliers, 1885
Sold for £1,200 inc. premium
Looking for a similar item?
Our Sporting Guns specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistA fine cased .450 (CF) Webley 'No.4' (Pryse) revolver, no. 2073 Retailed by Lang & Sons
5¾in. barrel, Birmingham Black Powder proof
In a G. & C.B. Vaughan leather case, the paper trade-label inscribed across the top Kenneth R. Balfour, 3rd Bat. Northumberland Fusiliers, 1885
Footnotes
Joseph Lang & Sons are recorded at 22 Cockspur Street between 1875 and 1889
This revolver is believed to have been purchased circa 1885 by Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Robert Balfour (1863-1936), who had been educated at Eton before joining the 1st (Royal) Dragoons in that year, going on to serve with the Imperial Yeomanry in the South African War and as a staff officer in the First World War. He purchased Brownsea Island in 1891, but the castle was gutted in 1896 by a fire started by faulty electrical lighting. The castle was rebuilt, and he sold the island in 1901. He also stood at the General Election of 1900 as a Conservative MP for Christchurch, holding the seat until 1906, and contested the Southampton seat twice in 1910. The reolver later passed to his son, Major Kenneth George Francis Balfour MC (1909-1998), who served with the 1st Dragoons in the Second World War, winning the Military Cross on the Nijmegen-Eindhoven road in 1944 during the battle of Arnhem. After the war he built up a chain of newspaper shops which eventually grew into Balfour News, and also helped to found the Private Physiotherapy Educational Foundation in 1988. The revolver was sold to the vendor by Kenneth Balfour in the 1990's, and has remained in his posession since that time.
Prior to 1889 not all of Webley's revolvers were marked with their trademarks. It is strongly believed that, although unmarked, this example was probably produced by Webley's themselves