About W. W. Greener

The Greener Gunmakers

William Greener was the first generation of the Greener family gun makers, who started his career as an apprentice to John Gardner in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Later as a journeyman gun maker he worked for Joe Manton in London before marrying and setting up his own gun making business back in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1829. However, he experienced difficulties in obtaining materials so in 1844 he moved to Birmingham and in, or near that city, the business has remained ever since.

William Greener was a prolific inventor and over his lifetime he invented; the expansive bullet (1835), an electric light (1846 - this was long before the modern 'Ediswan' lamp was patented in 1879), a device to open the four gates of a railway level crossing simultaneously, a self-righting lifeboat (1851) and modifications to the Miners Safety Lamp. But first and foremost he was a gun maker and the quality of his guns soon attracted the rich and famous; amongst these was Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria. At The Great Exhibition of 1851 he won two gold medals and a diploma "for guns and barrels, perfectly forged and finished" - the highest honour obtainable. He went on to win two silver medals at the Paris Exposition of 1855 but throughout his life he made percussion muzzle loaders and was sceptical of the new breech loaders, then in their infancy. William wrote three books, The Gun in 1834, The Science of Gunnery in 1846 and Gunnery in 1858 published in that year. He was instrumental in reforming the Gun Barrel Proof House in the Act of 1855 after a pamphlet, he produced in 1846, 'The Proof House - the Bane of the Trade' influenced politicians and the public to stamp out corruption and bad practices.

After William's death on 1869 his second son William Wellington Greener continued to make high quality sporting and military guns. Like his father he was also an inventor and many of his inventions helped to shape the breech-loader, which by that time was developing into the modern sporting gun we know today. Probably W W Greener's greatest contribution to gun making was perfecting the system of choke boring, which allowed him to win all The Field Trials from 1875 to 1879 and led to most wing shots using Greener guns to win prizes and competitions throughout the world. The perfection of choke boring and the famous cross-bolt (which he invented in 1873 to strengthen the action of breech loaders) are probably what he will be remembered for most. By the turn of the century in 1900 he had the world's largest sporting gun factory employing over four hundred and fifty skilled craftsmen. Like his father he wrote books the most famous of which The Gun and its Development was published in 1881. This book like The Breechloader and how to use it published in 1892 ran to nine editions.

W W Greener’s sons, Harry and Charles, took over the business in 1910 and ten years later the firm was incorporated into a Limited Company. Production was switched to military requirements during two world wars but during the intervening period demand for the very high quality sporting guns, which had been made between 1880 and 1914, diminished. The company under the two brothers, and later Leyton Greener, Harry's son, concentrated on well made, but less expensive 'Empire' models and the single barrel GP (General Purpose) shotgun, developed from a quasi-military riot control shotgun supplied to the Egyptian police force. But, the building of the inner ring road in Birmingham meant the factory complex fronting St Mary's Square had to go, so in 1967 the company was sold, the old factory with its imposing Victorian edifice was pulled down and production for the company as a family run business ceased. Webley's, which acquired the gun making side of the business continued to make the single barrel GP for a few years, but it was not until 1985 that the company was bought its present owners; Graham Greener, W W Greener's great grandson, David Dryhurst and Richard Tandy, two of the country's finest gunmakers and Ken Richardson who made accessories for the gun trade.

In the next couple of years important decisions were made which resulted in a return to making best quality sporting guns once again. To promote this in 1987 Graham Greener decided to build the 'New St George' 12 bore side-lock. This design was chosen as the company was now making very best quality side-locks again and the lock plates provided a large area for some very special chiselled relief engraving of St George and the Dragon - it would link the past 'Show Gun', a Unique ejector 'St George' shotgun, made by Harry Greener and finished in 1907, with the very best Presentation grade guns the company was now building. Finished in 1992 and engraved by Alan and Paul Brown this gun led to many orders being placed for similar models, and sets of guns ranging from 28 to 12 bores in the years that followed. To further extend the range the company re-introduced guns based on the familiar 'Facile Princeps' model but with a modified form of Baker ejector work which is more reliable.

To commemorate the largest real estate deal in history, when the United States of America purchased from France, all the land from the Mississippi river to the Rocky Mountains, a pair of guns were made for the St Louis World Fair of 1904. Last year to commemorate 100 years since that Fair another W W Greener 'Unique' ejector gun was made with chiselled relief engraving and precious metal inlays to commemorate the bicentennial. This was followed by another ‘St George’ 12 bore which like the original employed Unique ejectors. Both guns, together with the New ‘St George’ side-lock, a new Facile Princeps 20 bore and a new scroll engraved side lock were exhibited at the Safari Club International Convention and Exhibition in Reno. They were all show stoppers. One of the best London gunmakers commented, "These are the best guns at the show," and one of the top European engravers added, "They are superb."

Today a new bar in the wood side-lock hammer gun with carved engraving has just been completed with a new .375 double barrel Facile Princeps rifle. Plans for the immediate future include displaying a range of our guns and accessories at ‘Shooting Party’, a new showroom at Pinkney Park in Wiltshire, extending the full range of shooting accessories, available on the web site; http://www.wwgreener.com and continuing to make exquisite examples of the very best shotguns and rifles.

But the Greener family were also authors and no book had been written about the history of the company or its guns since 1910, when the last edition of The Gun and its Development appeared. To fill this gap The Greener Story by Graham Greener was published by Quiller Press in 2000. Nominated and then shortlisted for BACAs ‘Best Antiques Writer’ award it is good to know that a book about guns and shooting can figure for prestigious awards, when so much publicity is against the sport. A new book is planned to follow upon the success of the first. This will not be a second edition but an entirely new book covering those aspects of guns and gun making not covered in the The Greener Story, and with new information which has come to light since this book was published. However, copies of The Greener Story are available from Shooting Party

Graham N. Greener
Tel:01666 510351, email: gng@wwgreener.com


W W Greener Ltd Gunmakers
Registered Office & Works
R.W. Tandy
3 The Mews
Hagley Hall
Hagley DY9 9LG

Tel: 01562 886039