The 1859 British Boarding Axe

[CutlassCollector]

Sometimes it's interesting to discover that an assumption is wrong.
I always assumed that naval boarding axes came first and evolved into or were repurposed as fire axes as their use at sea declined and fire brigades formed.

The 1859 British Boarding axe is, I have recently discovered, directly copied from a fire axe from around 1807.

Steam and steel rapidly replaced sail throughout the century, but it was not a clear cut change. For example HMS Warrior (1860) was an iron hulled steam powered frigate but she still carried significant sails and with her propellor raised out of the water could make 12 knots under sail. The amount of coal that could be usefully carried restricted her operating range so sail was still necessary for longer voyages.

The above explains why the British Government introduced a new model of boarding axe in the middle of the 19th century and were still supplying them as late as 1898. Axes were needed as although wooden decks may have disappeared there was still a large expanse of canvas, masts, spars and rigging that may be brought down under combat conditions.

Here is an 1859 model boarding axe made by Charles Thomas (1898):





And this the fire axe from which the model was copied.
There are very few extant examples of this fire axe but two are known, marked to the Exeter Fire Brigade and dated 1807. In the early part of the 19th century local fire brigades were established by insurance companies to protect property insured by them. The West of England Fire Insurance Company was set up in 1807 and established several fire brigades in the area. Of which Exeter was one. Exon(iensis) is from the Latin name for the city.

(With thanks to Mr Ron Long an expert on the history of Fire Fighting equipment.)

[adrian]

The stamp that you have with a question mark in your first image is a crown over B over 1. This represents a Birmingham based viewer, and his number was 1. Half the crow is missing and often such stamps are incomplete from either being slightly mis-struck or from the stamp itself being damaged.

[CutlassCollector]

Originally Posted by adrian

The stamp that you have with a question mark in your first image is a crown over B over 1. This represents a Birmingham based viewer, and his number was 1. Half the crow is missing and often such stamps are incomplete from either being slightly mis-struck or from the stamp itself being damaged.

Yes, a crown. Thanks Adrian.

[M ELEY]

Awesome information CC and I too am surprised to learn of a boarding piece being influenced by a fire implement and not the other way around (as it is in most circumstances). These mid-century boarding axes were definitely made for deck clearing. Is this one of the axes from your own collection?

[CutlassCollector]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

Awesome information CC and I too am surprised to learn of a boarding piece being influenced by a fire implement and not the other way around (as it is in most circumstances). These mid-century boarding axes were definitely made for deck clearing. Is this one of the axes from your own collection?

Hi Mark,
The top axe is from my picture archive, so not mine. There are only two known that were made by Chas Thomas. Richard Thomas axes were a little more common but almost all these model 1859 boarding axes were made by Gilpin with dates ranging from 1861 to 1898. Only these three makers carry British government or Navy marks.

A slightly different shaped axe was manufactured for private purchase or other navys by:
John Yates and Co.
Adams Small Arms Company (famous for revolvers)
Apsam Co. Based in London WC

Here are two of mine. The top is a Richard Thomas 1897 and the lower one is a Gilpin 1861.