John Lee (inventor)

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John Lee
Born
NationalityFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Occupation arms designer
Known forCo-inventing a prototype bolt-action rifle

John Lee was a Scottish - Canadian inventor and arms designer, best known for co- inventing a prototype bolt-action rifle with his brother James Paris Lee. The rifle they made led to the Lee–Metford and Lee–Enfield series of rifles.

Scottish people ethnic inhabitants of Scotland

The Scottish people or Scots, are a nation and Celtic ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged from an amalgamation of two Celtic-speaking peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland in the 9th century. Later, the neighbouring Celtic-speaking Cumbrians, as well as Germanic-speaking Anglo-Saxons and Norse, were incorporated into the Scottish nation.

Canadians citizens of Canada

Canadians are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Canadian.

An inventor is a person who creates or discovers a new method, form, device or other useful means that becomes known as an invention. The word inventor comes from the Latin verb invenire, invent-, to find. The system of patents was established to encourage inventors by granting limited-term, limited monopoly on inventions determined to be sufficiently novel, non-obvious, and useful. Although inventing is closely associated with science and engineering, inventors are not necessarily engineers nor scientists.

Contents

Harrowing from Hawick, Scotland the Lee family emigrated to Ontario in Canada c.1835. After John grew up he moved to a small town along the Sydenham River called Wallaceburg.

Hawick town in the Scottish Borders

Hawick is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is 10.0 miles (16.1 km) south-west of Jedburgh and 8.9 miles (14.3 km) south-southeast of Selkirk. It is one of the farthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale, and the biggest town in the former county of Roxburghshire. Hawick's architecture is distinctive in that it has many sandstone buildings with slate roofs. The town is at the confluence of the Slitrig Water with the River Teviot. Hawick is known for its yearly Common Riding, for its rugby team Hawick Rugby Football Club and for its knitwear industry.

Scotland Country in Europe, part of the United Kingdom

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Sharing a border with England to the southeast, Scotland is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, by the North Sea to the northeast and by the Irish Sea to the south. In addition to the mainland, situated on the northern third of the island of Great Britain, Scotland has over 790 islands, including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.

Ontario Province of Canada

Ontario is one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada and is located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province accounting for 38.3 percent of the country's population, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest jurisdiction in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto, which is also Ontario's provincial capital.

The Lee Rifle's Beginning

In 1878, Lee and his brother James Paris perfected a rifle with a box magazine in Wallaceburg . This rifle later became an antecedent to the famous Lee–Enfield rifle. A well trained gunman could fire approximately 15-30 shots a minute. The prototype was tested successfully in Wallaceburg. The rifle, still in existence, is housed at the Wallaceburg and District Museum . [1]

Lee–Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle

The Lee–Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle that served as the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century. It was the British Army's standard rifle from its official adoption in 1895 until 1957. The WWI versions are often referred to as the "SMLE", which is short for the common "Short Magazine Lee-Enfield" variant.

Wallaceburg and District Museum Cultural/Historic Museum in Ontario, Canada

The Wallaceburg and District Museum is located in Southern Ontario in the town of Wallaceburg. Located a half-block from the banks of the Sydenham River, the museum occupies the former Wallaceburg Hydro Office at 505 King Street. The museum opened on June 29, 1984. The museum documents the beginning of the Wallaceburg community from the founding of the Baldoon Settlement by Lord Selkirk in 1804 to its success as an industrial hub in the mid-1900s.

Lee Rifle Prototype 1878 Lee Enfield Rifle Prototype Wallaceburg Museum.jpg
Lee Rifle Prototype 1878

John & James Paris Lee Commemorated

In the spring of 1964 Frank Mann, Wallaceburg’s local historian, and Darcy McKeough, Chatham-Kent’s M.P.P. corresponded. The letters discussed the possibility of erecting a plaque to commemorate the first test shot of the Lee rifle in Wallaceburg. The two discovered that they needed the approval of the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board of Ontario (A.H.S.B.O.) to get official historic site designation.

