A test to determine if the shipment of Gallagher's possessions made it home to Edith. Does not answer the "where are they now" question.
If Gallagher's mother Edith ever took possession of her son's trunks of personal effects, including the Colt pistol, she would be obliged to first obtain a Firearms Certificate under the UK's Firearms Act 1937 (
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1937/12/contents/enacted for example). Otherwise she would stand in breach of the law.
The Firearms Act 1937 was in force until the late 60's. It controlled the ownership of certain types of firearm, and who could not. There were also regulations concerning how an owner might dispose of an unwanted firearm.
Some salient points from the Act:
- PART I Sect 1. To own the pistol, one must first obtain a Certificate. This is done by application to the chief officer of police in the area the applicant resides.
- PART I Sect 4-(12). A permit might be issued by police to an applicant who does not have a certificate (presumably due to some unforseen circumstance)
- PART 1 Sect 11. A person transferring (selling, giving away) a firearm may only transfer it to another Certificate holder, or to a registered firearm dealer. Police must be notified in writing of private transactions.
- PART 1 Sect 12. Registered firearms dealers must keep a register of transactions sufficient to identify the persons with whom they are dealing.
My point is, if the personal effects arrived home (something we have not yet established), the presence of the pistol may have precipitated an entry in a register held by either the police or a registered firearms dealer. This was the largely the point of the Act - to provide identities of people who held - or were entitled to hold - certain firearms.
And if Gallagher's pistol made it home, then we might reasonably guess that his diaries and photographs (which are of particular interest because they may document the castaway discovery) also arrived home - unless the government took them from the crates before dispatch.
So we might look for:
- A UK police record that reads something like
Firearms Certificate (or permit) granted to Edith Gallagher, Dec 1945 (say), OR
- A day-book entry at Edith's local police station that reads something like
Surrender of unwanted firearm: Received from Edith Gallagher 1 x Colt 0.22 pistol w/ cartridges, OR
- A trading register entry from a registered firearms dealer near her home that reads something like
Received from Edith Gallagher for consignment sale: Colt 0.22 semi
for example.
Sadly, there would be no guarantees that such a record, if found, referred to "our" pistol - maybe Edith and her husband had their own collection! Or maybe Edith worked outside the law (unwittingly, surely!!) Or maybe Edith applied for a Firearms Certificate in anticipation of receiving the pistol - but still never actually received the shipment.
So what are our chances that:
Such a record was made somewhere
It still exists
Someone knows where to find it
We are allowed to look at it
It's worth the effort?