A Rare ‘Dismounted Horse Patrol’ W. Parker Flintlock Police Pistol.
Missed out on this item? Click to view all current Antique Pistols & Revolvers
9 ¾” overall 4 ½” octagonal 20 bore barrel struck with London proofs, stepped bevelled bolted lock signed ‘W. PARKER’. Full stocked in walnut with brass mounts, comprising side plate, trigger guard engraved ‘Dismd Horse Patrol’ & ‘No 4’, & ramrod pipe with steel ramrod with worm.
Circa 1821
A very rare pistol in used condition, safety broken.
W. Parker Gunmaker, 233 High Holborn, 1793-1841; 10 Chamber St., 1839-41. Workshops & Stores at 22 Chamber St., 1806; 52 & 31/2 Chamber St., 1808; Glasshouse Yd. & Chamber St. , 1814. Gunmaker to Duke of Kent, Prince Edward & William IV .Contractor to Ordnance, 1804-38; East India Co, 1805-41; Hudson’s Bay Co., 1837-41. Supplied Arms to London Police Officers from 1803, Metropolitan Police from 1829. Died age 68, 1841. Succeeded by Parker, Field & Sons.
The Dismounted Horse Patrol, a unit of 100 men, was formed in 1821 and was used as a plain clothed night patrol armed with a cutlass, truncheon and occasionally a pistol. The Bow Street Foot Patrols were an armed and salaried foot patrol set up in London, England, in the winter of 1782–83 by Sampson Wright and supported by the new Home Department of the British government. The government provided funds to support 46 men who worked in eight groups of six; each of the groups was assigned to one of the major routes around the metropolis and went out every night of the week. Like its mounted equivalent, it was intended to deter highway robbery. It became an established element of London policing in the 1780s. Like the Horse Patrols, they ran in tandem with the new Metropolitan Police from 1829 to 1839 before being absorbed into it.