JD Dougall - Any info?

[KCordell]

Hey, well it looks like I decided to take one more...well another... ...I want to say last project...on for a maker that I have wanted for some time. I will post pics when I have some time and sunlight.

While I have read much on the net or better said "as much that there is on the net" about Dougall, I also heard that there may have been an article or two written in the DGJ. I have a few holes in my DGJ library and cannot find anything. Does anyone have any recollection?

Anyone here have one that wants to share some pics?

[Richard Flanders]

I have a London made 26" straight-gripped Dougall that is very nice and weighs 6# even. Excellent workmanship, especially the engraving, and v nice dark wood. I'm not at home so can't send pics.

[Ken Hill]

KC,

I looked in the DGJ Index 1997-2005, there are 6 references. I don't have 3 of the DGJs listed. Two of the Journals I have provide a write up on the "lock fast action" and are more on the Dougall Hammergun rifles. The other article is a WC Scott action based on the "lock fast design".

I know, not much help.

Ken

[Double Trouble]

I have a ca. 1875 Dougall LockFast, a nice light 16 bore with 30" barrels. It's neat in that it has "nose-less" hammers, heel/toe clips, straight grip & a stock with really nice figure. I'd post pictures, but I'm too stupid to figure it out ! If I can email pics to somebody (for them to post), I'd gladly do so...

[Ed Blake]

A shooting buddy has a 32" Dougall hammergun that is as nice as anything you will see anywhere. He bought it at the Vintagers one year at Pintail Point. The gun had 4" of drop! He took it to a good stock guy here and he bent it 2" and had to reshape the trigger guard. I've tried to buy it but he's not selling.

[KCordell]

Originally Posted by Ken Hill

KC,

I looked in the DGJ Index 1997-2005, there are 6 references. I don't have 3 of the DGJs listed. Two of the Journals I have provide a write up on the "lock fast action" and are more on the Dougall Hammergun rifles. The other article is a WC Scott action based on the "lock fast design".

I know, not much help.

Ken

Ken,

I saw the article on the WC Scott with LockFast. Interesting gun...and the LockFast design..I find really neat. I looked through all the issues but did not see one dedicated to Dougall. Not much is written on this manufacturer. Interesting as Dougall states they were Manufacturer to HRH Prince of Wales. The Royal plume is inscribed between the hammers.

[Ken Hill]

KC,

I went back and looked at the article on Dougall. It is Volume 8 Issue 3 (Autumn 1997). I just glanced at the first page last night and didn't make the connection with the title "Dougall's Howda." It is a Howda pistol engraved By Special Warrant To HRH The Duke Of Edinburgh.

It's a great article written by Ross Seyfried,

Ken

[Kirk Lubbes]

Gentleman,

I am a Dougall collector and have written several articles on J. D. Dougall for the California Side-by-Side Society Newsletter. Here is one of them

The Dougall Family of Gunmakers
By Kirk Lubbes


Little is known about J. D. Dougall, even though he and his family were important contributors to the shooting sports during the last half of the 19th century.

This article is about the six gunmakers in the Dougall family. The players are J. D. Dougall’s father, John Dougall; J. D. Dougall Sr.; and J.D. Dougalls sons; John Dougall, J. D. Dougall Jr., and Norman Dougall. J. D. Sr. and J. D. Jr. are the most important characters to the story.

James Dalziel Dougall Sr. was born in 1818. His gun making business has its roots in his father’s fishing tackle business. His father’s, John Dougall’s, business was reported to have been originally established in 1760. [James D. Dougall used the 1760 establishment date in his advertising.] Boothroyd [1] reports that John Dougall started his business in1808 as a fishing and fowling maker, later to specialize in needles and fishing hooks. However, his father’s earliest known business addresses are as a Rodmaker, 83 Trongate, Glasgow in 1820 [2], at 88 Trongate in 1825-6, and at 177 Trongate and 9 Argyle Arcade in 1829 [3].

In 1830, the business’ name was changed to J & J Dougall Fishing and Fowling Makers, located at 52 Argyle Arcade [4]. The name change may have been due to James D. Dougall Sr. joining his father’s business. He would have 12 years old at the time.

In 1841, the company name was again changed to James D. Dougall, Fishing-Tackle Manufacturer and Gunmaker [4]. In all likelihood, the firm was re-named at his father’s death.
Dougall publishes his first book, Salmon and Trout Angling in 1843.

