Verners Pattern compasses are both incredibly popular with collectors as well being a compass that can still be practically and easily used today. The most common models are the Verners Pattern VII and Verners Pattern VIII which were mainly used during World War I. This is reflected in the numbers produced, well over 150,000 for the VP VII and 250,000 for the VIII. The construction is a prismatic dry card compass with both a momentary bearing lock and transit lock. As a compass they are lighter than the later Mk III prismatic that superceded them in WWII and as a result are generally considered easier to use. As I reveal below on specific models there are subtle design changes that occurred over the years.
Colonel William Willoughby Cole Verner was born in 1852 and commissioned into The Rifle Brigade in 1874, retiring in 1904. He served on the staff in the Egyptian campaign of 1884-85 and the Boer War. He died in 1922.
His prismatic compass design has its origins in Schmalcalder’s Patent [1] of 1812 (Patent No 3545), Verners Pattern is a significant development which can be traced back to 1895. In 1895 F Barker produced a Verner Compass (nos 327) and J H Steward produced a Verner Compass III, I am aware of at least one dated 1897, a Major Verners Sergeants compass and a Major W Verner’s Patent Night Marching Compass which were all pocket compasses and not prismatic compasses. All had distinctive compass card markings. The Verner Compass III of 1895 appears at the same time as the Verner Patent 24331A. The compass discussed in the patent has different features the Verner Compass III and my opinion is that the Patent reflects Verners views on the features of a compass for night marching.
Around 1905 the term Verners Pattern with a model number was used starting with a Verners Pattern V, before this they were referred to as Verner III or Verner IV. There is significant similarity between JH Steward’s models and Verners compasses, probably because JH Steward made Verner’s compasses. In general the compass card is the main area of change in the early models and many features are common from the model V through to the VIII and the IX of WWII. If the model numbering is taken seriously then I would expect to find a I and II, but I have yet to see any, and question if they started at III because Verners first two compasses were never numbered as I or II. What I observe is that the early models certainly up to and including III are much less consistent in design than the later V and above. Compasses marked as IV are different in that it is Prismatic and has a lot of the features of V and above, but is not consistently labelled, sometimes just marked as IV.
Case numbering by model and year is difficult to analyse, this is probably because the individual suppliers sold their stock at different rates and so there is a clear overlap in the case numbers when analysed by model and year. I consider it is safe to assume that the marked year is the year of manufacture. It is not unheard of to find a compass without a case number, date or even a supplier name. This may denote that it was a private purchase as opposed to military issue.
I am of the opinion that there were only a handful of manufacturers, because of the skills needed to make a compass and the fact that there is clearly limited variation in the designs. I am certain that the likes of Francis Barker, Short & Mason and JH Steward who were established compass manufacturers were the main suppliers.
Verners III
Verners III is a pocket compass not a prismatic compass and over the years I have seen several different card designs. Case variations include covers with and without a window as well as a variety of marks including Captain Verners and Verners Sergeants compass.
Verners Pattern IV
This is where I consider the prismatic Verners Pattern originated. There are several designs around with different types of card, some even having radium paint which means post 1906. This is explained because the design was evolving and possible old stock was used up in later years by different suppliers, if they were only making small volumes.
Verners Pattern V
The cards were on mother of pearl and had an inner scale marked every 5 degrees and outer scale marked every 1 degree marked with the reciprocal bearing in reverse for viewing through the prism. The V has just a plain card without the Northern cardinal mark evident on later models and is shown on the left. All the features such as a transit lock and bearing lock are carried through to the model VII. This particular model dated 1905.
Verners Pattern VI
The card is altered with the introduction of a paper label with the four main cardinal marks added, which was later abandoned in favour of the black painted center (lower photo). The other features such as a momentary bearing lock (button visible at about 8 o’clock on the outer edge of the case), transit lock and prism structure are as for the V.
The dial with the paper label dates from 1909 and the painted center 1910.
Verners Pattern VII
This is found with two different cards. The top card is on mother of pearl with all the features of the V.
The lower card is much less common and has an embossed aluminium dial that has been painted black, but this is the only major design change from the more common model VII. To date I have only identified about ten such examples of this version. I suspect that this was an experimental version since two that I have seen are not numbered and both dated 1918. It was about this time that Mother of Pearl was in short supply and probably the idea was to see if an aluminium design was a solution.
Verners Pattern VIII
The main design change in the compass that occurs here is that an arm fitted to the top lid operates the transit lock when the lid is closed. Other than this the features are pretty much the same as the VII.
Clearly as a model it overlapped with the VII. However this overlap of years might be more an issue of retailers selling off old stock first.
MkIX
Not a Verners Pattern marked compass and always marked Mk IX, but the original features and functionality of the Verners Pattern VIII remained and I include this as the final evolution of the Verners Pattern before it was superceded by the liquid filled Mk III prismatic compass in WW2. This particular model from 1942.
Verners Pattern Retailers
There were many retailers of these compasses and to date I have managed to locate the following list based on actual compass markings. Some on the list are manufacturers but the majority are retailers and this goes to show how many of these compasses were sold. Some may also be duplicates e.g. C-E and Cruchon & Emons but until there is firm evidence that this was the case, I am assuming they are different.
My view is that there were only a handful of manufacturers because of the skills needed to make a compass and the fact that there is clearly a lot of commonality between the designs and mass production of many of the parts. I am confident that the likes of E Koehn, Francis Barker, Short & Mason and JH Steward who were established compass manufacturers and were the main suppliers.
* A & E Cooke and Sons
* A West & Partners London
* Anglo Suisse Association
* Army & Navy C S Ltd Optical Dept Westminster
* Barnes & Morris London
* BF
* B-L
* C-E
* CF Turner
* CFM
* CONSOL Toronto
* Cooke & Sons Ltd
* Cruchon & Emons London
* CSSA Ltd London EC
* E Koehn
* Elliot Bros
* ER Watt & Son
* F Barker & Son London
* F Darton & Co London
* F-L
* French & Son
* H CSSA LTD London EC
* H Hughes & Son Ltd
* Houghtons Ltd, London
* J H Steward
* J Hicks London
* J Wardale & Co
* J West & Partners London
* Kelvin Bottomley & Baird Ltd Glasgow
* Mappin & Webb Garrard St London
* MIO
* Newton & Co
* Newton & Wright Ltd London
* Pillischer London
* Pitkin
* S Mordan & Co
* Short & Mason
* St Pan Gar London
* T Cook & Sons Ltd * London and York
* T French & Son Ltd London
* T Hughes
* T Wheeler
* W Watson & Sons London
* W.G. Whiting Ltd. Manchester
* Watts & Co London
References
[1] -Schmalcalder’s Improvement in Philosophical Instruments 1845 Patent No 3545.
[2]-Verners An Improved Course-indicating Instrument for Military, Exploration, and other Purposes 1895, Patent No 24331A.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Nick Goodridge, Bob Thacker, Mark Hainge and Leszek Zietara for their input and ongoing support.