Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An interesting Indian Mutiny medal awarded to Mr Edward Chamberland Nunn, Collector of Customs, whose adventures in the early days of the outbreak are well recorded, so too the miraculous escape of his wife and children

Indian Mutiny 1857-59, no clasp (E. C. Nunn.) very fine £500-600

Edward Chamberland Nunn was born at Sultanpur in 1825, the son of Daniel Nunn and Mary Rose, widow of the late P. Silk, 87th Regiment. His father, who came from Norfolk, had a distinguished military career. He had arrived in India as a trooper with the 21st Light Dragoons, transferred into the Bengal Army serving in the Governor General's Bodyguard, and became Riding Master and later Ensign of the 1st Bengal Cavalry.

Edward C. Nunn joined the Customs Department and at the outbreak of the mutiny was employed as an Assistant Patrol Officer on the Delhi Customs Line, part of the Indian Salt Hedge, better know today as the Great Hedge of India. The journal of William Ford, C.S.I., in his report on the ‘Outbreak in the Gurgaon District’, states that Nunn, separated from his wife, had managed to join together with other Custom officers and their families. They met Mr Ford of the Civil Service at Silance. Desirous to get the families to a place of safety they travelled to Muttra. Once this was accomplished Ford, Clifford, the Assistant Magistrate, Nunn, Young and Leeson together with 100 Bhurtpoor Horse returned to the Gurgaon district on 18 May. They arrived at Hodul where they were told that 4 Sahib fugitives from Bhungoree had been driven out by the local Rajah, so Ford sent 30 Sowers to bring them in. They were Messrs Michel, Cummins and Spencer from the E.I. Railway and Mr Roods, the famous portrait painter. Once it was established that the civil authorities were back in the district other groups of civilians and ‘homeless’ army officers, many of whom had been in hiding, joined their ranks including Mr Harvey, Commissioner of Agra, Mr Money, Commissioner of Customs, Lieutenants Jenkin, Goldworthy and Glover, Dr Louvel and several of the Customs and Railway department employees, bringing the total to 32 individuals as well as some 5000 men of the Bhurtpoor and Ulwar forces who had arrived from Muttra under Captain Nixon.

Their first sortie was to a village near Hodul, where a four foot cannon had been mounted into the wall of the village. Mr Money demanded the cannon but the villagers refused, but, seeing that Ford was making arrangements to burn the village they relented. The Gurgaon narrative states, “Our success rather astonished our companions at home who conceived we were undertaking a quixotic expedition.”

The following day they were joined by Mr Thornhill and his office assistants Mr Colvin, junior and Mr Dashwood, together with some more Custom's Officers who had all had to flee Muttra due to the disaffection of the troops stationed there. These troops had removed the Government Treasure amounting to 5 lakhs and headed for Delhi.. On 31 May word was received that the mutineers together with the treasure were heading to Hodul where Captain Nixon made arrangements, with his Bhurtpoor and Ulwar forces to give them a warm welcome. Unfortunately the Bhurtpoor and Ulwar forces broke out in defiant mutiny, burning all of the bungalows and firing their cannon at Ford, Nunn and their companions. Undaunted, the remaining Europeans and a few loyal Sowers found the mutineer's camp and treasure and marched straight through it scattering the rebels. Desperately short of water they found a cart belonging to the Rajah of Bullubgurh laden with soda water and with no qualms or conscience appropriated much of it. With the Bhurtpoor and Ulwar troops closely following in their wake they headed for Pulwul.

Travelling at night they attempted to cross the Jumna at the ferry station at Chamsall in an attempt to reach Boolundshuhur. Their passage at the ferry was opposed by several hundred villagers so they all made a hasty retreat to the village of Moena. Here they met a good Samaritan called Resaldar Bahadoor of the 4th Irregular Cavalry who looked after their needs for 10 days. Word that 600 rebel Sowers from Oude were closing in on them they decamped and after a night march arrived at the village of Sonah. Here they met with Captain Eden and his Jeypoor force, mostly made up of ‘naked’ Nagas. Ford and his civilians stayed with Captain Eden for 15 days and followed his peregrinations through Gurgaon. They witnessed the burning and sacking of Silance. The feeling that their troubles were at an end were rudely shattered by disaffection amongst the Muslims attached to Captain Eden's force. Eden, feeling a change of location was necessary, shifted his force to Moena. En route Ford decided to punish the village of Bhungoree for looting the four Sahib individuals previously rescued. They charged those individuals outside the village and a regular fight ensued. Ford was unable to fire the village due to a lack of foot soldiers. Six villagers were killed and several wounded. Eventually the force returned to Hodul where they remained for half a month. With the situation fluid, Ford had the sagacity of mind to come to the conclusion they were better off at Delhi, although many of their friends took the chance to go to Agra.

