Thread: Wade & Butcher razor with Wellington on their butts

Hello everybody!

My name is Miguel and I'm writing from Salamanca (Spain). It is the first time I post in a forum and moreover I don't know anyting about razors therefore I trust you can apologise if I'm not proceeding in the right way.

I'm really an scholar on Napolenic Wars, mainly devoted to the Peninsular War and the Battle of Salamanca. The question is that some years ago a friend of mine found a Wade&Butcher razor with a figure of Wellington carved on one of its carey butts when he was refurnishing an old house in Ciudad Rodrigo. On the butts you can also see a man drinking a beer and the motto "Good all times", the name "Wellington", a drum and a two regimental colours, a crown of laurel...

I don't know how to attach a picture but I can send it to somebody in the forum and he might like to do it for me.

The question is that I've seen on the Internet that Wade&Butcher was working between 1818 and 1890. He tought this razor was left behind by a British soldier fighting with Wellington in the Iberian peninsula between 1808 and 1813 but this doesn't fit with the manufacturer. Could you confirm me those dates about W&B?

The razor was together with a pot full of human teeth and a French gold coin of the XVIII century.

Thanks in advance

A Morbid find there but cool.

It could fit within the time frame. You are only talking 5 years and who knows if 1818 is accurate. We may just not be able to put a razor at 1813.

You can use photobucket in the states or below in additional options there is a button for manage attachments. Click that and upload the pic.

We can tell you more then when we see the grind and scales and markings.

I sent the pictures of the Wade&Butcher Wellington razor to a member of this forum and I hope you can help me to find out if this stuff could have belonged to a person present in Spain during the Peninsular War (1808-1814).
Thanks in advance

It will be very interesting to see photo of this razor. But I think, that there is a mistake somewhere, because William Butcher, the owner, was born only in 1791.

Originally Posted by manah

It will be very interesting to see photo of this razor. But I think, that there is a mistake somewhere, because William Butcher, the owner, was born only in 1791.

Looking at it logically - Wellington was in command in Spain when the British were fighting Napaleon. Given W&B founding year it is likely that this razor was a British export commerating Wellingtons stand with the Spanish against the French.

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (c. 29 April/1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852), was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century.

Born in Ireland to a prominent Ascendancy family, he was commissioned an ensign in the British Army in 1787. Serving in Ireland as aide-de-camp to two successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland he was also elected as a Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons. A colonel by 1796, Wellesley saw action in the Netherlands and later India where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Seringapatam. He was later appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore.

Wellesley rose to prominence as a general during the Peninsular campaign of the Napoleonic Wars, and was promoted to the rank of field marshal after leading the allied forces to victory against the French at the Battle of Vitoria in 1813. Following Napoleon's exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a Dukedom. During the Hundred Days in 1815, he commanded the allied army which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

An opponent of parliamentary reform, he was given the epithet the "Iron Duke" because of the iron shutters he had fixed to his windows to stop the pro-reform mob from breaking them. He was twice Prime Minister under the Tory party and oversaw the passage of the Catholic Relief Act 1829. He was Prime Minister from 1828–30 and served briefly in 1834. He was unable to prevent the passage of the Reform Act of 1832 and continued as one of the leading figures in the House of Lords until his retirement. He remained Commander-in-Chief of the British Army until his death in 1852.

You are right. W&B could make the razor with Wellington or Napoleon=)), but after the war. As I understood the razor was dating years of war (1808-1814).

The razor was together with a pot full of human teeth and a French gold coin of the XVIII century.

Thank you everybody!
Although you haven't seen the pictures yet, I think we could state that this razor was made after the Peninsular War (1808-1814) if we take into consideration the birth date of the manufacturer William Butcher in 1791 and that Wade&Butcher started the bussiness in 1818 as early. Are you sure that these are plain facts?
I guessed this before knowing anything about W&B since this sort of items commemorating Wellington were made only after his victory at Waterloo.
Being this true, the question is how this razor came to a place like Ciudad Rodrigo after the War. Did it belong to a returning soldier who settled in the place where he fought? Was it sent as a git from England to somebody living in Ciudad Rodrigo? I love this hidden and unimportant History...

Have a look at this and don't miss downloading the panels, it's great stuff!

ARCUS: The Butcher Works

According to this the society Wade&Butcher was not signed until mid-19th century. Indeed Robert Wade was living in New York and he opened an office there to trade Butcher's products.

Therefore the Wellington W&B razor could be dated between 1850-1900.

Hola Miguel

Very interesting story, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread as I am very interested in what you can find about this....

Saludos!
Carlos

According to what the Butcher Works .pdf display panels say about trade with America; the death of both William and Samuel Butcher in 1870 resulted in the break up of the Wade & Butcher business. This information is from the Archaeological Research & Consultancy at the University of Sheffield, UK.