William Keith Neal

William Keith Neal (11 November 1905 – 10 April 1990) was an English writer, collector and enthusiast who amassed what is considered to be one of the greatest private collections of antique firearms ever assembled. During his lifetime he was regarded as the leading authority on antique firearms in Britain and co-authored "the standard reference work" on the history of British gunmaking between the 16th and late 19th centuries. A Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers, his collection of around 2,000 firearms included six items "from the gun cabinet of Louis XIII" and two miniature, gold-inlaid pistols that were reportedly "the last gift Napoléon Bonaparte gave to his three-year-old son before military defeat and subsequent exile."

Early gun collecting He acquired his first pistol – a "nasty, cheap" Belgian-made .22 Derringer – while still a pupil at Berkhamsted School. He acquired the first piece – a flintlock sporting rifle, made by John Fox Twigg (1732–1792) – for £1.15s from gun dealer Frank Russell.

Exhibitions

By 1937, the date of the International Hunting Exhibition in Berlin, he was already an established expert. His contribution to the prize-winning British Section of the exhibition was rewarded by a medal presented by Hermann Göring, who had performed the opening ceremony. At the British Sporting Exhibition held at the Imperial Institute, London, in January 1938, he organised a display showing the development of firearms over three hundred years. His own collection was sufficiently extensive to provide sixty-two of the weapons which he was on hand to demonstrate. It was the largest exhibition of antique firearms ever held in London, and included a drop-down breech-action rifle from 1660 as well as guns made by Joseph Manton, all in working order.

Later years

In 1950 he moved to Bishopstrow House, an imposing Regency house near Warminster, Wiltshire, which was to be his home until he settled in Guernsey in 1976. It was also the centre of learning where a series of standard reference works mainly on British firearms were produced, nearly all in collaboration with his friend David Henry Lempriere Back, which are now regarded as the definitive on their subject. They had one daughter, Diana Margaret Jane.