Gunmaker's retirement ends 250-year family line

Richard Gallyon was the sixth generation to run the business founded in 1784 by his great-great-great grandfather William Gallyon.

But with no descendants willing to take on the company, he sold it to a Cambridge firm to continue making luxury sporting shotguns and rifles under the prestigious Gallyon name.

Mr Gallyon, who lives in Hingham, has twice been the Master of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers and will continue to use his wealth of expertise as a brand ambassador and adviser for the new owners, Adam Anthony and Richard Hefford-Hobbs.

The Millennium Gallyon gun, which on one side shows King's College in Cambridge and Norwich Cathedral on the other (Image: Archant 2020)

The 77-year-old said it was a difficult decision to step down from running the company which has carried his family's name since the 18th century.

"It was quite difficult, but I thought perhaps George (his grandson) might want to have some part in it," he said. "He loves his shooting but didn't want anything to do with it, and there is nobody else who could possibly want it, so it is better to hand it on to someone rather than let it fizzle out altogether.

"The majority of people who shoot in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, at some stage, have had a gun from Gallyons. The company has produced, from the flintlock period right through until now, about 12,000 guns."

Celebrated gunmaker Richard Gallyon, pictured holding his book Gallyons Gunmakers of East Anglia (Image: Archant 2020)

Mr Gallyon, who spent the first four years of his apprenticeship working "at the bench", said there was about 1,000 hours of work in a top-of-the-range Gallyon gun.

"A really nice handmade side-by-side gun, beautifully engraved with an exhibition walnut stock, would be between £65,000 and £70,000," he said.

Part of gunmaker Richard Gallyon's collection of antique guns. Pictured from top to bottom are a Eprouvette powder test, a pair of flint lock dualling pistols and a pair of muff pistols with folding triggers (Image: Archant 2020)

Mr Gallyon still has a collection of antique guns, many collected by his grandfather and great-grandfather, and has also written a family history called "Gallyons Gunmakers of East Anglia", with his sister-in-law Wendy Trott.

"It is like all family businesses," he said. "It comes and it goes. There has been the alcoholic member, there has been the one that wasted all the money, and for a short period my great grandmother (Mary Anne Gallyon) ran the business and kept it together for about 20 years."

• The book is priced at £50 and is available by contacting Mr Gallyon on 01953 850215

Celebrated gunmaker Richard Gallyon pictured in his regalia as Master of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers, City of London (Image: Archant 2020)