Alexander Henry (1818–1894) was a Scottish gun maker, based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

, and designer of the Henry rifling and barrel used in the Martini–Henry rifle. He submitted a rifle to the competition organised by the British government for a replacement for their existing

Snider–Enfield The British .577 Snider–Enfield was a breech-loading rifle. The American Jacob Snider invented this firearm action, and the Snider–Enfield was one of the most widely used of the Snider varieties. The British Army adopted it in 1866 as a con ...

service weapon. His breech action and barrel were both judged to be the best (and won the prizes). The War Office did not adopt its action, preferring that of Friedrich von Martini, but did adopt its seven-grooved barrel rifling scheme. The resulting Martini-Henry rifle is named after von Martini and himself. Henry is a fascinating character – from a number of personal tragedies in his family, to some disastrous other business ventures, but he also was the "First Volunteer" – the first signatory to the creation of the Queen’s Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers, Moderator of the High Constables of Edinburgh, a Justice of the Peace, a Freemason (initiated in Lodge St Clair No 349)History of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) No.1 by David Murray Lyon, 1873 and an Edinburgh town councillor. He was admitted to The Royal Scottish Society Of Arts in March 1856. In 1872 he was appointed "gun and rifle manufacturer to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales". In 1873, one of his double rifles was specially made by Henry for

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

in 1873 and presented it to her personal servant John Brown for Christmas that year. The "extremely rare" Royal .450 double-barrelled hammer rifle was on public display for the first time from June to November 2019 in th
National Museum of Scotland
s Wild and Majestic: Romantic Visions of Scotland exhibition. He and his wife Isabella had nine children : Eliza Mackay Henry, Jemima Janet Henry, James Alexander Henry (accidentally shot and killed by his father in 1860, aged 12), William Orchardson Henry (died aged 2 - very probably named after portrait painter

William Quiller Orchardson Sir William Quiller Orchardson (27 March 1832 – 13 April 1910) was a noted Scottish portraitist and painter of domestic and historical subjects who was knighted in June 1907, at the age of 75. Early years Orchardson was born in Edinburgh, ...

), Isabella Henry, a stillborn child, Alexander (Alick) Henry, Alice Mills Henry (died aged 1) and John Chave Luxmoore Henry. When Alexander Henry died, he left the business to Alick and John, but they sold it within a couple of months, beginning the slow decline of the "brand". The first comprehensive biography of Alexander Henry, ''Alexander Henry, Rifle Maker'', was published on 23 November 2017. It was written by gunmaking history author Donald Dallas, with considerable input from Henry's great great grandson, Richard Brown. His grave is in

Warriston Cemetery Warriston Cemetery is a cemetery in Edinburgh. It lies in Warriston, one of the northern suburbs of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was built by the then newly-formed Edinburgh Cemetery Company, and occupies around of land on a slightly sloping si ...

, Edinburgh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Alexander 1818 births 1894 deaths Firearm designers Gunsmiths 19th-century Scottish people People from Leith Scottish inventors Scottish designers Burials at Warriston Cemetery