Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Army of India 1799-1826, 1 clasp, Bhurtpoor (Lieut. Chas. R. Whinfield, Arty. Brig. Maj.) short hyphen reverse, officially impressed naming, minor marks, otherwise extremely fine £1800-2200

Charles Rabett Whinfield was born on 25 February 1796, at Harwich, Essex, son of Rev. William Whinfield, later (1810-14) chaplain of the East India Company’s trading post and garrison at Fort Marlborough, Bencoolen, on the west coast of Sumatra. In 1811 Whinfield was accepted into the Company’s Military Seminary at Addiscombe, and, following graduation was admitted to the Bengal Horse Artillery on 5 August 1814. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant Fireworker on 8 June 1816, promoted to Lieutenant on 1 September 1818, and to Captain by brevet on 8 June 1831. This latter promotion, however, was cancelled when his resignation from the service was accepted with effect from 13 September 1829.

During his time in India, Whinfield participated in the siege and capture of Hathras in 1817; the Pindari and Third Mahratta War 1817-19 (probably at the siege of Taragarh but definitely at the siege of Madhurajpura where he was mentioned in the report of the commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel W. A. Thompson, for the effectiveness of the fire from the battery under his command which contributed to ‘the surrender of the fort with so small loss on our side.’); and in the second siege and capture of Bhurtpoor between 10 December 1825 and 18 January 1826. In advance of the Bhurtpoor campaign, Whinfield was appointed, 6 December 1825, Brigade Major of the Bengal Division of Horse and Light Field Artillery.

He was granted furlough in January 1827 and sometime thereafter returned to England, where he was employed as Orderly Officer at Addiscombe from July 1828 to June 1831. His resignation from the service was accepted on 2 November 1831, with effect from 13 September 1829, and there is no record of him receiving a pension.

Between 1836 and 1853 he is listed in the Imperial Calendars as the Sheriff of Berbice, British Guiana. This was a time when the abolition of slavery in British Guiana in 1834 had created a shortage of labour, and sugar planters put pressure on the British Government to allow indentured labourers from abroad, especially India, to emigrate to sugar producing colonies. However, due to abuses of the system by some plantation owners, a Commission of Inquiry was established in 1839 to look into ‘the state, condition and general treatment’ of emigrants to British Guiana. Whinfield was appointed as one of the Commissioners. During his tenure as Sheriff in British Guiana, Whinfield compiled ‘A Manual for Justices of the Peace of British Guiana’, which was published in 1845. Ill-health caused Whinfield to return to England, departing British Guiana on the ship Parker in May 1850. Prior to his departure he was presented with a ‘complimentary address’ from the magistrates of Berbice, and the local inhabitants subscribed to the purchase of a piece of plate as a token of the esteem in which he was held. He died on 1 January 1852 at Ipswich and is buried at All Saints’ Church, Dovercourt, Essex.

Sold with copied Cadet papers and record of service, and other research.