Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Corporal K. Mark, 20th Regiment

Crimea 1854-56, 4 clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (K. Mark 3735 XX Regt.) engraved naming in upright capitals, edge rubbed, unofficial connection between 2nd and 3rd clasps; Turkish Crimea 1855, Sardinian issue, unnamed, pierced with ring suspension, edge bruising, contact marks, nearly very fine and better (2) £260-300

Kenward Skinner Wilcox Mark was born in Deptford, Kent on 9 July 1835, the son of James Mark, a Methodist Schoolteacher and former Chemist, and Ann Mark, his wife. Kenward (sometimes listed as ‘Edward’) Mark attested for the 20th Regiment at Cambridge on 5 September 1853, giving his place of birth as Great Chesterford, near Saffron Walden, Essex and his former employment as a Clerk. Soon after his basic training he was appointed Paymaster’s Clerk. With the regiment he went out to the Crimea, seeing action at the battles of Alma, Balaklava and Inkermann and the siege of Sebastopol. He was promoted to Corporal in November 1855. His later obituary recalled an incident when he narrowly escaped death when a Russian bullet passed through his cap. With the end of hostilities, Mark returned home with the regiment, but his health had broken down due to the terrible conditions in the trenches before Sebastopol and he was immediately admitted to Chatham Hospital suffering from pneumonia. He was discharged unfit for further service on 28 October 1856. Undaunted by his diseased lung, Mark then emigrated to Canada and lived in Kingston, Ontario and was employed as a Teacher. In private life, he married Anne Climby in September 1859 by whom he had two sons and four daughters. He became prominent in the local community, becoming a Methodist Preacher and a Master in the local Masonic lodge. Kenward Mark died in Peterborough, Ontario on 21 October 1898, aged 62 years. His extensive obituaries in the Peterborough newspapers speak well of the high esteem he was held in and recall details of his family, military service and service as a Methodist Preacher and Missionary to the Chippawa Indians. He was laid to rest at the Little Lake Cemetery, Peterborough.

With extensive research including a copy of a group photograph of Mark and his family (in later life), his service papers, and research on Mark and his family, on paper and on D.V.D. His life history was featured in Medal News, November 2014, ‘Triumph over Adversity, by Ken Marsh.