Birmingham Small Arms Trade
1854 Possibly founded in 1854 as an association of 14 (16? 24?) gunsmiths in order to supply munitions (hand-made muzzle-loading rifles) for the Crimean War effort.
1855 Under an Act of Parliament (passed this year), all gun barrels shall be proved twice, offering protection for the gunmaker, as well as for the user.
Under this Act the gun trade is recognised as an associated body, to which all are entitled to belong if they carry on the trade of gun maker within ten miles of the borough of Birmingham, and who are subject to poor rates at not less than fifteen pounds.
1860 J. D. Goodman was Chairman of the Birmingham Small Arms Trade Birmingham[1]
1861 EXPERIMENTS WITH SMALL ARMS — Last week a considerable number of noblemen, military officers, and other gentlemen, assembled by invitation of the Birmingham small arms trade[2]
1861 A Limited Company was incorporated: The Birmingham Small Arms Company, to mass-produce guns. This was a response, by the larger makers of guns in the Birmingham area, to the success of large scale production at Enfield (the Royal Small Arms Factory).
1866 "Secessions from the association known as the Birmingham Small Arms Trade are said to indicate a great change coming over the customs and practices of the gun trade."[3]