All About Pocket Knives

I'm not finding much information on WH Wragg, Goins shows this stamp being used 1850 to 1875. I don't believe this knife is that old.
I'll call it a English Jack, 4 5/8", stag handles, nickel bolsters and steel liners & pins. Not top of the line English quality but a good working knife.

Any thoughts on this one would be much appreciated.

Thanks'
Bob

I have one similar to yours, Bob. Mine has no bolsters and probably has been rehandled. It looks like someone tried to put a shield on it and failed. Mine may be all stainless steel. The pile side of the blade is so marked. Like yours, it is 4 5/8" long closed.
I've had this knife for 10 or 12 years. Not my favorite knife but a great letter opener.
My stamp is W.H. Wragg Sheffield England.

Nice knife you have there.

Thanks Joe, that's a nice letter opener you have. There is no stamp on the pile side of this one and I don't see England on the mark.
The liners and backspring are very clean with no pitting, But they are magnetic so unless its 400 series stainless I'll assume mild steel.
I was thinking its was made in the 30's to 50's, but with no country of origin on the blade it has me wondering.

Bob: I have one very similar to yours(hollow ground?)but with horn handles. Have owned it for many years but could never successfully date it.

All nice knives thank you everyone for sharing. Now on to W.H.Wragg. Tweedale's guide shows 11 different listing involving the name but only one William Henry Wragg and here's what it says.

What led me to believe that my knife was of fairly recent manufacture was: the concave blade grind which to me was never used on older knives.The stamp itself which does not look like say turn of the(20th)century in style. The color of the steel(on mine a bluish almost chrome like look).Strangely as I examined it I noticed that the bottom of the tang as well as the inside of the back spring seem to be polished although the spring still shows some waviness. The handles are nicely fit and the pins uniformly flush and appear to be hand hammered.The nail mark almost looks to be of French origin like a crescent moon.The liners are steel(magnetic)and except for a couple tiny spiders the blade shows no evidence of rusting. I wonder if it could be an early version of stainless steel that is still magnetic?

Ray, except for the handles the knives look the same and the nail nick is rather unique. Interesting history on the Wragg family, wonder if someone used parts at a later date to build some knives. Did some checking and the first stainless was magnetic so liners and springs could be, this one has polished springs also. Some knives we will never know the history of, this may be one.

Better late than never, right? Just stumbled upon this post and thought I would share mine. Love all of the knives shared so far. I always have a sportsman knife of some kind in my pocket so it's cool to know a little bit of the origins.

WOW!
Nice one.

michaelspayth wrote:Better late than never, right? Just stumbled upon this post and thought I would share mine. Love all of the knives shared so far. I always have a sportsman knife of some kind in my pocket so it's cool to know a little bit of the origins.

That's pretty neat! What's the overall, closed length on that?

FRJ wrote:WOW!
Nice one.

Thanks!

Doc B wrote:

michaelspayth wrote:Better late than never, right? Just stumbled upon this post and thought I would share mine. Love all of the knives shared so far. I always have a sportsman knife of some kind in my pocket so it's cool to know a little bit of the origins.

That's pretty neat! What's the overall, closed length on that?

Not sure but will check when I get home and get back to you.

I like that one Michael and welcome.

Apologies for the delayed response.. Here is the overall length of the knife.. Thanks again for the welcome and for checking out my knife!

i have a folding bowie made by w h wragg i think it was made in the late 1800 's i had it since 1983 it was invented by a French admiral d'estaing during the French American war the European version is different than the British one