Military firearms in colonial Western Australia 
113 
1,2 Battye Library, Newspaper Archives, W.A Times, 31st December 
1878. 
13 Op cit., Wieck, p. 43. 
14 Battye Library, Votes and Proceedings of W.A. Parliament 1878. 
Expenditure of Annual Grant to Volunteers 1877-78. 
15 Battye Library, Acc. 527/1531/18. These were probably the 
Enfield rifles used for target shooting. Volunteers received 
subsidised arms and ammunition to use to practice shooting. It 
was probably these arms they sought to retain. 
,8 Battye Library, Acc. 527/243/1. 
17 Battye Library, Acc. 527/1144. 
18 Battye Library, Newspaper Archive, Albany Mail, 1st April 1884, 
describes a shooting match by the A.R.V. where "The company 
are provided with converted Enfield rifles, but before next year 
will probably be furnished with Martini-Henri (sic) rifles". 
19 Battye Library, Votes and Proceedings of W.A. Parliament 1885 - 
1887. Commandants Report 1884-85. 
20 Darling, A.D., Red Ciiat and Brown Bess, (Historical Arms Series 
12), Museum Restoration Service, Canada, 1978, p.52. 
21 Battye Library, Votes and Proceedings of W.A. Parliament 1887. 
Commandants Report 1886. 
22 Op cit., Wieck, p. 51. 
23 Battye Library, Votes and Proceedings of W.A. Parliament 1889- 
91. Commandants Report 1889. 
24 Battye Library, W.A. Yearbook. Military Returns 1891. 
25 Battye Library, W.A. Statistical Register. Naval and Military 
Returns 1896. 
26 Battye Library, W.A. Statistical Register. Naval and Military 
Returns 1900. 
27 Battye Library, Newspaper Archive, Albany Advertiser, 10th 
January 1901. 
28 Op cit., Wieck, p. 45. 
29 Battye Library, Acc. 527/321. 
30 Battye Library, Votes and Proceedings of sW.A. Parliament 1884. 
Commandants Report 1883-84. 
31 Battye Library, W.A. Yearbook, Naval and Military Returns 1893- 
94. 
32 Battye Library, W.A. Statistical Register, Naval and Military 
Returns 1895 - 1900. 
33 Op cit., Halls, p. 140. 
34 Op cit., Skennerton, p. 96. 
35 Battye Library, Acc. 527/1144. 
36 Battye Library, Votes and Proceedings of W.A. Parliament 1882. 
Commandants Report 1881. 
37 Battye Library, Acc. 527/321. It was not possible to identify these 
percussion muskets from the records. It is possible that they were 
Pattern 1839 or 1842. 
38 Battye Library, Acc. 144, 12th May 1881. 
39 Battye Library, Votes and Proceedings of W.A. Parliament 1889. 
Commandants Report 1888. 
40 Battye Library, Newspaper Archives, West Australian, 2nd 
September 1891. 
41 Op cit., Halls, p. 140. 
42 Op cit., Skennerton, p. 120. 
43 Op cit., Grant, p. 31. Grant says these rifles were issued in June. 
44 Battye Library, Newspaper Archive, Australian Advertiser, 8th 
May, 1895. 
45 Battye Library, W.A. Statistical Register. Naval and Military 
Returns 1896 -1900. 
46 Battye Library, Votes and Proceedings of W.A. Parliament 1894. 
Commandants Report to June 1894. 
47 Battye Library, W.A. Statistical Register, Naval and Military 
Returns 1900. 
48 Battye Library, Newspaper Archive, Australian Advertiser, 28th 
August 1895. 
49 Skennerton, I.D., The British Service Lee, Privately Published, Qld., 
1982. On page 56 of this publication are to be found a discussion 
on, and illustration of, this Metford barrel. 
50 Shannon, R.B., Colonial Australian Gunsmiths, Wentworth Press, 
Sydney, 1967, p.18. Biographical details supplied by Mrs Margaret 
Needham show that William Vernon Needham was born in 
London on 21st August 1851 and died in Perth in March 1928, 
aged 77 years. He retained his connection with the state 
government even after Federation, being Armourer to the Police 
at the time of his death. As well as being able to manufacture and 
repair firearms, it is probable that he imported arms into W.A. 
through J.V. Needham, the firearms company, of London and 
Birmingham, to whom he was related. 
