Lot 1403: BOSS & CO. A 12-BORE EASY-OPENING SIDELOCK EJECTOR, serial no. 5470,

BOSS & CO.
A 12-BORE EASY-OPENING SIDELOCK EJECTOR, serial no. 5470,
28in. sleeved nitro barrels (in 1992), retaining original rib engraved 'BOSS & CO. 13. DOVER STREET. PICCADILLY. LONDON. W.', and gold-inlaid '2', 2 3/4in. chambers, bored approx. true cyl. and 1/4 choke, toplever gold-inlaid '2', automatic safety with gold-inlaid 'SAFE' detail, gold-inlaid cocking-indicators, rolled-edge triggerguard (with repair), best bouquet and scroll engraving, 14 3/8in. figured stock, weight 6lb. 10oz., in a relined brass-cornered leather case

Provenance: We are kindly informed by the makers that this shotgun was ordered May 1910 as no.2 of a pair with 28in. barrels by H.B. Chinnery, Esq.

Chinnery was a first-rate batsman and served as an officer with the Rifle Brigade during the Great War. This extract appeared in Flight Magazine on 8th June 1916. "News has reached England of the death at the front of H.B. Chinnery, the eldest son of the late W.M. Chinnery, the famous athlete. Born in Teddington, H.B. Chinnery was a stylish batsman and a smart field. He played for Eton against Harrow in 1894 and 1895, making scores of 75 and 64 on the latter occasion. Two years later he was given a thorough trial for Surrey, and for a few weeks he achieved much success, making 577 runs in all, with an innings of 149 against Warwickshire at Birmingham as his best score. His association with Surrey, however, was very brief. Two seasons later he turned out for Middlesex, but his matches for that county, although covering a period of four years, were few, his only innings of note being one of 100 against Gloucestershire at Lord's. Mr. Chinnery was an officer in the Rifle Brigade. His younger brother, E.F. Chinnery, of the Coldstream Guards and R.F.C. was killed while flying in an aeroplane last January."