Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine C.S.I., C.I.E., Great War M.C. group of eight awarded to Captain J. E. Pedley, Indian Army, late King’s Royal Rifle Corps, who was latterly a senior member of the Indian Civil Service

The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, C.S.I., Companion’s neck badge, gold and enamel, with central cameo bust of Queen Victoria and rose diamond set legend, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue; The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, C.I.E., Companion’s neck badge, gold and enamel; Military Cross, G.V.R.; 1914-15 Star (2 Lieut., K.R. Rif. C.); British War and Victory Medals (Capt.); India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919 (Capt., 57 Rfls. F.F.); Jubilee 1935, mounted as worn where applicable, the first lacking one or two stones from legend, contact wear, generally very fine or better (8) £2500-3000

C.S.I. London Gazette 13 June 1946.

C.I.E. London Gazette 8 June 1939.

M.C. London Gazette 1 January 1917.

John Edward Pedley was born at Rangoon, Burma in December 1891, the son of a military surgeon, and was educated at Repton and Trinity College, Oxford. Commissioned into the King’s Royal Rifle Corps from the ranks of King Edward’s Horse in December 1914, he first went to France at the end of the following year, where he served in the12th Battalion, was onetime attached to the 6th Battalion, and won his M.C. He was, however, wounded in the right leg on 25 April 1917 (‘several small fragments of shell in the right calf and below the knee joint ...’), and was transferred to the Indian Army Reserve of Officers at the end of the year. He was subsequently employed in the Third Afghan War as a Captain in the 57th Rifles, I.A.

In 1920 Pedley joined the Indian Civil Service and a long and distinguished career ensued, one of his final appointments being as a Member of the Board of Revenue in the United Provinces shortly after the 1939-45 War. Among other appointments in the interim, Pedley was placed in charge of the Gorakhpur district in the late 1930s, an unenvious position that resulted in the award of his C.I.E. in 1939. An accompanying newspaper cutting quotes the following citation, as read out at the time of his investiture:

‘You joined the service in 1920 after four years’ service in the British and Indian Armies, during which you were awarded the Military Cross. From 1924 to 1928 you were Registrar of the Allahabad High Court. Thereafter you served as a District Officer and have been in charge of the large districts of Lucknow, Meerut and Bareilly. Since September 1937, you have been Collector of the very large and important district of Gorakhpur with over three million inhabitants, which was then in an unsatisfactory state owing to agrarian unrest and political agitation. You have fully justified your selection for this difficult charge. You handled the general situation, including at one stage a troublesome communal problem in Gorakhpur city, with great success; and by sound and cool-headed judgement combined with firmness and urbanity you restored confidence in the district administration among all classes of the population and effected a great improvement in the general agrarian situation. You have done most valuable work in Gorakhpur, and it is with great pleasure that I now deliver you the insignia of the Companionship of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire.’

Pedley was awarded his C.S.I. in 1946 and retired to the Isle of Man, where he died in April 1972.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including original warrants for the C.S.I. and C.I.E., edges slightly cut / damaged, together with related investiture pamphlets and congratulatory letters for the latter award from the Governor of the United Provinces, and his wife, both dated June 1939; and commission scroll for Lieutenant, Indian Army Reserve of Officers, dated 21 February 1919.