Sir Joseph Whitworth died on the evening of Saturday 22 January 1887, aged 83, at Monte Carlo. He was buried on Wednesday 2 February 1887 in the churchyard of the 12th century St Helen’s church at Darley Dale, Derbyshire.
Joseph Whitworth was born at Stockport, 21 December 1803 . Whitworth was to become the foremost manufacturer of machine tools of his time.
Discover more about: Sir Joseph Whitworth
Whitworth Rifle
During the 1850s and 1860s the British service rifle calibre was .577, both for the muzzle-loading Enfield rifle. Early manufacture of the Enfield relied on much hand labour and consequently lead to problems of inconsistent performance, non-interchangeability of parts and slow supply. Joseph Whitworth was approached to provide assistance with regards to the design of appropriate machinery for its manufacture.
Whitworth was the foremost manufacturer of machine tools of his time. Not content with considering the machinery for the manufacture of the rifle, he determined that a more appropriate course of action would be to establish that the proposed rifle was of optimum design before considering its mass production.
Read more: The Whitworth Rifle: A Brief Introduction
Whitworth Research Project
Bill Curtis and De Witt Bailey have an ongoing research project concerning original Whitworth rifles. If you have access to ANY original hex bore Whitworth from the period 1857-1865 please note its serial number and letter for recording, and contact the research team via the link below.
Warning! – The Whitworth Research Project has identified problems with several rifles that have appeared on the open market from time to time. See link below regarding the following original Whitworth rifles; numbers 449, B376, B678, C575.
Read more: Whitworth Research Project
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