Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Delhi (Appce. D. E. Young, Attd. to 9th Lancers.) very fine £600-800

Daniel Edwin Young, a European, was born in 1838, the son of Quarter Master Sergeant Edward Young, 4th Company 5th Battalion Bengal Artillery. As was common practice, at the time, children of NCO's were often employed to do duty with the the army or medical departments. Young entered the Bengal Subordinate Medical Department as a Hospital Apprentice on 15 September 1855. His subsequent promotions were, Assistant Apothecary, 18 September 1858; Assistant Steward, January 1865; Hospital Steward, 1 January 1866.

At the time of the mutiny Young was attached to the 9th Lancers as a Hospital Apprentice and served at Delhi. With the siege over, the wounded, probably in excess of 50, were moved to Umballa where the 9th Lancers had their permanent station and hospital. Among his patients would have been Private Robert Newell of the 9th Lancers, who had been awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous gallantry on 19 March 1858. Newell died of disease on 11 July 1858, at Umballa and was not gazetted until 24 December 1858, fully 9 months after the action and 5 months after his death. The care and devotion given to a dying man by this young apprentice clearly made a deep impression on Newell’s wife Rebecca and, after a period of grieving, she was married to Hospital Assistant Daniel Young.

The Evolution of the Victoria Cross by M. J. Crook encompasses all the anomalies with respect to the award. Under Posthumous awards Lord Panmure informed Mr John Godfrey, who had written seeking the grant of the award to his deceased son in 1856, that it was, “an order for the living”. This ruling was expanded in greater detail... this decoration will not be conferred upon families of deceased officers... it is more in the nature of the Bath than a medal in commemoration of a campaign... it is by survivors only that claims to the VC will be able to be established.
This ruling was to last for 46 years but it did not cover those VC's who had been gazetted, or had received the Queen's approval, but died before receipt of the award. Neither did it apply to those who had the award conferred on them but who had died before royal assent. The Mutiny VC's for Salkeld, Home, Bankes, Hawkes and Newell fell into this category as each had the award conferred but had died before the royal approval.

Lugard for the WO advised Horse Guards in 1861 that if the Cross had provisionally been conferred, before royal assent, the award should be allowed to pass to the nearest relative. While letters of approval were sent to the families of Salkeld, Home, Bankes, and Hawkes no letter of approval was sent to Mrs Rebecca Newell. She, in the meantime, had remarried Daniel Edwin Young of the Bengal Subordinate Medical Department on 9 February 1859, at Umballa. Mr Young assisted his new wife in applying for her VC annuity and it was granted by the Calcutta authorities. The VC registry at Kew clearly shows the Newell entry being marked “returned” which would indicate that the VC had been sent to India but returned. There is no doubt that great confusion reigned over what exactly the ruling was and how it was to be applied. With the annuity being paid London felt obliged to re-issue the award and it was duly sent to India together with a letter from the Queen expressing condolences and praising the bravery of her late husband.

The following General Order GOCC of 22 December 1866 states: ‘Hospital Steward D. E. Young of the Subordinate Medical Department and attached to the 101st Regiment is, in conformity with the sentence of a District Court Martial, dismissed the service, with effect from the 6th instant.’ No record of Young's offence can be found. A District or Garrison Court Martial has the same power as a general court martial in that it can sentence such punishments as accord the provisions of the mutiny act, except death. The most common charges at such courts were for drunkenness and absence without leave.

On 13 April 1868 D. E. Young is shown as working for the Sind, Punjab, and Delhi Railway at Lahore, where he was working in the accounts department as a clerk on a salary of Rupees 240 per month. Thackers Indian Directory of 1891 shows that Mr D. E. Young was the co-proprietor of James Gray & Company at Jullunder. James Gray & Company was a commercial enterprise dealing in surgical supplies, chemist, wine and general merchants, auctioneers, commission and forwarding agents, manufacturer of aerated waters and agents for the Kowlaghur Tea Estate. By 1893 he was the sole proprietor of James Gray at Sailkot.

Daniel Edwin Young died at Bungalow 78, The Mall, Sailkot, on Boxing Day 1923, aged 85. His probate shows that he was without issue and gifted his entire estate, in excess of rupees four thousand, to the Reverend Arthur Selwyn to be used for the benefit of the Church of England. His wife Minnie Rebecca Young died at Sailkot on 25 May 1907, aged 70. Sold with a large and comprehensive file of research.