Chapter 2 – Facts and Figures

2.7 The Hanquets – Gun Dynasty of Liège

 

2.7 2.7.1 2.7.2 2.7.3 2.7.4 2.7.5

The Hanquets – Gun Dynasty of Liège The Hanquet Family Story Let’s Reach Back Through Time Ferdinand Hanquet’s Vision Hanquet’s Guns in Historical Perspective Recollections of a Contemporary Witness

 

2.7.1

The Hanquet Family Story

 

For centuries the Liège area in Belgium was a center of gun making and international gun trading. Today many of the smaller manufacturers are absorbed or have simply disappeared. Others like Fabrique Nationale d’Armes de Guerre (FN) are now members of multinational conglomerates specialized in weaponry for police or military. Well-known companies like Francotte found their market niche and supply the high-end customers with luxurious rifles. Famous Grimaud switched from manufacturing to import and wholesale.

 

2.7_1 Cased set of percussion pistols made by Jean Baptise Hanquet 1850 (picture courtesy Club Littlegun www.littlegun.be)

 

2.7.2

Let’s Reach Back Through Time

 

The roots of the gun makers‘ dynasty of the Hanquets go back to the 18th century. The blacksmith Martin Hanquet (*1738-†1810) served local farmers in a Liège suburb. He added ironmongery to his shop. His son Martin (*1764-†1837) diversified the line into making nails for the booming shipbuilding industry. Thanks to his entrepreneurial attitude he smelled the down spiralling of the latter and branched out to selling guns as early as 1796! But he started another nails, copper, edged weapons and firearms business in 1809. Martin Hanquet Jr. retired aged 62 and passed his enterprise to his children Jean Nicholas, Jean Baptiste (*1800-†1877) and Jeanne Francoise. The firm was renamed Martin Hanquet and Cie. When the company was liquidated in 1829 Martin took over the nail business again, Jean Baptiste the warehouse and Jean Nicolas the guns.

 

2.7.3

Ferdinand Hanquet’s Vision

 

In 1836 Jean Nicolas Hanquet entered into a venture with Ancion et Fils to become market leader for military guns. Their new company named Fabrique d’Armes de Liège (F.A.L.) was registered as Ancion, Hanquet et Cie. They were the most important gun makers of that time. Between 1849 and 1859 they made around 60,000 to 70,000 guns per year with a record high of 91,164 in1850. That equals more than 20 % of the total gun production of all Liège gun makers combined.

In 1840 Jean Nicholas opened a branch office in Rio de Janeiro to conquer the South American market for the family business.

Brother Jean Baptiste Hanquet merged warehouse and gun business in a new gun manufacturing company. While his production output was lower than F.A.L. he was already number four in Liège in 1849, after F.A.L., the Renkin brothers and the Pirlot brothers.

His son Ferdinand Hanquet (*1842-†1909) grew the business further but first relocated the company in Liège to Rue du Laven. Of Ferdinand’s six (6) sons Paul (*1889-†1938), Emmanuel (*1881-†1944) and Emiel (*1888-†1918) worked their way up in the family company now registered as Fand Hanquet.

 

2.7_2 1865 picture of Ferdinand Hanquet (picture courtesy Club Littlegun www.littlegun.be)

 

2.7_3 Liège made pinfire revolver marked H for Ferdinand Hanquet (picture courtesy Club Littlegun www.littlegun.be)

 

Ferdinand Hanquet made his business visions come true and finally merged with Fabriques d’Armes Réunies and Fabrique d’Armes Unies de Liège. The name of the new company was Fabriques d’Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.) see picture below.

 

2.7_4 Early company poster of Fabriques d’Armes Unies de Liège (picture courtesy Club Littlegun www.littlegun.be)

 

After his death Paul Hanquet took helm, assisted by his brother Emmanuel. Paul was to be President and Emmanuel Chief Executive. In 1938 Paul was succeeded by another brother, Joseph.

 

2.7_5/2.7_6 Cousins Hanquet (from left) Paul Hanquet Jr. (*1907-†1986); Albert Hanquet (*1915 –†2003: pictures courtesy Club Littlegun www.littlegun.be)

 

The successors were Paul Hanquet Jr., Paul’s son and cousin Albert, Emmanuel’s son. Albert’s daughter Nadine, born in 1947, was in charge of Fabriques d‘Armes Unies de Liège (F.A.U.L.) from 1974 after Paul (1969/70) and her dad had stepped down, until 1992 when the company was sold.

 

2.7_7 At Rue Trappé Nr. 22, Liège in 1972: Albert and Nadine Hanquet in front of F.A.U.L. (picture courtesy Club Littlegun www.littlegun.be)

 

The gun production at F.A.U.L. was discontinued in 1976, three (3) years after the production of the Centaure was terminated. When the Hanquets’ gun business was sold in June 1992 core activities during the later years were the gun import and wholesale.

 

2.7.4

Hanquet’s Guns in Historical Perspective

 

Few gun manufacturers can live in the civilian market from hunters and sport shooters alone. To survive a profitable government business is mandatory. That is a gun business fact today and was yesteryear. Many Liège gun makers made and still make great efforts to sell their weaponry to the Americas. Military muzzle loading rifles were an important financial backbone of the Hanquets‘ during the 19th and the 20th century.

# During the American Civil War 1861 to 1865 Jean Baptiste Hanquet supplied muzzle loading rifles and muskets to compete with Enfields and Springfields. After the war these now obsolete muzzleloaders were replaced by cartridge loaded rifles.

# When U.S. arsenals wanted to get rid of their muzzle loader surplus after the Civil War many of the Hanquets‘ rifles were brought back to Belgium. Because Hanquet realized the emerging colonial markets and had these rifles altered for sale in Africa. Since natives there could not have modern cartridge firing rifles this alteration meant fitting smooth bore barrels! Hanquet’s muskets and shotguns had a reputation of excellent quality and were sold then to colonial markets like Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and other colonies with vast hunting grounds. For the English colonies this alteration had to be pushed even further and a flintlock had to be fitted. Until the 1950s regular sales were an unbelievable 5,000 to 6,000 specimens of such crude but shootable and functionally constructed hunting rifles per year. They were made of composites of old and new parts.

# After World War 2 many former colonies were released into independence. The subsequent change of their gun regulations during the late 1950s left the Hanquets with a huge inventory of muzzle loaders and spares. The good news came from the western banks of the Big Pond with the hype for old firearms collecting, reenacting, replicas and commemoratives.