Leeson joined Hill's workshop in 1920, at the age of 16, as part of Hill's intake of fresh apprentices directly after the war. He was taught by William Retford who was regarded as 'the greatest bow craftsman of his time' and was also Retford's favorite pupil. He was soon allowed to work on the finest bows unsupervised, which was unheard of in the Hill workshop. Together with Edgar Bishop, who was also taught by Retford, they made many of the highly sought-after gold-mounted fleur-de-lys bows.

There is a peculiar twist in this story in that both members of this Gold Squad died very young - Bishop died in 1943 at the age of 39 and Albert Leeson died three years later, in 1946, at the age of 42 when he was knocked down by a bus in London.

With such a short productive life it makes Leeson's bows somewhat rare and finding a good Leeson bow with all its original parts is really special. This bow, stamped 'HILL', bears Leeson's identifier in the head plate. Matching identifiers on the frog underslide and the stick mean that the frog is original to the stick. In fact, it fits like a glove. Interestingly, the adjuster button is not of silver, but of aluminium - not entirely uncommon with the Hill workshop at that time.

Although undated, this bow was probably made around 1925. Leeson would then have been around 21 years old and at Hills for 5 years.

The round pernambuco stick is faultless. The frog is plain, without an eye. By all standards this is a superb violin bow, with all the playing characteristics that has made Leeson one of the great bowmakers of Hill.