Mervyn Mitton

No - Alex. I was thinking for all of the members of the family who you have featured. They covered a wide range of Units and of Campaigns. One thought that does occur - what about our new Blog that Nick has set-up ? You would have a permanent record for future research and comments ? Mervyn

Thankyou Megan - it's good that Members are kept up-to-date on changes. Would you perhaps have an illustration for those who don't know this award ? Mervyn

The military Bishops of the medieval era and much earlier are well known. The Bishop of Winchester at one time was a formidable swordsman - I think this was at the time of King John - 12th.C. However, they would have carried the pattern of sword in use at that time - I agree that this does not look European. However, the High Cross is there for a purpose - that would be for holding high over any crowd - be it civilian or, military - and giving a Blessing. The Country that springs to my mind is Ethiopia - where the Coptic Church is strong. The forging of the blade is of rough workmanship. Strangely enough it has a fullered blade - perhaps copying a Western sword from the Crusades. All double handed swords had a grip in the shape of a Cross.

Loyal Islington Volunteers - the Borough adjoins the City of London and became a working mans' area . Most of the houses were occupied by artisans. Recently - because of the location , houses have become very popular and prices are high. I suppose at the date of this print it was still a Country side area and popular with the better off - hence the Vol. Cavalry.

Very interesting and intriguing. Do you think the letters GS after his name are for General Service - I can't think of an award ? This would help to substantiate that this is genuine - tags were worn for identification in case of death. The other point - Prosper says he was only a substantive Major - however, it was common for an officer on assignment to be given an acting rank. The id shows him as a Lt. Col. - and whilst he would have been given the extra rank on retirement , does this mean he was retired at the time he wore this ?

No. 8 - formed in 1824 as the 8th. Ghurka Regt. Became part of Indian Forces in 1947. I think Graham has answered most of the others. You certainly inherited a wonderful treasure trove - officer's buttons with the number - rather then the Regt. - have become quite valuable. Any more trunks to go ? What about family portraits of them ? Mervyn

Yes - Mike. I can see it now - just strolling down a small shopping centre and you happened to notice these rare pieces ! All superb pieces and becoming difficult to find - well, for the Dragoons. I should think Strathcona's must be more than rare ? Mervyn p.s. When you have time an article on the Strathcona Horse would be a great subject for our Canadian Forum.

Nick - some Towns do have two - or, more - sets of regalia. Really depended on the wealth of the Town and the generosity of the landed families that lived near-by. One has to make some suppositions when dealing with an entity that has matching - and very expensive regalia, but no provenance of origin. The Mayoral Mace is a given - and we know from the marks on the handle that it would have been carried in front of the Mayor and stood in a holder with two support rings, when he was seated. The original puropose of a Sheriff was as the King's representitive in a County - or, a given area. It was an important position - held nowdays by a Lord Lieutenant. There are ,I believe, only 9 left - which includes Poole. The quality of the staff is high and the supporters match the Mace. I feel that this has to be for an important person. The smaller one with the POW feathers , also matches the set with the same handle as the Mace - the top is different. A Head Constable for a Town would be included in any procession - and of course a tipstaff was necessary to exercise his powers. The Royal Seal in this case not being the Crown or, Cypher - but, rather the Prince of Wales symbol. Which makes me think it was all near to the Welsh Borders and he may have had to cross boundaries. By going through the registers for the areas around the Poole Estates, perhaps there may be a list of communities that disappeared ? Also, although the Borough of Poole denied that their set was still missing - never-the-less, it would match very well. Perhaps there was another unused set in existance. The area was certainly a wealthy one. An interesting mystery - however, at the end of the day - they still remain as one of the rarest civic sets in private hands. Had they a name engraved on them then I think the value would be astronomical.

Thankyou - it is nice to be a contestant for a change ! Thank goodness that Dan knew the answers - I couldn't remember the name of the cruiser. So, all of the qustions answered. Should I ever think of another one I will 'sneak-it in'!

Now that you have seen these magnificent pieces - the only Town Regalia that I have ever seen for sale in all my years of collecting - I must explain a little about them. A very good friend has just bought them to add to his lovely collection and I thought I should show them for their beautiful workmanship, history and rarity. Firstly, I have been their carer for over 40 years - the dolphins and the scallop shells are in fact part of the arms of Poole in Dorset - where I have my main home. They had their Regalia stolen pre-war and when I first saw these I had thoughts that I had recovered them and that my Knighthood would be on it's way. Not so - they already had them back. However, the two supporters are part of the arms of the prominent Poole family - whose main estates are outside of Chester and near the borders of Wales. Hence the Prince of Wales feathers. Poole is probably named after a link with the family - it's Charter is from the 1200's. Poole was a port for embarkation to the Continent and - of course - a scallop shell was worn by Pilgims' on a visit to the Holy Land. I have visited both the Victoria and Albert Museum and Christies in an effort to trace the town they are from. We are almost certain that they date from 1800 to 1820. (I say 1800, Christies say approx.1820) However, in the period between about 1810 and 1820 England allowed a terrible scandal to take place. By various Charters from the Crown and from Parliament, many Towns had common land surrounding them. This was to allow the residents to graze animals and to plant crops and they were very dependent on this right. The English Parliament was very corrupt at that time - many of the seats held privately and called 'Rotten Boroughs'. The people living in them had to vote as they were told. Many of these landlords got together and pushed through both Houses a law known as - 'The Enclosures Act'. This took away the common land and in the space of a few years , whole towns and communities ceased to exist. The people just moved away and became the first 'fodder' for the new factories that were being built in the Midlands and the North. I am fairly certain that this lovely Regalia is the victim of the Enclosures Act. They are not named - they knew which town they belonged to - unfortunately that has been forgotten. However, no current town would allow it's regalia of office to be given away - it would go into the Town Museum. I think when the town closed, that these pieces went to the Poole family and at some later date were given away or, lent to a theatre company. They - and another piece dating to the 15th Century were found in a Masonic Hall - where such amateur productions used to take place. I have enjoyed their presence for many years - however, at my age it is time these rare objects went to a special collection. p.s.Look at the wooden shafts - you can see where they were stood in a rack in front of the Mayor and Sheriff.

