Henry Nock

Nock started out as a locksmith, but he took out a patent for a gun lock in 1775. Nock was not yet enrolled in the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers and could not trade under his own name. He formed Nock, Jover & Co. with William Jover, a Master of the Gunmakers Company and the patent bore Jover's name as well as Nock's along with one John Green. War with the American colonies provided a strong market for Nock's products.

James Wilson came to Nock in 1779 to make the prototypes for his volley gun design. Nock won the subsequent competitive bid for the production of the gun. The weapon is consequently commonly referred to as the Nock gun. Nock also produced some volley guns and volley pistols for the civilian market but in very small numbers. This included a set of these weapons for the Royal Household which is still in the Queen's collection today. This set is not standard production. It has, for instance, silver mounts by Mark Bock, a London silversmith.

Following the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War, there was a fall in the demand for military small arms. In this period Nock turned to the civilian market, but also had profitable orders for locks for light to medium calibre (3–12-pounder) naval guns.

In 1784 Nock finally became a Freeman of the Gunmakers Company. A few years later the French Revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic Wars ensured that Nock was not short of government business. The Duke of Richmond preferred Nock over his competitors for his innovations, particularly the screwless lock. Nock was originally contracted to deliver complete 'Duke of Richmond's' muskets, but encountered difficulties in production and renegotiated his contract to be paid for delivering batches of parts to be assembled later. However, this required him to assign the lease of his workshops to the Board of Ordnance as security, an agreement which put him under pressure for the rest of his life.

Ultimately, orders for the 'Duke of Richmond's' musket with its atypical smaller calibre 11-bore barrel dried up in favour of the cheaper and simpler 'India Pattern' musket and its 12-bore barrel. Thereafter Nock concentrated on supplying muskets to local militia preparing for an expected invasion. In 1804 Nock was contracted to adjust the ramrods of the Duke of Richmond's muskets, after they proved unpopular when issued to the 43rd and 52nd Regiments on their conversion to light infantry.

In 1789 Nock was appointed gunmaker-in-ordinary to King George III, largely as a result of his patented breech for hunting guns and other inventions. In the year 1800, a flintlock rifled carbine was privately produced by Nock. In 1802 Nock became Master of the Gunmakers Company. He died at Sutton in December 1804, aged 63.