Auction Catalogue

28 February & 1 March 2018

Starting at 11:00 AM

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Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

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Lot

№ 122

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28 February 2018

Hammer Price:
£650

Pair: Captain W. H. Wreford-Brown, Essex Regiment

India General Service 1895-1902, 2 clasps, Punjab Frontier 1897-98, Tirah 1897-98 (Capt. W. Wreford-Brown, 2nd. Essex. Regt.) naming engraved in the style particular to the D.C.L.I. with which regiment he served in India; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, South Africa 1902 (Capt. W. H. Wreford-Brown, Essex Rgt:) mounted ‘cavalry’ style as worn, minor official correction to surname on QSA, extremely fine and rare (2) £600-800

Provenance: Jack Webb Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, March 2000.

William Henry Wreford-Brown was born on 10 September 1865, the eldest son of William Wreford Brown, Esq., of Clifton, Bristol, and was educated at Charterhouse School. He was commissioned as Lieutenant in the Essex Regiment on 30 January 1886, and served as Adjutant from 1891 to 1895. Promoted Captain on 14 August 1897, he served in India with the Tirah Expeditionary and Khyber Forces 1897-98 on attachment to the 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, and in South Africa with the 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment. Appointed Adjutant of the 4th Battalion on 22 November 1902, he was promoted Major on 16 May 1906, before transferring to the Reserve of Officers on 8 January 1908. He served during the Great War on a special appointment as G.S.O., 3rd Grade, Staff, from 31 August 1914, and by 1916 was working at the Press Bureau in Whitehall. His younger brother, Charles Wreford-Brown, was a famous sportsman who played first class cricket for Gloucestershire and twice captained England at football in the 1890s, before becoming involved for a very long period in the administration of the game with the Football Association.

Note: Only 6 Officers from the Essex Regiment received the India General Service Medal. Wreford-Brown’s combination of awards is unique to an officer from the Regiment.