Antique Golf Clubs from Scotland: Clubmakers

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Clubmakers

George Bussey
London

George Gibson Bussey's London firm was one of the first to obtain a patent for a grip: a single folded piece of leather with stitching up the back of the shaft. The idea was to prevent unravelling and to aid the placement and grip of the palms. The company also used the fork splice, popularised and patented by Scott of Elie, for a number of clubs.

Born in 1829, he was a saddler and gunsmith who moved to London in 1851. By 1870 he had established a factory which included a firearms museum, a rifle range and a skating rink. The patents were not limited to golfing: he had patents for roller skates, clay pigeons and the first British patent for an air pistol. More growth was to follow, his Demon Driver being the favourite of the best cricketers of the time made of willow from hios own estate, and in 1887 he built a huge brick factory in Peckham. The Bussey Building still stands, home to the CLA Art Café and many other artistic ventures though Transport for London have plans to knock it down and build a tram depot as part of the Crossrail project.

I also learned, courtesy of t’internet, that Bussey was a major manufacturer of very well made planchettes. I also know now that the planchette was a rather well-crafted (willow in Bussey’s case) Ouija board of sorts.

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