Orders, Decorations and Medals

A Royal Household group of ten awarded to Ernest George Edward Brown, Footman to King George V and Queen Mary

Royal Household Faithful Service Medal, G.V.R., suspension dated 1903-1923 (E. Brown); Royal Victorian Medal, G.V.R., silver; Coronation 1911, silver; Jubilee 1935, silver; Prussia, Medal of the Order of the Red Eagle, gilt; Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Merit Medal, silver, this lightly scratched on reverse, ‘E. Brown’; Denmark, King’s Medal of Recompense, Christian X, silver; France, Medal of Honour, silver; Belgium, Royal Household Medal, Albert I, silver with crown; Italy, Royal Service Medal, Victor Emanuel III, silver, mounted court style for wear, some with contact marks and scratches, very fine and better (10) £650-750

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Long Service Medals from the Collection formed by John Tamplin.

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Ernest George Edward Brown was born on 17June 1882 at Bagshot Park, Surrey. As a young man, Brown entered service in the Household of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales (later H.M. King George V) in 1903 as Footman. He later served Queen Mary as her personal Footman. He was awarded the Royal Household Faithful Service Medal in 1923.

In the same year, Brown requested permission to join the staff of the Earl of Athlone who had been appointed Governor-General of the Union of South Africa. He became Steward to the Household and served there until 1931 when the Earl returned to England. Brown was awarded the R.V.M. in Silver on the occasion of the Prince of Wales’s tour to South Africa and South America in 1925. On the return of the Earl, Brown remained in service to a household near Cape Town before returning to England in 1933, joining the catering staff of Messrs. Kingston, Miller & Co and latterly, Messrs. Gunter Co. Ltd. After his retirement in about 1960 he moved to near Wiveliscomb, west of Taunton and died on 21 March 1975.

Sold with a quantity of documents, including: R.V.M. bestowal document, dated 28 July 1925; award certificate for the Jubilee Medal 1935; bestowal document of the Mecklenburg-Strelitz Merit Medal in Silver, dated 22 August 1912; bestowal document of the French Medal of Honour in Silver, dated 7 May 1914; bestowal document of the Italian Royal Service Medal, dated 25 July 1923; King George V Long and Faithful Service Medal booklet - Brown is listed as the 42nd recipient; copied photographs of Brown on state occasions; together with copied research.