So how and when did J. D. Dougall’s focus change from fishing to shooting sports? I have been fortunate to locate Dougall’s Glasgow newspaper advertisements for the years of 1845, 1847, 1849, and 1850 [5]. These advertisements reveal the transition of J. D. Dougall’s interests from primarily a fishing-tackle maker to a gunmaker. His 1845 ad has only a single line related to shooting: i.e., advertising gunpowder, shot and cartridges, gun repair. The rest of the ad is associated with fishing. His 1847 ad is about ¼ shooting sports related. This ad also mentions that he sells “Forgings and Gun Materials of all kinds,” possibly indicating that he is entering the gun manufacturing business. By 1849, all but one line in his ad is about guns. He was also advertising his gun in an American paper, The Spirit of the Times in 1859.

Beginning in 1850, his firm’s Scottish operations were at 23 Gordon Street, in Glasgow. The 1851Glasgow census states that J. D. Dougall is employing eight men. By 1863, Dougall’s Scottish business was apparently successful enough to open a second location at 59 James’s Street, London.

It is interesting to note that the 1861 Glasgow census shows that all of the Dougall’s seven children are living with Peter Colquhoun, a Commission Merchant. Dougall’s relationship to Peter Colquhoun is unknown, other than both men’s businesses were in same block on Gordon Street, Glasgow. John Dougall, 19, J.D. Dougall’s oldest son, is listed as a servant and gunsmith residing with Mr. Colquhoun.

Where are J. D. Dougall Sr. and his wife Janet? They are not in Glasgow 1861 census. Are they in London setting up Dougall’s London operation? Who is running Dougall’s Glasgow location?

By the 1871 census, the family, minus the three older children, is residing in Kensington, London. John, who is now 29, is still shown as residing with the family and listed as having no occupation. James Dalziel Dougall, Jr., 22, J.D. Dougall Sr.’s 2nd son, is among the missing.

John C. Dougall (presumably the J. D. Dougall’s oldest son) appears in Glasgow’s 1881 census and is listed as gunmaker manager. I am assuming that John is now running Dougall’s Glasgow operation. There is still the open question of who was running Dougall’s Glasgow operation between at least 1861 and as late as 1880 since John Dougall is residing with his parents in 1871. However, since John was 29 at the time, and a gunmaker, he should have been old enough and skilled enough to have run the Glasgow operation since the early 1860’s.

The London 1881 census notes that Dougall’s London operation employs 10 men. The size of Dougall’s London operation was surprising to me. I had always assumed that Dougall’s guns were built in Glasgow and that the London operation was only for retail sales. The fact that 10 men were employed in the Dougall’s London office indicates that something more was going on in London, i.e., his guns with London addresses on their ribs may have actually been built in London, rather than Glasgow.

The Dougall London operation remained at the St James’s Street location until 1883, after which he traded as J.D. Dougall and Sons at 8 Bennet Street, St. James’s until 1893 [6].

J. D. Dougall, Sr. died on 28 February 1891. “There was a note of his death on 28 February 1891 at his home at 51 Bedford Gardens, London, but nothing else beyond being told of a letter, which could not be found for actual study, of his writing, to the Master of the Gunmakers’ Company to beg his fare back to Scotland, that he might die in his native land. If this, indeed, was the fact we wonder what disaster of vice brought a men so successful in his younger days to so parlous an end [7].” This story related by Crudgington and Baker may well be true. I discovered in probate records that J. D. Dougall’s financial situation was, in fact, dire. His estate was only valued at about £260, 17s, 9d.at the time of his death. [8]

In the 1891 London census, J. D. Dougall, Jr. and Norman Dougall, along with three other adult members of the Dougall family are living with Janet Dougall, J. D. Dougall Sr.’s widow. J. D. Dougall, Jr is listed in the census as gunmaker and gunpowder maker and Norman Dougall is also listed as gunmaker. Along with John in Glasgow, these are the “Sons” of J. D. Dougall and Sons. J. D. Dougall Jr. was likely supporting the family at this time. His estate was valued at £3464, 4s, 7d at the time of his death in 1896 [8].
I still do not know when J. D. Dougall Sr. ceased to be active in the Dougall gun making business or when his sons became inactive. The facts we do know are:
Sometime after 1880 until 1893, John Wilkes took over the management of Dougall’s London operation. The Dougall London operation closed in 1893 and John Wilkes went into business for himself [9].
J. D. Dougall Jr., at the time of his death, in 1896, was “managing director of the Smokeless Powder Company”, later to become the Schultze’s Granulated Wood Gunpowder Co. Ltd [10]. In addition, he was at the head of the Inanimate Bird Shooting Association and chairman of the Armourers' Club [11].” The Inanimate Bird Shooting Association was the glass ball shooting association formed in 1893. J. D. Dougall Jr. was its first president. The Armourers’ Club later became the British Gun Trade Association. Clearly, J.D. Jr was a busy man. His managing directorship of Schultze’s Gunpowder Company and his other shooting sports-related activities would likely have left him little time to actively manage Dougall’s London operation.
The firm of J. D. Dougall & Sons, Gun, Fishing Rod and Tackle Makers was officially dissolved on 21 February 1905, ending the Dougall family’s participation in J. D. Dougall and Sons. Charles Ingram Annan was to continue doing business under the same name and at the same address [12]. Apparently the gunmaker we know as Charles Ingram appears as Charles Ingram Annan in the dissolution announcement. There must be a story there somewhere.

