Artillery in Canada (5) Ontario: Kingston, RMC, Fort Frederick

Artillery in Ontario,

Kingston, RMC, Fort Frederick

The aim of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical piece of artillery preserved in Canada.  Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these guns to provide and update the data found on these web pages.  Photos are by the author unless otherwise credited.  Any errors found here are by the author, and any additions, corrections or amendments to this list of Guns and Artillery in Canada would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author at hskaarup@rogers.com.

For all official data concerning the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, please click on the link to their website:

Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery Website

According to the  1974 edition of ACP 125 Cansupp 1A, "Sheldrake" was the appointment title for the artillery representative in a headquarters.  "GOLF" was the arms indicator to be used by artillery callsigns on nets other than their own, especially those of the supported arms.

Fort Frederick Earth Rampart Guns, Royal Military College

Fort Frederick, Map of the Seven Guns on the Earth Rampart

Cast Iron 24-pounder 20-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 20-0-0 (2,240 lbs), 1847 on barrel, (C) on left trunnion, (Serial No. 12) on right trunnion,  1847, Queen Victoria cypher, broad arrow mark, mounted on long wood traversing carriage.  No. 1.

In the seventeenth century, Conster furnace at Beckley in Sussex, England, was owned by the Farndon family.  In the 1690s William Benge leased it to cast shells for Ireland.  Samuel Gott, Farndon's great-grandson, ran the furnace in conjunction with Gloucester furnace in the early eighteenth century.  By the 1740s it was included within the Harrison partnership.  It went out of use in the 1760-70s.  Although Conster furnace was capable of casting large guns, it was often used for the smaller and medium calibres: ½ up to 12 pounders for the government and merchant service.  The C is found on the right hand trunnion.  This is a rarer mark than those we have looked at earlier and is usually found on smaller calibre guns. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between a damaged G or C.  (Ruth Rhynas Brown)

Cast Iron 8-inch 65-cwt Smoothbore Shell Gun with Millar pattern breeching ring, weight 64-3-0 (7,252 lbs), 1842, Samuel Walker & Company of Rotherham, England (WCo) on left trunnion, (Serial No. 242) on right trunnion.  No. 2.

Blomefield Cast Iron 32-pounder 56-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 55-0-25 (6,185 lbs), Samuel Walker & Company of Rotherham, England (WCo) on left trunnion, (Serial No. 277) on right trunnion, King George III cypher, broad arrow mark.  No. 3.

Armstrong 7-inch 72-cwt (110-pounder) Rifled Breech-Loading Gun, weight 81-3-3 (9,159 lbs), 1862, Queen Victoria cypher, mounted on a long wooden carriage.  No. 4.

Blomefield Cast Iron 32-pounder 56-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 57-0-9 (7,513 lbs), The Carron Company of Falkirk, Scotland (Serial No. 71633, CARRON, 1807) on left trunnion, (32P) on right trunnion, King George III cypher, broad arrow mark.  No. 5.

Cast Iron 8-inch 65-cwt Smoothbore Shell Gun with Millar pattern breeching ring, weight 64-2-10 (7,234 lbs), 1842, Samuel Walker & Company of Rotherham, England (WCo) on left trunnion, (Serial No. corroded) on right trunnion, King George III cypher, broad arrow mark.  No. 6.

In 1829 or the early 1830s a new set of 32-pounders was developed.  Their design has usually been attributed to William Millar, but the name of Sir Alexander Dickson, Wellington's commander of artillery in the Peninsula, has sometimes been attached to two of them. Both men were Inspectors-General of Artillery, Millar succeeding Dickson in 1827. Millar was well known for his successful design of shell guns and of bronze field howitzers during the 1820s.  He died in 1838 and Dickson in 1840.  David McConnell, British Smooth-Bore Artillery: A Technological Study, (Ottawa, Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1988), p. 64.

Cast Iron 24-pounder 20-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 20-0-4 (2,244 lbs), 1847, (C) on left trunnion, (Serial No. 16) on right trunnion, 1847, Queen Victoria cypher, Fort Frederick North East 1, mounted on long wooden carriage.  No. 7.

Fort Frederick Tower Guns & Royal Military College Museum

(Doug Knight Photos)

Blomefield Cast Iron 32-pounder 56-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 56-3-0, (6,084 lbs), The Carron Company of Falkirk, Scotland (Serial No. 71851, CARRON, 1807) on left trunnion, (32P) on right trunnion, King George III cypher, broad arrow mark, Fort Frederick Tower, Gun No. 1, East.

(Doug Knight Photos)

Blomefield Cast Iron 32-pounder 56-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 55-0-2, (6,162 lbs), The Carron Company of Falkirk, Scotland (Serial No. 70538, CARRON, 1806) on left trunnion, (32P) on right trunnion, King George III cypher, broad arrow mark, Fort Frederick Tower, Gun No. 2, North.

(Doug Knight Photos)

Blomefield Cast Iron 32-pounder 56-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, weight 56-0-25, (6,025 lbs), The Carron Company of Falkirk, Scotland (Serial No. 77204, CARRON, 1811) on left trunnion, (32P) on right trunnion, King George III cypher, broad arrow mark, Fort Frederick Tower, Gun No. 3, West.

(Doug Knight Photos)

Cast Iron 32-pounder 17-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, weight 17-3-7 (1,995 lbs), Fort Frederick Tower 2 North West.

(Doug Knight Photos)

Cast Iron 32-pounder 17-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, weight 17-1-14 (1,946 lbs), Fort Frederick Tower, Main South.

(Doug Knight Photos)

Cast Iron 32-pounder 17-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, weight 17-2-21 (1,981 lbs), Fort Frederick Tower, Main South.

(Doug Knight Photos)

Cast Iron 32-pounder 17-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, weight 17-3-7 (1,995 lbs), Fort Frederick Tower, Main South.

(Doug Knight Photos)

Cast Iron 32-pounder 17-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, weight 17-3-11 (1,999 lbs), Fort Frederick Tower, Main North.

(Doug Knight Photos)

Cast Iron 32-pounder 17-cwt Smoothbore Muzzleloading Carronade with a Blomefield pattern breeching ring, weight 17-1-21 (1,953 lbs), Fort Frederick Tower, Main North East.

Blomefield Cast Iron 12-pounder Smoothbore Muzzleloading Gun, 4.75-inch, 2 foot long gun fragment, Fort Frederick Tower B.

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