I'm interested in history and was wondering if anyone knows where I can find details of the Peter Wright company. All I have been able to find thus far is that he used to work for Mouse Hole, then started his own company after creating a method of creating a two piece anvil. Is there just not much detailed info on the company, or have I just not found a good source? It seems like there is a lot out there about Mouse Hole (or at least I have seen a book on them), so I figured there might be info on Peter Wright anvil and creator history.

Anvils in America by Richard Postman has a section on most all anvil makers, including Peter Wright.

The ABANA Forums: About peter wright anvil

Though Peter Wright (an UK company) was producing anvils till later than the thirties- in a truck yard local to me is a pristine P.W. dated 1947; "Nah, not for sale bruv. Part of the furniture, bruv." Plonkers!

Haha, that would be nice. I didn't realize that they made them so late into the 20th century. Peter Wright is (right now) my favorite anivil, for no real reason other than they are older and made in the UK. I like mouse holes too.
I just recently got a 112 peter wright, in decent condition. The guy who sold it to me (on ebay) said that he new nothing about anvils and that he can across the horn sticking out of the ground while cutting grass on his property. I thought that was an interesting story, though I will I knew more of the history.

This anvil in the truck yard (where I happened to be renting one of their vehicles) was probably two or two and a half cwt, and really pretty much pristine. The yard had previously been a stables, as even here in London they had horse drawn carts on the streets till the late eighties/early nineties. They had a sentimental attachment to it. Apparently!

Though, having said that, I have passed up two pristine 5 cwt brooks and very recently a beautiful 2 cwt P.Wright on UK Ebay at bargain prices because I've got nowhere to put the buggers. Probably ended up in someone's garden. Depressing!

That is depressing. This maybe be dumb, but I'm not sure what cwt is?

8 stone, 1 stone =14 lbs

cwt = a stone?

cwt
Hundredweight, a unit of weight equaling 100 pounds (American, about 45kg) or 112 pounds (British, about 50kg).

1 stone =14 lbs, so 8 stone = 112 pounds
5 cwt brooks = 560 pounds of anvil.

This is also the code to figuring out the weight of an anvil. The three numbers stamped on the anvil represent the weight. The first number being 112 pound units, the second being 1/4 cwt units or units of 28 pounds per unit, and the remainder the remaining pounds.

This means that the middle number can never be larger than 3, and the last number can never be larger than 27.

Got you. Thanks! I only learned how to tell how much mine weighed.

Don't forget that anvils made in america are generally marked in pounds---some people will try to get you to pay the cwt price for an american anvil weighing much less! Exp: 123cwt = 171# at $2 a pound that would be $342 but if it was an american anvil marked in pounds---123 = 123# at $2 a pound would be $246 nearly a $100 DIFFERENCE!

OTOH some people will base their asking price on the CWT weight read as pound weight and so under price their anvils.

A couple of weeks ago there was a PW for sale at the local Flea Market marked 1 2 21 that the owner claimed was the *date* reading the first 2 as a fancy 9; he didn't believe me when I told him what it really ment as he was still telling folks it was a 200# anvil after I left...

That's good to know. I will make sure I pay attention to that if I ever buy an American made anvil.

That flea market story makes me laugh. It's kind of funny how some people seem to thrive in ignorance.

I don't know how many bunion stretchers, (for stretching leather shoes where the foot has a bunion) I have seen offered as blacksmith's tongs---at least 5 I can recall in fleamarkets and junk stores. Lots of misinformation out there!

Wow, sounds like it. People really have to watch out and know what they are looking for.