Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Captain W. W. Hartopp, Royal Horse Guards, late 1st Royal Dragoons, with whom he rode in the charge of the Heavy Brigade at the battle of Balaklava when he was severely wounded by a gunshot through the leg; he received his Crimea medal from the hand of the Queen at Horse Guards in May 1855

Crimea 1854-56, 2 clasps, Balaklava, Sebastopol (Cornet W. Hartopp Royal Drags.) contemporary engraved naming in the style of Hunt & Roskell, rubbed in parts; Turkish Crimea 1855, British issue, unnamed, fitted with replacement scroll suspension, the first with repaired suspension, contact wear and polished, therefore fine (2) £1,400-£1,800

Provenance: Spink, April 1993.

William Wrey Hartopp was born on 22 April 1836, son of the politician Edward Bourchier Hartopp and his wife, Honoria Gent, daughter of General William Gent. He was educated at Eton from where he purchased a Cornetcy in the 1st Royal Dragoons on 11 March 1853. He sailed for the Crimea with Lieutenant-Colonel Yorke’s Regimental H.Q. party aboard the Rip van Winkle. He charged with the Heavy Brigade at Balaklava and was shot through the leg immediately afterwards, when the Royals moved on in support of the Light Brigade but became exposed to a heavy crossfire from enemy guns and infantry in captured redoubts on both flanks of the valley. Lieutenant-Colonel Yorke and Captains Elmsall and Campbell were also severely wounded at this time.

Invalided back home to England, Hartopp received his Crimea medal from the hand of the Queen at Hyde Park on 18 May 1855. Having recovered from his wound he returned to the Crimea in July and witnessed the action at Tchernaya and the final stages of the siege of Sebastopol. Hartopp exchanged into the Royal Horse Guards on 1 February 1856, returning home from the Crimea about two weeks later. He was promoted to Captain in the Royal Horse Guards, by purchase, on 1 April 1859, and continued in that rank until his retirement from the Army on 19 August 1871. He afterwards moved to Penerley Lodge at Beaulieu in Hampshire with his wife. While out fishing on 20 July 1874, he was killed in an accident, with his body found wrapped around a tree having apparently fallen over a style. Sold with further research including copied reports of Balaklava from The Times, and copied transcripts of several letters written home from the Crimea, including his own account of Balaklava.