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Alexander John Forsyth (28 December 1768 – 11 June 1843) was a Scottish
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland.
The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...
minister who first successfully used fulminating (or 'detonating') chemicals to prime gunpowder in fire-arms thereby creating what became known as
percussion ignition.
Life
He was born in the manse at
Belhelvie the son of Rev James Forsyth (d.1790), and his wife, Isabella Syme. He studied at
King's College, Aberdeen
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Abredonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Universi ...
graduating MA in 1786. He succeeded his father as minister of his home town in 1791.
Forsyth took out a British patent for locks utilising
fulminate
Fulminates are chemical compounds which include the fulminate ion (). The fulminate ion is a pseudohalic ion because its charge and reactivity are similar to those of the halogens. Due to the instability of the ion, fulminate salts are frictio ...
s in 1807. Despite the patent being in force, several British gunsmiths, most notably
Joseph Manton
Joseph Manton (6 April 1766 – 29 June 1835) was a British gunsmith. He innovated sport shooting, improved weapon quality and paved the way for the modern artillery shell. Manton was a sport shooter and a friend of Colonel Peter Hawker.
...
, invented other forms of detonating gunlocks
ignition
Ignition may refer to:
Science and technology
* Firelighting, the human act of creating a fire for warmth, cooking and other uses
* Combustion, an exothermic chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidant
* Fusion ignition, the point at which a ...
in order to evade Forsyth's patent, which would not expire until 1821. Forsyth continually protected his patent between 1807 and 1821 in Britain with
legal action
In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...
. He fought cases against Joseph Egg, Collinson Hall, Isaac Riviere, Joseph Vicars, and Joseph Manton (twice). The most notorious of these attempted patent evasions was Manton's 'pellet lock' patented 29 Feb 1816, which importantly worked with a hollow nipple - a feature invented by Hall which became mainstream later. Manton's pellet lock patent was decided in court to be an infringement of Forsyth's patent. The pellet lock had not been a great success, but Manton's tube lock was a much better device. Manton patented it on 3 August 1818, which Forsyth also challenged successfully. However, despite conceding legal defeat, Manton continued to produce them and finally negotiated licensing terms which led to Forsyth's company deciding to license the use of locks using fulminates to a number of other gunmakers from the Autumn of 1819, 18 months before the expiry of the patent.
A number of other British gunmakers and sportsmen also attempted to evade Forsyth's patent by avoiding complicated gunlocks likes Forsyth's. They hit on the idea of a simple
percussion cap
The percussion cap or percussion primer, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. This crucial invention gave rise ...
aka 'copper cap', a small cup with fulminating paste inside, which, when was placed over a hollow nipple and struck with a hammer, would ignite the gunpowder in the end of the breech. These men included Joseph Egg, James Purdey, Col. Peter Hawker and the British born artist
Joshua Shaw
Joshua Shaw (1776–1860) was an English American artist and inventor.
Early life
Joshua Shaw was born in Billingborough, Lincolnshire, England in 1776 and was orphaned at the age of 7. To survive he worked for a local farmer as a bird scare ...
. In the face of so much competition, Shaw decided to travel to America in 1817 and, once he was legally allowed to do so, was granted an American patent for a
percussion cap
The percussion cap or percussion primer, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. This crucial invention gave rise ...
in 1822. Shaw made a series of claims of being the inventor in order to gain compensation from the U.S. government for their use of copper caps without permission. This has led some vintage gun enthusiasts to claim Shaw was the inventor of the copper cap. Many gun historians have concluded that the inventor will probably never be known for certain.
The first patent for a copper cap ignition system anywhere in the world was granted to Prelat in 1818 in France. Prelat was probably not the inventor as he often took out French patents for British ideas. More recently, Joseph Egg's claims are given more credence, and he is now considered the first to have put copper cap ignition into commercial production and to have 'laid the earliest claim to the invention'. In his advertising, Egg consistently claimed to have invented it and took pride in his decision not to take out a patent so it could be used by all.
These new forms of ignition proved popular among
sportsmen
An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance.
Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-develo ...
s during the
Regency period
The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer period between and 1837. King George III succumbed to mental illness in late 1810 and, by the Regency Act 1811, h ...
, who had their old unreliable
flintlock
Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism itself, also know ...
s converted.
[Ricketts, H., ''Firearms'' (London, 1962)]
Background
While hunting
wild duck
The wild duck is the non-domesticated ancestor of the domestic duck.
Wild duck may refer to:
* Mallard
The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, ...
, he was dissatisfied with his
flintlock
Flintlock is a general term for any firearm that uses a flint-striking ignition mechanism, the first of which appeared in Western Europe in the early 16th century. The term may also apply to a particular form of the mechanism itself, also know ...
fowling-piece due to its long lock time (the delay between the time the trigger is pulled and the time the main charge of gunpowder begins burning); by the time the pellets actually left the barrel, the target animal could hear the noise from the trigger being pulled and have time to either fly, dive, or run before the
shot
Shot may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard
*''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck
*'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy
* "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus
* ''Shot'' (2017 f ...
reached it.
[ He began his research into the use of fulminates of mercury or silver in 1805.] He patented his scent-bottle lock in 1807; this was a small container filled with fulminate of mercury
Mercury(II) fulminate, or Hg(CNO)2, is a primary explosive. It is highly sensitive to friction, heat and shock and is mainly used as a trigger for other explosives in percussion caps and detonators. Mercury(II) cyanate, though its chemical formula ...
During the Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
around 1806, Forsyth worked on his design at the Tower Armouries. But when a new Master General of Ordnance
The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...
was appointed he was dismissed; other experiments had had destructive results, and the new master general did not wish to see Britain's main arsenal destroyed.
It is sometimes claimed that Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
offered Forsyth a reward of £20,000 if he took his invention to France, and Forsyth declined. This story is now widely thought to be a myth. The French gunsmith Jean Lepage
Jean Lepage (1779–1822) was a well-known French gunsmith.''Eugene Onegin and Other Stories'' by Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin p.25/ref> He worked for Louis XVI, Napoléon and then Louis XVIII. He was the inventor of fulminate percussion systems ...
developed a similar form of ignition in 1807 based on Forsyth's design, but this was not pursued. Similarly inspired by Forsyth's application of fulminates as a priming mechanism, Jean Samuel Pauly
Jean Samuel Pauly (1766 – c. 1821), born Samuel Johannes Pauli, was a Swiss inventor and gunsmith of the early 19th century. Parish records show that he was baptised in Vechigen near Bern, Switzerland on 13 April 1766, the son of Johann Pauli ...
while working in France in 1812, invented the first self contained shotgun cartridge (including fulminate, gunpowder and shot) for breechloading guns.
Death
He died suddenly at his breakfast table on Sunday 11 June 1843. He was unmarried.[Fasti Ecclesiastae Scoticana vol.6 by Hew Scott p.48]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsyth, Alexander John
Firearm designers
Scottish chemists
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
1768 births
1843 deaths
19th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland
18th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland