Historical information on the pistol and the gunmaker Edward Patrick

In the book "Feuerwaffen II" by Arne Hoff (Page 204, Picture 153, No. XII: 1727-28. - Armouries, Tower of London), I discovered the flintlock pistol of Edward Patrick. Fascinated by the outer main spring, which, at the same time, contained the frizzen spring, I made further enquiries.

In 1997, I contacted the Tower of London by phone. I wanted to find out whether it would be possible to not only see the thia pistol in the display cabinet, but to also hold it in my hand, to take a picture of it, etc. I was put through to Mr. Frederick Wilkinson, author of numerous books on historic weapons.

After I informed him of my business, he told me that the Royal Armouries had shortly before moved to Leeds. But that it would be no problem to have the weapon brought to the Tower and to view it there.
He offered to bring the Patrick to the Tower, I was only to give him a date when I would be in London. So I booked a flight and informed Fred Wilkinson of the date.
On 22nd August 1997, the time came and I flew to London. On arrival at the Tower, I showed the letter from Mr. Wilkinson at the desk, where I was given a visitor ticket.

With this I was given free entry to the Tower of London. There were still several hours to pass until the time of the appointment at 2 p.m. in the Jewel House, time I used to make a detailed tour.

Punctually at 2 p.m.I was standing at the entrance on the left beside the visitor entrance to the Crown Jewels.There are various offices in this section. The office of Fred Wilkinson was directly above the Crown Jewels. It was there I was shown the pair of pistols from Edward Patrick, photograph them and measure them.

Back home again, drawings of the Patrick were made and soon the first replica of the Patrick was created.

The pair of pistols pictured in the Arne Hoff book is taken from the archive photo from the Tower of London. The following picture shows the label on the reverse of the archive picture. This archive picture was made available to me by the Tower of London, unfortunately, I am not allowed to publish it.