Churchill’s armoury
SHOTGUNS
PAIR OF 12-BORE ‘THE AUTOMATIC’ SHOTGUNS BY WOODWARD & SON
Churchill’s favourite shotguns, ordered in 1899 by Charles Spencer-Churchill (1871-1934) 9th Duke of Marlborough (1892-1934) to be a 25th birthday present to his cousin, Winston Churchill. They were delivered on 6 October 1902. By 1902, Churchill was an MP (elected in 1900 for the Oldham constituency), which is why the address on the oak and leather case is his rooms at Westminster. They are a pair of single-trigger, hammerless ejector guns known as the ‘Automatic’ model, with half pistol hand stocks. The 29in barrels are of
