Lot 369S58
A .450 falling-block match rifle by J. Rigby & Co., no. 15499 Together with its correctly numbered sights (eye-piece perished) in the original wooden box (with replacement insert)
18 May 2017, 14:00 BST
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £5,250 inc. premium
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A .450 falling-block match rifle by J. Rigby & Co., no. 15499
Incorporating Rigby & Banks Patent No. 1361 of 1882 use No. 9, sidelever, the action-body engraved J. Rigby & Co., Dublin & London on the right and Rigby & Banks Patent, No. 9 on the left both in scrolling banners and surrounded by best foliate scroll-engraving, fully renewed hardening-colour, the well-figured stock with pistolgrip, horn pistolgrip-cap, blued rearsight-attachment at heel and chequered butt-plate, the barrel engraved J. Rigby & Co., Dublin & London with foresight block
Weight 9lb. 2oz., 14⅛in. pull (13¾in. stock), 33in. barrel
Together with its correctly numbered sights (eye-piece perished) in the original wooden box (with replacement insert)
Weight 9lb. 2oz., 14⅛in. pull (13¾in. stock), 33in. barrel
Together with its correctly numbered sights (eye-piece perished) in the original wooden box (with replacement insert)
Footnotes
The makers have kindly confirmed that the rifle was completed in 1883 as a '.450 Best Match Rifle' for Sir R. Hamilton
It is highly likely that this is Sir Robert George Crookshank Hamilton K.C.B., (1836 – 1895), a lifelong civil servant educated at King's College, Aberdeen. His first posting was as a clerk at the War Office and it was in this capacity that he served with the Army in the Crimea in 1856. On his return he held increasingly important civil posts with the Office of Public Works, the Education Department and the Board of Trade. By 1878 he was Accountant-General of the Navy, participating in Lord Carnarvon's commission on colonial defences, and was by 1882 permanent secretary to the Admiralty.
On the death of Lord Frederick Cavendish in 1883 he was transferred to Ireland, where he served under Earl Spencer It is very likely that his interest in competitive target shooting was gained under the influence of Earl Spencer resulting in his ordering this rifle from Rigby's, whose premises located close to the Viceregal apartments in Dublin Castle.
The failure of the Home Rule Bill in 1886 caused much animosity by the newly elected Conservative Parliament towards Hamilton. This combined with a campaign in the Times to have him removed resulted in his appointment as Governor of Tasmania in 1887. Upon his return to England he was appointed to the royal commission, inquiring into the working of the Constitution of Dominica. In 1894 he served on the commission regarding the financial relations between England and Ireland. In November the same year he was appointed chairman of the Board of Customs, and died in April the following year.