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Hey guys,

Over the Christmas holiday I spent some time researching the provenance of my Woodward double rifle. Here is my composition of what I found. My wife said it reads like shit. It's all true.

THE SLATE BARON’S WOODWARD

Born June 10, 1864 in Penrhyn, Caernarvonshire, Wales, Edward Sholto Douglas-Pennant was a scion of the Penrhyn slate dynasty. His father was the Hon. George Sholto Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn of Llandygai, who was to be made famous across the United Kingdom by the great strike of 1900-1903 at Penrhyn Quarry. His mother was Pamela Blanche Rushout. Penrhyn Castle lies near Bangor and Bethesda in north Wales.

He married Hon. Blanche Georgiana Fitzroy, daughter of Charles Fitzroy, 3rd Baron Southampton and Ismania Catherine Nugent, on December 6, 1887. Five children were born of the marriage.

In September, 1891, at the age of 27, the Woodward Automatic, #4457, caliber .450/.400 3¼” BPE (later to become NE) was delivered to him. I have found no account of his hunting experiences or other use of this rifle.

In 1903 the Hon. E.S. Douglas-Pennant appears on the roster of the Imperial Yeomanry, Buckinghamshire (Royal Bucks Hussars), headquartered at 23 Carlton House Terrace, London S.W. He is listed as Second in Command, with the rank of Major.

In 1906 he was listed as living in Whittlebury, at Sholebroke Lodge.

On March 10, 1907 the Hon. George Sholto Gordon Douglas-Pennant, 2nd Baron Penrhyn of Llandygai died. Thereupon, the Hon. Edward Sholto Douglas-Pennant succeeded to the estate and title, becoming 3rd Baron Penrhyn of Llandygai.

Life in Wales and good fortune for the Penrhyn Dynasty could never be the same. Accounts of the great quarry strike of 1900-1903 depict it as an epic struggle between the traditional owners of capital and the emerging trade unions. Lord Penrhyn (the 2nd Baron Penrhyn) stubbornly refused to deal with the workers’ committees. Bethesda and its environs suffered, as did the Welsh slate industry as a whole. Sickness and hunger plagued the idle workers. The standoff took its measure of Lord Penrhyn’s wealth, too; the quarry being closed three years. Compounding negative events followed: the Great War, the Great Depression, and the Second World War. The overall result was a precipitous decline in production of Welsh slate. Records show that Wales produced 364,000 tons of slate in 1912. By 1958 output was only one-seventh that amount, and it further declined to 22,000 tons by 1970.

The Hon E.S. Douglas-Pennant died on August 27, 1927 at age 63. His first son, Alan, preceded him in death, tragically killed in action in the Great War. The Penrhyn estate and title descended to his second son, the Hon. Hugh Napier Douglas-Pennant, 4th Baron Penrhyn of Llandygai.

The 4th Baron Penrhyn died June 26, 1949. Perhaps what then occurred is a reflection of the hardships of strikes, wars, and depression. Following his death, in 1952, Penrhyn Castle and a substantial portion of the Penrhyn Estate were ceded to the Treasury in lieu of death taxes, vesting in the National Trust.

Here are pictures of Penrhyn Castle:

Not bad digs, eh?

Have a happy new year,

Curl

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RoscoeStephenson.com

YOUR DOUBLE RIFLE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND.

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