Samuel Staudenmayer was born January
25, 1767 in Kirchberg an der Murr,
Wurttemberg. He moved to England
sometime before 1794, when his
marriage to Elizabeth Robotham was
recorded at the Church of St. James,
Piccadilly
(1). He was a
valued employee of the famous gunmaker
John Manton
(2) . In 1799 he
opened his own business at 35
Cockspur Street
(3). The location
is just south of Trafalgar Square in
central London. Staudenmayer was
appointed a gunmaker to both the
Prince of Wales and the Duke of York.
He is the maker of a Girandoni-system
air rifle in the Royal Collection at
Windsor (inventory number: L 409) and
is widely credited for being the
first gunmaker to bring the air rifle
design to London.
(4).
Mr. Shaun Brown has made an
extensive study of Samuel
Staudenmayer which was published
in Arms Collecting Magazine. I
have relied heavily on the
research of Mr. Brown (4) for the
information presented here.