William Darcy McKeough, is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1963 to 1978 who represented the ridings of Kent West and Chatham—Kent. He was a cabinet minister in the government of Bill Davis. Due to McKeough's senior position in cabinet as Treasurer, Minister of Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Municipal Affairs, he was often referred to as the 'Duke of Kent'.

Historians and dignitaries such as J.M.S. Careless, Richard Apted, Harry Pietersma and James Auld helped research and facilitate the investigation. In over a decade of study few documents were found to substantiate that the first shot occurred in Wallaceburg. Nonetheless, the A.H.S.B.O. recognized that there was a vast amount of other evidence that could not be ignored. Most of the testimonials came from oral history passed down through the decedents of James Paris and John Lee. In 1975, they erected a plaque in civic park that stated, "Tradition holds that this (the first firing) occurred at Wallaceburg while Lee was visiting his brother John, a local foundry owner." The plaque is located in Civic Park close to the original location of John Lee’s foundry.

James Alexander Charles Auld was an Ontario political figure. He represented Leeds in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1954 to 1981 as a Progressive Conservative member.

It is believed that the first shots occurred just outside the Lee Foundry. The target was an oak tree, on the South Side of Wallaceburg, across the Sydenham River.

Lee rifle controversy

The Lee rifle prototype has been a controversial topic. Local citizens believe that it is the original prototype. Outsiders and critics claim that there are three rifles that date back to the period of when the prototype was created.

Eugene Myszkowski, a Lee rifle historian, and expert on the topic had an interesting find when he examined "the prototype". In his opinion, the rifle pre-dates the Borchardt patent of 1882. The museum prototype is different from post-Borchardt patent rifles because it has a riveted magazine spring. Myszkowski outlines how post-Borchardt rifles were different: "[They] solder[ed] two stamped shells together, using a riveted magazine spring and a shallow magazine catch notch in the rear rip. The cartridge guide grooves were only on the upper rear of the magazine." [2] The museum prototype has none of the later specifications.

Hugo Borchardt was a firearms inventor and engineer, born in Magdeburg, Germany. He is known for his inventions of the Borchardt C-93 pistol and the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 rifle.

Related Research Articles

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Chatham-Kent Municipality in Ontario, Canada

Chatham-Kent is a single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Mostly rural, its population centres are Chatham, Wallaceburg, Tilbury, Blenheim, Ridgetown, Wheatley and Dresden. The current Municipality of Chatham-Kent was created in 1998 by the merger of Kent County and its municipalities.

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Martini–Henry

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Lee–Metford service rifle

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The origins of the modern British military rifle are within its predecessor the Brown Bess musket. While a musket was largely inaccurate over 80 yards, due to a lack of rifling and a generous tolerance to allow for muzzle-loading, it was cheaper to produce and could be loaded quickly. The use in volley or in mass firing by troops meant that rate of fire took precedence over accuracy. A similar tactical preference would be a factor in considerations regarding rifle design in the late 19th century to early 20th century, when rate of fire would be a key design consideration for British bolt-action rifles.

James Paris Lee British firearms designer

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Arthur William Savage, was a businessman, inventor, and explorer. He is most famous for inventing the Savage Model 99 lever-action rifle, which remained in production for over 100 years, and founding Savage Arms. However, his most lasting and valuable inventions may be radial tires, and it has been argued, the modern detachable box magazine used in almost all modern military firearms. He also invented an early torpedo and built and raced cars.

The Rieder Automatic Rifle was a fully automatic Lee–Enfield SMLE rifle conversion of South African origin. The Rieder device could be installed quickly with the use of simple tools. A similar weapon of New Zealand origin was the Charlton Automatic Rifle.

The Lee-Speed rifle was a bolt action rifle based on James Paris Lee's rear-locking bolt system and detachable magazine. Early models were fitted with barrels using the radiused rifling designed by William Ellis Metford. while later models used the same square "Enfield" rifling as contemporary British military rifles.

References

  1. Chatham-Kent: Lee-Enfield Rifle
  2. Myszkowski, Eugene. The Remington-Lee Rifle. New York: Excalibur Publications, 1994, 11-15.

Skennerton, Ian (1993). The Lee-Enfield Story. Gold Coast QLD (Australia): Arms & Militaria Press. ISBN   1-85367-138-X.