repurposed rapier blades

[urbanspaceman]

Those two smallswords were forged by Adam Oley in Shotley Bridge in c.1688.
They were hilted by a cutler in (The Side) Newcastle, name of Thomas Carnforth.
It is suspected, but as yet unconfirmed, that the larger of the two was presented to the Duke of Northumberland, George Fitzroy, illegitimate son of Charles II, Commander of the 2nd Troop of Horse, along with a Horseman's sword with a smuggled Solingen blade (see pics) and the motifs of the 2nd troop on the shell.
As I said in my opening assertion: we in the North of Britain were slow to adopt the hollow blade smallsword, and were keen to still have some weight and two cutting edges, even when 'off-duty'.
Soon after, John Holles, Duke of Newcastle, commissioned backswords for his militia: they also were forged by Adam Oley in Shotley Bridge (see pic). They were marked SHOTLEY and BRIDGE on either side of the blade.
Holles was a firm royalist, but James II's insistence on a Catholic country (Holles was a staunch protestant) led Holles to support Danby against the King's supporters at York.
I'm afraid all I get when I go to SBG is a blank screen.