Therefore, on 30 June, unable to trust the Jeypoor force, Messrs Ford, Nunn and Captain Stewart, who was carrying despatches from the Lieutenant-Governor N.W. Provinces to the authorities in the Camp before Delhi, together with 60 Sowers, started for Delhi. After travelling for 33 miles they reached the village of Badshapoor. Close to the village of Bhoondsee they encountered a party of 40 rebel Sowers of the Gwalior Contingent, the main body of which was lying two miles away. Two rebel Sowers, one bearing a green flag, advanced towards them. Without hesitation they charged and sent the rebels fleeing. During the night, at Fort Badshapoor, they were advised that the Gwalior Contingent had planned to attack them. The Lumberdars made a quick escape and it was decided that it would be better to make a dash for Delhi or die in the attempt. Setting off through the Gurgaon district the moonlight revealed the vestiges of their homes. At Muhrum Nugger they were challenged by a picquet of the enemy but silently moved on. At the village of Bussye a friendly villager told them that certain death awaited them if they continued in their intended direction and agreed to guide them via Badli-ke-Serai to the English Camp. They eventually arrived at the Camp before Delhi on the 2nd July 1857.

The William Ford papers at the India Office also make mention of Mrs Nunn's: “I had to undergo not a little trouble in recovering the family of my friend Mr Nunn; they had taken refuge in the village of Esapoor [Issapur] in the Jhujjur Illaqua. Mrs Nunn and her children were escorted by the Issapoorians into the British Camp at Delhi on the memorable morning of August 1st, by what miracle, except by Providential interference, she escaped falling into the hands of the enemy that day, I cannot divine”.

Further details of Mrs Nunn’s adventures are revealed in he following letter which appeared in The Times dated 3 October 1857. It was written by an officer of the 6th Bengal Cavalry to his mother. Relevant insertions have been made where necessary.

I was on this picket on the 31st July and had come back from my first patrol when on reaching one of my videttes he told me that he had just passed a European woman with two children escorted by some natives into my picket. I cantered on and overtook a country cart escorted by some villagers, one of whom carried a poor little boy about four years old on his shoulder. In the cart I found a nice looking young woman with a little infant. The poor creature seemed overjoyed to see a European face, and, in answer to my inquiries, told me that she was the wife of a Mr Nun[n], son of [Daniel Nunn] the [late] Riding Master of the 1st Cavalry. Her husband was employed in the Customs' Department at a place near Guzgaon (Gurgaon). When the outbreak at Delhi took place he was in the district with Ford of the Civil Service and she was suddenly alone. The instant the villagers nearest her house heard that parties of Sepoys were coming in their direction they carried off Mrs Nunn and her children and concealed them in their village. [On 11 May] Parties of horsemen [from the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry] arrived and inquired the whereabouts of her and on being told that she had gone off they plundered and burnt her house down. To make a long story short these poor fellows, at the risk of their lives, kept this unhappy family for three months, feeding and clothing them and hurrying them off to other villages whenever they heard the approach of parties of mutineers. I must tell you that the insurgents offered 100 rupees reward for Mrs Nunn dead or alive but nothing would tempt these simple ryots to betray their trust; and having seized an opportunity they brought her safely into camp. Mrs Nunn spoke most gratefully of their kindness and devotion and the little boy seemed to have the greatest affection for the grey headed old man on whose shoulders he was perched. I took them into my picket and gave them a good breakfast and then took them safely into camp.

So ended Mr E. C. Nunn's active part in the mutiny. For over 50 days he had travelled throughout the Gurgaon district supporting Mr Ford's attempts to uphold law and order wherever possible. While his derring-do adventures are well recorded those of his wife, who suffered the greatest privations, are less well known. Issapur, was on the outskirts of Delhi. It was seething with spies and marauding bands of mutineers, dacoits and other nefarious individuals. With a price on her head her survival was indeed remarkable. The Villagers showed a courageous humanity, which was no doubt founded on and intensified by a personal liking for the the Nunn family. The Government did however acknowledge the village of Issapur and it was rewarded with ten biswas (half) the village of Bakargarh adjoining Isapur and 4 Lambardars (village headmen) were given annual pensions for life of Rupees 100.

Nunn returned to patrolling the Salt Hedge after the mutiny and in 1859 he was promoted to Patrol Officer Delhi at Gorbee Hursurwat. In 1883 he is shown as Officiating Inspector North India Salt Revenue Department, Jaunpur.

Nunn gained some repute as being the first ‘correspondent’ to the new Commissioner of Customs, Allan Octavian Hume, the noted botanist and ornithologist. Hume requested that Nunn collect specimens of the wildlife that lived in the impenetrable thorn hedge of the Salt Line. Nunn, together with hundreds of other ‘correspondents’ from all over India, gathered specimens for the collection. At the time of Hume's demotion and retirement over 102,000 specimens had been preserved. Each specimen was recorded including the name of the ‘correspondent’. The collection was offered to the British Museum but was rejected. In 1885 word reached the British Museum that the collection was decaying and Bowdler Clarke was sent to Simla to send back to England what specimens could be retrieved. 47 cases of Deodar wood, each weighing half a ton were sent by bullock cart down to Kalka and thence to Bombay and England. 82,000 specimens including 5,000 eggs made it to London, the largest collection ever known. Correspondent Nunn is recorded on countless numbers of the specimens.

Edward Chamberland Nunn, ‘Late Collector of Customs’, died of cirrhosis of the liver at Dehra Dun on 2 March 1887. Sold with a large and comprehensive file of research.