Updated 9-14-22, see below.

The Hyde Imperial Rubber Company produced the Woodley Flyer 27 ½ in 1895. At the time Golf magazine wrote, "We have recently tested a sample of their balls, which in the form of the mould adopted do not differ from the majority of those in the market. It is a good hard ball, well painted, clean nicking, and a fine 'flyer'." (January 1895). 

This example was never painted but was used, as evidenced by a few light strike marks. The ball remains in Outstanding condition.

Update 9-14-22  The auctioneer was recently digging through his files and made an important discovery: Lot 23, the Cock O' The Walk composition ball, and lot 75, the red Special Whirlwind gutty ball, were once part of Andrew Forgan’s golf ball collection as documented in the October 3, 1907 issue of Golfing (UK). The first page of the article shows the collection, the 2nd page provides a close up view of some of the balls, all of which bear a paper label applied by Forgan.

The Cock O’ The Walk ball is mentioned on the first page of the article and there is a picture of this ball on the lower left corner of the 2nd page. This does not appear to be the same ball as the one in this auction, as its label is applied in a slightly different location, but the labels on "both balls" match in every particular—size, shape, even the letters and their spacing are the same. It could also easily be that the label came off, so it was reapplied. No matter, there is no doubt that the Cock O’ The Walk in this auction was once part of Andrew Forgan’s collection.

A second ball in the Desert Mountain Collection—Lot 75, the red Special Whirlwind ball—also bears a matching label. The December 8, 1906 issue, p.4, of the St. Andrews Citizen newspaper includes a mention of Forgan’s ball collection and specifically identifies the “Special Whirlwind“ as one of the balls contained therein. You can also see there are a few red balls (which appear dark in the black and white photocopy image reproduced below) in the collection. The Special Whirlwnd is likely in the third row from the top, 5th ball from the left.  There is also no question that this ball was also once part of the Andrew Forgan Collection.  

A third ball in the Desert Mountain Collection—lot 49, the Woodley Flyer—was also part of the Andrew Forgan Collection.  It still has half of its original label, which is marked "Flyer", on the side of the ball. One can see where the "Woodley" portion of the label was once attached to the ball. Given that this ball is missing half of its label, its easy to surmise that the label on the Cock O' The Walk ball came off and was reattached at some point early in its history. Could that be the Woodley Flyer with its small remaining part of its label 3rd from the right in the 8th row from the top?

Photocopy images of these articles are included with the images of all three balls.