1796 LCS - Early Woolley Blade with Later WDD Scabbard?

[efrahjalt]

Hi all,

I wanted to share a recent addition to my collection that sits a bit outside my usual focus. I typically am drawn to non-pattern arms, but this 1796 caught my eye and ended up with me.

The blade is marked simply “Woolley” on the spine, with no other visible characters. Based on what I’ve been able to find, that would date the blade to circa 1794–1798, prior to the firm becoming Woolley & Deakin in 1798, and then later Woolley, Deakin & Dutton around 1810. The sword retains its grip leather and appears mostly untouched, aside from some honest service wear. There is some active rust on the blade hilt and scabbard which I will gently clean soon, but it's all very shallow.

The interesting part: the scabbard is clearly stamped “Woolley Deakin Dutton”, which would place it much later—likely around 1810–1815. This leads me to believe the sabre saw continued service and was re-scabbarded at some point, possibly during the Napoleonic period. I've heard that practice wasn’t unusual, but I’d be interested to hear if others have seen similar pairings.

I’d love any confirmation on the blade dating or additional insights into the partnership transitions. Also curious if anyone has come across documented examples of sabres being reissued with later scabbards in British service.

Photos below for reference. Any thoughts appreciated!

[efrahjalt]

Started cleaning it up. Looking a little better. Still more cleaning to do, but in the process I noticed a couple more marks that could be helpful for dating/identification. Further up the spine there are two letter Bs marked. I’ve read today these are to make the balance point before and after hilting. I’m not sure if that is correct. I’ll have to check if that holds any water next time I handle the sword. Any further thought on dating or other details are welcomed.