Few countries had as many varied and specialized bayonets as Great Britain did during the first half of the 19^th century. The great variety of specialized bayonets for the regular army, the various “Volunteer” and militia units, and British Colonial Troops was truly dizzying, especially since special bayonets were designed and issued for nearly every classification and branch of service of the troops as well. This was especially true of the numerous patterns of “Volunteer” bayonets, those used by the various local militias that were typically formed, raised and funded by the local lord or earl, in a throwback to the Middle Ages, when the local gentry provided most of England’s non-professional troops in the form of the Fyrd, essentially the local peasants in temporary military service.

The specialized Volunteer Socket Sword Bayonet offered here is identified in Ian Skennerton’s British & Commonwealth Bayonets as the bayonet for the Earl of Aylesford’s Packington Volunteers (Skennerton’s B100) for use on the contract Baker pattern rifles that some of his force was armed with. The book notes that the example pictured and described on pages 72 and 73 was for use on a Baker pattern rifle manufactured by Stephen Wallis. According to DeWitt Bailey’s English Gunmakers: The Birmingham & Provincial Gun Trade in the 18^th & 19^th Century Stephen Wallis worked from 1807 to 1826, with the firm becoming Wallis & Son in 1827 and operating through 1833. He was noted to be a “gunmaker” as well as a “maltster” (brewer) and “brickmaker”, so Wallis was obviously a busy man working in numerous trades. He was located at Vauxhall Road from 18-7-1816 and moved to Dartmouth Street in 1820, where the firm remained until it closed. This places the likely production period of the rifles the bayonet was intended for in the first quarter of the 19^th century, and quite likely during the period of the Napoleonic Wars. 

The Earl of Aylesford is a peerage title in Great Britan, established in 1714 by King George I with the title of First Earl of Aylesford bestowed upon Heneage Finch. Finch was the younger son of 1^st Earl of Nottingham, who was also named Heneage Finch. The 1^st Earl of Aylesford was also the 1^st Baron Guernsey, a title he had received in 1703. The Earldom was in County Kent, with the Earl’s seat being Packington Hall. During the period that this bayonet would have been produced and been in use, there were two different earls, the 4^th Earl of Aylesford (1751-1812) and then the 5^th Earl of Aylesford (1786-1859), both also named Heneage Finch.

The Earl of Aylesford’s Packington Volunteers Socket Sword Bayonet is based upon the Volunteer Pattern Socket Sword Bayonet (Skennerton B59) that started to become popular in the late 18^th century, as these longer bladed bayonets could do double duty as a sidearm as well, reducing the number of weapons and pieces of equipment that lords and earls had to purchase and provide to their militiamen, and also reduced the amount of weight the men had to carry. These bayonets would subsequently influence the pattern of the British Pattern 1843 Sappers & Miners Bayonet.

This example remains in about FINE overall condition and is a fairly rare bayonet as only a small number were likely produced and only a handful are known to survive today. The bayonet has an overall length of just under 32” with a 26 ½” straight, single-edged spear point blade, measured from tip to the ricasso ridge at the neck joint. The blade is 1.2” wide at its widest point and tapers slightly towards the tip. The socketed hilt is 4.3” in length with a curved knucklebow that is nominally 3.4” long at its longest point and 1.8” wide at the widest point. The friction fit socket has a reinforced rim at its rear, like the socket bayonet for the Brown Bess and is cut with a simple “Z” shaped two-step mortise like the Bess bayonets. The muzzle diameter of the bayonet is nominally .909” (about 23mm) and the muzzle to stud distance is 2.2”. The socket is mortised for a bottom stud. The bayonet is unmarked except for a Board of Ordnance {CROWN}/4inspection about ½” from the ricasso on the obverse and the rack or mating number 22 engraved on the socket, forward of the mortise cut. The presence of an Ordnance Department inspection mark on the blade of a Volunteer (militia) bayonet suggests that either the Ordnance Department or the Earl of Aylesford were intent of making sure that the equipment for the Packington Volunteers was of the highest quality and would at least meet Board of Ordnance standards.

The bayonet remains in FINE overall condition. The metal was likely lightly cleaned long ago and is toning down, with a medium pewter gray patina over all of the metal surfaces. There are scattered freckles and splotches of darker surface oxidation scattered over all of the metal surfaces of the bayonet, somewhat more noticeable on the socket and ricasso area. The markings on the blade and socket remain clear and crisp and are fully legible. The blade shows some wonderful forging flaws and minor delamination, features that were common in Birmingham produced saber bayonet blade at least until the end of the third quarter 19^th of the century. In fact, this was such an issue with the Pattern 1859 Cutlass Bayonets made in Birmingham that only one maker, Reeves, was allowed to keep making the blades and all of the other contractors were required to import Solingen-made blades for use on those specialized naval cutlass bayonets. The bayonet remains crisp and fine throughout and is in really lovely condition. It displays wonderfully and is quite impressive.

Overall, this is a FINE condition example of a very scarce Earl of Aylesford’s Packington Volunteers Socket Sword Bayonet for the Baker Rifle. Only a handful of surviving examples are known, including #17 and #25, suggesting that at least 25 were produced, but more likely somewhere between 50 and 100, unless the Earl of Aylesford outfitted a truly impressive number of riflemen during the Napoleonic Era. These bayonets are rarely seen on the market, and this would be a wonderful addition to any advanced collection of English bayonets, particularly Napoleonic Era ones.

SOLD