Head of the Constable's staff. The Crown is simpler in style and the Prince of Wales feathers are surrounded with an oak wreath.

Head of the Sheriff's Staff. Again, note the Dolphins and scallop shells. The cross on the top is known as a cross pate - it crosses itself in order that whichever way you hold it a full Cross is shown. This is taken from the Royal regalia and shows Royal Authority.

Head of the Mace. Note the Dolphins and the scallop shells - arms of the distinguished Poole family.

This is most probably the Staff of Office for the Chief Constable - note the Prince of Wales' Feathers in the centre. I will explain these in the text.

The Sheriff's Staff or, Wand of Office. All are of Sheffield plate - this was an invention by Thomas Bolsover in 1741 and made use of the new rolling presses. You took a block of silver - a block of copper and another block of silver , and rolled it out to the desired thickness. Often worth more then silver it is considered very special when wear allows the copper to shine through on the high points. This is well illustrated on the bands on the shaft.

The full set. Mayoral Mace at top - middle: the Sheriff's Wand of Office - Bottom : High Constable's staff.

Douglas - this should really be on our For Sale and Wanted section - it would give you better exposure for a potential sale. However, we are happy to leave it here as we can discuss the possibilities of what such a sale requires. Firstly - the laws in Sth. Africa are very strict about picking-up items on historic sites. However, your friend is safely back in Scotland. The .577/.450 Martini Henry bullet - from such an important battle - is quite a valuable item. However - provenance is all ! Even photos of him picking it up wouldn't be totally conclusive - he might have dropped it ? The battlefield is quite compact and items do tend to work to the surface and then rebury themselves. Usually, spent bullets will have either markings on them - or, very often a crushed end where they have hit bone or a boulder You will find my email on my home page - if you can send me a picture of the bullet and of the photo, I may be able to help identify who was fighting in that area. Meanwhile for some provenance, you should ask him to sign a short note saying where and when he found it. I have a jar of these spent slugs which were picked up prior to 1962 when it became illegal to pick things-up. They are worth at least 100 pounds each - however, I don't sell them - occasionally give one to a collector.

Cathey and Rex - please don't tell me you're buying these rare targes in Australia - I didn't think we sent the prisoners armed ? Some important pieces - and as for the set of items with the medals.................

Hi - Cathey and Rex. I wish we could get other members to follow requests so quickly - and competently. The heavy and the light Cavalry swords of that period are always so attractive with their blueing - I wouldn't be sure about Rifles - but with so many Volunteer units at that time they are a possibility. One has to give the British 'full marks' for persistence - we had lost any control over France , literally, hundreds of years prior to 1801 - yet it was only in that year that we dropped the Fleur d'Lis from our National Arms. Again thankyou for contributing so well to our Forums and we must look forward to future posts. Meanwhile, I shall look forward to saying 'Hello' when I skype Stuart on Saturday. Brian and I try to keep an eye on him - he's very cut off in the country........

Markgraf - a nice early set of pictures - I see moustaches were in fashion ! The high collars - or stocks - are interesting. They are very hard to wear and restrict neck movement. The early police in Britain wore 4 inch high collars (10cm) and they were strengthened with leather - the idea was to stop strangulation which was common at the time - following the Indian cult of Thuggees. Once we can actually get started on a theme or, Country, it is amazing how much detail we can discover - and how similar Forces are with equipment. We must hope other members will follow on - after all, how difficult is it to ask an Officer if he minds having his photo taken ? I'm probably in albums all over the World - visitors in London were always asking if they could have a photo taken with me.

My one and only question - what was the name of the Russian ship that paid a state visit to the UK - who were the joint Russian presidents - and, what was the name of the British commando officer that was killed at the mooring of the ship ?

On page 6 - ref. 117 - I showed a picture of a commissioned bronze statue of the first Zulu King - Shaka. When the present King Goodwil Zelethini saw the statue he declared that it made his relative look a like a cow-herder - and promptly rejected the $45,000 bronze. This drawing was in today's paper and shows the proposed new statue - this time he is going to be on a stand - surrounded by the large Zulu fighting shields - the Ishilungu. This one will cost even more and has yet to 'pass' inspection - meanwhile, the old one is in a rubbish dump. Money is no object when it comes from the taxpayers - which in South Africa is only 5 million out of a population of fifty million !

I was most impressed with the Bronze of the old Police Officer - standing very firmly - as his 'original' would have done. However, what most impressed me is the fact that you can have this statue standing in the street , without fences. Anywhere - in Britain and I would give it 24 hours before the sword and the sword knot would have been broken or, damaged. Going back to the original photo - I noticed that a whistle is being worn in the same way as the British Police. Hanging from a button hole - the chain exposed, and the whistle in an inner pocket.

Sad that the family are parting with them - however, they will fetch a lot of money. Perhaps a member will see the auction report and let us know ?