Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The R.R.C. group of nine awarded to Eleanor Frances Weston, Viscountess Esher, British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John of Jerusalem

Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (R.R.C.), G.V.R., silver-gilt, gold and enamel, on bow ribbon; Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Dame of Justice badge, 41 x 41mm., gold and enamel; British War Medal 1914-20 (Viscountess Esher); Coronation 1902, silver; Coronation 1911, silver; France, Gratitude Medal, silver, rosette on ribbon, mounted as worn; together with Jubilee 1935, on bow ribbon; Coronation 1937, on bow ribbon; Order of the League of Mercy, silver-gilt and enamel, on bow ribbon, all unnamed except where stated, good very fine (9) £1600-2000

Eleanor Frances Weston Van der Weyer, was the third daughter of Jean Sylvain Van der Weyer, sometime Belgian Minister at the Court of St. James. The Van der Weyers were firm friends of Queen Victoria. On 24 September 1879 Eleanor married the Hon. Reginald Baliol Brett, son of Baron, later Viscount Esher. In 1899 he succeeded his father as 2nd Viscount Esher. In December 1906 Viscountess Esher was appointed a Dame of Grace in the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. In 1907 she accepted the office of Vice-President of the ladies committee of the Chelsea Hospital for women.

In the Spring of 1909 Lady Esher initiated a scheme of training in first aid and nursing in connection with the British Red Cross Society and St. John Ambulance Association. These Voluntary Aid Detachments were formed to aid the Territorial Forces in time of war and were to prove their worth during the Great War.

In August 1910 she was appointed a Lady Vice-President of the Order of Mercy (London Gazette 9 August 1910). In 1915 Viscountess Esher was promoted to a Dame of Justice in the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (London Gazette 28 September 1915). In recognition of valuable services rendered in the organisation and training of Voluntary Aid Detachments in connection with the war, she was awarded the Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (London Gazette 2 February 1916). Her m.i.c. records her entering France in 1916. Viscount Esher died on 22 January 1930, the Dowager Viscountess died on 7 February 1940. Her younger daughter, the Hon. Sylvia Brett, married, in 1911, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak.

With copied research.