James Purdey the Younger

James the Founder had married in 1805 or 1806 – the exact date is unknown. His wife Mary gave birth to their first child, also Mary, in 1807. But it was not until 19 March 1828 that their first son was born, who would go on to take over the firm.

Just like his father, the boy, known as James the Younger, was apprenticed at 14. He perfected his craft and took over the running of the firm in 1858. James the Younger witnessed great change in his lifetime, not least in his own sphere, where the muzzle loading flintlocks, popular in the decade of his birth, came to be replaced by breech loading, hammerless ejectors.