J. D. Dougall and Sons name remained in business but was only traded in Glasgow at 3 West Nile St, 1904-11; 18b Renfield St, 1913-19; and 4 Bothwell St, 1921-3 [13].
In summary, what did the Dougall family of gunmakers contribute to the development of the gun, gunpowder, and shooting sports?
J. D. Dougall Sr.
• Gun and Rifle Manufacturer to HRM The Prince of Wales
• Medal won London International Exhibition of 1862. One of the two medals awarded for principle, the other being awarded to Samuel Colt for his revolver.
• Authored five books on shooting and hunting

The Rifle Simplified – Being a Familiar and Instructive Treatise on the Important Weapon and Its Efficiency for National Defence (1859)
Scottish Field Sports: A Volume of Mingled Gossip and Instruction (1861)
Shooting Simplified – A Concise Treatise on Guns and Shooting (1865)
Shooting – Its Appliances, Practice and Purpose (1875)
The latter two works are still considered classics
• Patented Lockfast action in May 1860, British Patent No. 1182
• Authored the article on “Shooting” for Encyclopedia Britannica 1879 through 1910
• Succeeded in introducing nitro-compound powders in a practical form for purposes of shooting [14].
J. D. Dougall Jr.
• Partner in J. D. Dougall and Sons
• Managing director of the Schultze’s Granulated Wood Gunpowder Co. Ltd.
• Head of the Inanimate Bird Shooting Association
• Chairman of the Armourers' Club
There still remains a lot of mystery surrounding James Dalziel Dougall. “The records of JD Dougall and the early records of John Wilkes, were lost when the book was accidentally taken away by the refuse collection men one day! “[15]. So little is known about their operations, their customer base or their guns. What happened to J. D. Dougall’s finances? Who was running their operations at various times? What was exactly the relationship between the Dougalls, John Wilkes, and Charles Ingram?
I would appreciate anyone who has further information to contact me at klubbes@starstream.net.
References

Note: Dougall’s last name is often found spelled with one ‘l”, i.e. Dougal in many references

[1] Shotguns and Gunsmiths, the Vintage Years by Geoffrey Boothroyd, Safari Press, 1992, page 152,
[2] The Commercial Directory of Scotland and Ireland 1820, pages 21-22
[3] Listed in Pigot & Co.’s New Commercial Directory of Scotland 1825-6.
[4] British Gunmakers, Volume Two – Birmingham, Scotland & the Regions by Nigel Brown, Quiller Press, 2001, page 208-209
[5] Robert Pool's Glasgow Collection's photostream
[6] British Gunmakers – Their Trade Cards, Cases, and Equipment 1760 – 1860 by W. Keith Neal and D.H. Black , page 40.
[7] The British Shotgun, Volume One 1850-1870 by Im Crudgington & D. J. Baker, published by Quiller, 2011 edition, page 73 – 76
[8] England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) (Ancestry.com)
[9] The British Shotgun, Volume One 1850-1870 by Im Crudgington & D. J. Baker, published by Quiller, 2011 edition, page 36
[10] http://www.craigwhitseygunmakers.co....hn_wilkes.html
[11] J.D. Dougall Jr. Death Announcement in Baily’s Magazine of Sports and Pastimes
Volume The Sixty-Fifth being Nos. 431-436, January to June, 1896.
London: Vinton and Co., Limited: 9, New Beidge Street, Ludgate Circus, E.C. 1896.
[12] The Edinburgh Gazette of 24 Feb 1905, page 199
[13] British Gunmakers, Volume One – London by Nigel Brown, Quiller Press, 2001, page 235
[14] Proceedings and Transactions of the Natural History Association of Glasgow. Volume 3 (New Series) 1889 to 1892.
[15] Information from query to Internet Gun Club
[16] BELGRAVIA - A London Magazine, conducted by M.E. Branddon, Vol. VI Second Series – Vol. XVI First Series, February 1872, Warwick House, Paternoster Row, London E.C.

[Bill Murphy]

One of our members owns the "King of all Dougall Lockfasts". It is a massive four bore single barrel that I would love to own.

[Brian H]

I don't want to highjack this thread but I have been thinking about buying the below pictured Dougall gun for some time that a gentleman has for sale. it has 30" Damascus barrels and 28" steel barrels. Any opinion would be appreciated regarding value. It has the heel and toe clips as well.