Paul_1957 Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 (edited) King William IV instituted a cross in gold for officers of the Hannoverian army who had 25 years service. William died in 1837- the same year that the award was founded. Below are pictures of the obverse/reverse of a William Cross. Does anyone know whether the William Cross continued to be issued during the reigns of Ernest Augustus 1 (1837-51) and George V (1851-66)? If the cross was issued throughout the period 1837-1866 did the design of it change in any way would allow you to date the period when the cross was awarded? Paul Edited May 2, 2013 by Paul_1957 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulsterman Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 (edited) In short: yes. according to Hessenthal, the cross was established shortly before Wilhelms death on 20.6.1837 and was awarded until the annexation of Hanover in 1866/67. There is some indication that the cross was awarded a few times to Hanovarian officers in exile in the Hanovarian Legion in France until is was disbanded in 1870, just before the outbreak of the war. According to Hessenthal it was also awarded to general-Auditeure, Stabs-Auditeure and Garnison-Auditeure after 20.4.1855. As I recall there was an Orden magazine article about these a few decades ago. I can not remember if there were era variations, but I would bet there were. Edited May 2, 2013 by Ulsterman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deruelle Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 Very nice cross you have there, congrats. Christophe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_1957 Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 In short: yes. according to Hessenthal, the cross was established shortly before Wilhelms death on 20.6.1837 and was awarded until the annexation of Hanover in 1866/67. There is some indication that the cross was awarded a few times to Hanovarian officers in exile in the Hanovarian Legion in France until is was disbanded in 1870, just before the outbreak of the war. According to Hessenthal it was also awarded to general-Auditeure, Stabs-Auditeure and Garnison-Auditeure after 20.4.1855. As I recall there was an Orden magazine article about these a few decades ago. I can not remember if there were era variations, but I would bet there were. Thank you for confirming that the Cross was awarded up to (and perhaps beyond) 1866. If anyone knows about any design variations during the life of this award I would be interested to hear about them. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_1957 Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 Very nice cross you have there, congrats. Christophe Thanks Christophe. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_1957 Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 I've recently read that the crosses issued from 1860 through to 1866 were bronze-gilt whereas pre-1860 they were issued in gold. Does anyone know of any other variants? Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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