GARDEN & SON - ROBt. S. GARDEN

Jim McDougall · 19th March 2026, 04:19 PM

Magey, thank you for the interesting links and info.
It is most interesting to think of this firm tailored to the adventurers, explorers and dynamic characters of the times in 19th century Great Britain, and makes sense. While obviously they did supply swords and guns to officers, it seems the primary clientele were aligned with many of the irregular units in the Raj.
As these were basically private units aligned with the East India Company in the years prior to the Mutiny, the demographic of the men would seem to correspond to 'adventurers', who were not military but functioned well in para-military contexts.

It seems most of the guns, swords associated with units of the Scinde Irregular Cavalry, and Poonah Horse, are most regularly seen. I have always thought the Howdah pistols were pretty fascinating, as well as the Jacob's rifle, which was invented by Brig.Gen. John Jacob EIC. He was with the Scinde Horse, and created this powerful rifle which was accurate for miles and with exploding rounds in one barrel. These were often termed 'elephant rifles'.
They were made by Swinburne and several others, not sure if Garden ever handled them.

19th March 2026, 04:19 PM	#18
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,834	Magey, thank you for the interesting links and info. It is most interesting to think of this firm tailored to the adventurers, explorers and dynamic characters of the times in 19th century Great Britain, and makes sense. While obviously they did supply swords and guns to officers, it seems the primary clientele were aligned with many of the irregular units in the Raj. As these were basically private units aligned with the East India Company in the years prior to the Mutiny, the demographic of the men would seem to correspond to 'adventurers', who were not military but functioned well in para-military contexts. It seems most of the guns, swords associated with units of the Scinde Irregular Cavalry, and Poonah Horse, are most regularly seen. I have always thought the Howdah pistols were pretty fascinating, as well as the Jacob's rifle, which was invented by Brig.Gen. John Jacob EIC. He was with the Scinde Horse, and created this powerful rifle which was accurate for miles and with exploding rounds in one barrel. These were often termed 'elephant rifles'. They were made by Swinburne and several others, not sure if Garden ever handled them.