151 Battye Library, W,A. Almanack and Directory, (Stirling Bros.) 
1887-1888. W.A. Directory, (H.Piersenne), p.15, 1894. W.A. 
Directory, (Wise's), p.183,1895 
152 Battye Library, W.A. Almanack and Directory, 1888, 
(Advertisement). 
153 Battye Library, Executive Council Minutes, 9th May 1893, 567/ 
93. 
154 Battye Librarv, Acc. 527 CSO Letter received, 9th May 1893, 742/ 
93. 
,55 Battye Library, W.A. Statistical Register, Naval and Military 
Returns 1900. 
156 Battye Library, W.A. Statistical Register, Naval and Military 
Returns 1895, and. Dominion Returns for Land Forces to 31st 
December 1904, quoted in private correspondence by Skennerton 
and Temple 18.7.1991,18.3.1992. 
157 Battye Library, W.A. Government Gazette 6th April 1893, p. 347. 
is* p u bii c Records Office, South Australia. The South Australian 
Military and Police Forces 1887, Booklet, reprinted by Harris, A.F., 
Macgill, S.A. (n.d.) 
,59 Op. cit., Trotter, p. 289. 
16,1 Battye Library, W.A. Government Gazette 6th April 1893, p. 347. 
w Battye Library, Acc. 527 840/93. 
Battye Library, W.A. Statistical Register. Naval and Military 
Returns 1895,1900. 
iw Murray, P.L., Records of the Contingents to the War in South Africa 
1899 - 1902, Defence Department, Melbourne, 1911, p. 441. 
,M Votes and Proceedings of W.A. Parliament 1900. Commandants 
Report 1899. 
185 Op cit., Trotter, p. 298. 
Battye Library, W.A. Statistical Register 1895. Naval and Military 
Returns. 
187 Battye Library, CO 18 W.A. 12,1900. Agent Generals Report 1899. 
188 Op cit., Trotter, pp. 311 - 313. Since this paper was published it 
has been determined that the Pattern 1876 bayonet would fit the 
Mark II without any alteration, the rifle foresight ramp only 
requiring a simple modification. 
189 ibid, pp. 298 - 307. The author presented documentary evidence 
to support the acquisition of 200 M-Es in 1898 and 200 more in 
1900. 
170 ibid, pp. 298 - 307. 
171 Public Records Office, London. "Issues of .303" Arms made to the 
Colonies since Introduction", supplied by B.A. Temple in 
personal correspondence 11.7.1993. 
172 Battye Library, Votes and Proceedings of W.A. Parliament, 
Commandants Report 1900. "Two hundred and nineteen rifles 
were sent to South Africa with the First and Second Contingents" 
(of 222 NCOs and men). A document concerning the handing in 
of Martini-Metfords in Cape Town for Magazine Lee-Enfields, 
28th November 1899, exists in the Battye archives, (Document 
from the South African War, 827/7, p.29). In response to a survey 
of W.A. marked arms for a previous paper on the W.A. Pattern 
Martini-Enfield, one W.A. marked "Martini .303" was reported as 
returned to Australia from Lesotho, South Africa, by a Mr Jurgen 
Schultze of N.S.W. in c.1970. 
173 Battye Library, Votes and Proceedings of W.A. Parliament 1901, 
Commandants Report 1900 and W.A. Statistical Register, Naval 
and Military Returns 1900. The Report shows that there were 251 
Martini-Henry rifles awaiting conversion at this time, while the 
Returns show that the Civil Sendee Corps mustered 284 men, 
now known to have been armed with Unofficial Conversions. 
This latter figure is also circumstantially supported by the 
Dominion Returns of 1904 which show that 287 M-Hs were lost 
from the original total of 574, almost the exact total of men in the 
Civil Service Corps. 
174 Battye Library, Newspaper Archives, West Australian, 13th 
Februray 1900. 
175 Battye Library, W.A. Statistical Register. Naval and Military 
Returns 1900. 
178 Public Records Office, London, "Issues of .303" Arms made to the 
Colonies since Introduction". Quoted by B.A. Temple in private 
correspondence 11.7.1993. 
177 Army Museum of W.A. Archives, Army General Orders 1903 - 
1909. 
