Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The very rare three-clasp Indian Mutiny medal to original defender Assistant Surgeon G. B. Hadow, who was in medical charge of various units of Bengal Artillery throughout the siege of Lucknow, and later served in the Central India campaign; Hadow was a prolific letter writer during his service in India whose correspondence is now preserved in the library of Worcester College, Oxford

Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 3 clasps, Defence of Lucknow, Lucknow, Central India (Asst. Surgn. G. B. Hadow, 1st Compy. 5th Bn. Bl. Arty.) fitted with silver ribbon buckle, unofficial rivets between second and third clasps; together with another, 2 clasps, Defence of Lucknow, Lucknow (Asst. Surgn. H. P. Hadow, 4th Oudh Irreg. Infy.) note differing initials [as per medal rolls], generally very fine or better (2) £4,000-£5,000

Hadow is confirmed on two separate medal rolls at the India Office Library, one with initials G. B. and the other with H. P., both rolls showing him to be the same man.

Gilbert Bethune Hadow was born at Haseley, Warwickshire, on 15 August 1832, son of William Thomas Hadow, Clerk in Holy Orders, and his wife Eleanor Anne. He was educated at Marlborough College, Winchester and King’s College Medical Hospital, London, where he qualified M.R.C.S. in 1854, and was appointed Assistant Surgeon in the Bengal Medical Service on 20 January 1855. He was posted to the 4th Infantry, Oudh Irregular Force in May 1856, and to the 4th Company, 1st Bengal Artillery on 5 January 1858. Hadow served throughout the defence of Lucknow, the capture of Lucknow, the campaign in Oudh in 1858, and in Central India in 1859, latterly as a medical officer attached to the 2nd Gwalior Infantry and details of Bombay Infantry.
Hadow was a prolific letter writer during his service in India, and all his correspondence is now in the possession of Worcester College, Oxford. In a letter to his sister back home in March 1857, he makes one of the first known references to the “Chupatty movement”:

‘There is a most mysterious affair going on throughout the whole of India at present, no one seems to know the meaning of it.… It is not known where it originated, by whom or for what purpose, whether it is supposed to be connected to any religious ceremony or whether it has to do with some secret society. The Indian papers are full of surmises as to what it means. It is called the “Chupatty movement”.’

As a medical officer during the siege of Lucknow, Hadow was witness to many of the more famous episodes of the siege, among others the death of Sir Henry Lawrence:
‘While waiting for breakfast in the former drawing room of the Residency, but now turned into the 32nd Mess Room, a shell came into the next room and exploded over a bed on which Sir Henry Lawrence was lying; one piece of it gave him a mortal wound, shattering his left thigh and tearing open a wound into his abdomen. I was by his side in a minute, but of course could do nothing, he himself knew it was mortal, and begged not to be disturbed.’
Towards the final relief of the city by Lord Clyde, Hadow found himself engaged on more military matters, as illustrated by the following extract which describes his prowess as a sharpshooter:
‘Till the Brigadier had determined what I should do, I was turned into a sharpshooter, being supplied with one of the new Enfield rifles; I took up position where I could see anyone who attempted to cross either of two streets, which were at right angles to one another, with the angle towards me. Here I amused myself for three or four days, practising long range shooting at any armed creature that chose to show itself, and by the time other employment was found for me, I had knocked over nineteen men. It is curious how calmly one can shoot at a fellow creature when you know he would shoot at you if he had the chance.’
Hadow’s views towards the mutineers were clear enough, and no doubt prompted by the dwindling number of children who were ‘dropping and dying from day to day on account of the close confinement’. He once inspected, in horror, the remains of a friend who had been hit by a round shot and lay crumpled on the floor, ‘just as if a suit of clothes filled with sand had been thrown down’. It was probably sights like this that prompted him to tell his sister how he wanted to have the opportunity of actually running through a mutineer, ‘I want more of their blood, and I’ll have it yet’.
Hadow’s extensive correspondence contains many more entries of a similar nature, and ultimately provides a fascinating insight into one of the most famous sieges of British military history. In addition to the more obvious observations, he also has time for recording less likely matters, among them news of the introduction of the Indian Mutiny medal:
‘The order for decorations is out – I shall have a medal, and two clasps – one for the Residency, the other for the fall of Lucknow – and we all hope we may have one for the Rohilcund Campaign.’
In fact, Hadow’s later services also involved participation in Brigadier Troupe’s Oudh Campaign of 1858, and service in the Central Indian jungles between May and September 1859, attached to the 2nd Gwalior Infantry and details of Bombay Infantry. His letters cover this part of the mutiny with equal precision.

Whilst on home leave he married Rachel Elizabeth daughter of Mr G. Lloyd Esq. at Ladywood Church, Birmingham, on 11 November 1862, the service being conducted by his father. They had issue Helen Frances, born at Dum Dum in 1863, Gilbert George, born at Boolundshuhur in 1865, and Janet Elizabeth, born at Meerut in 1867. The death of his two daughters at Boolundshuhur in 1867 and 1868 had a profound effect on Hadow. The cause of death on their burial certificates warrants the single stroke of a pen. Just another two infant deaths in Boolundshuhur's inhospitable and pestilent climate. Hadow subsequently wrote fewer letters and began to suffer ill-health dying of heart disease at Aligarh on 31 July 1876. His widow died at Marylebone on 6 April 1906, aged 71.

Sold with an original small tinted ambrotype (believed to be of the recipient) in its original gilt mount and frame, and copied photograph of Hadow from Ahmed Ali Khan's wonderful ‘Images of Lucknow’ series taken in 1857, and coloured images of Hadow as a child and as a young man; together with a full set of copies of Hadow’s letters held by Worcester College, Oxford, these contained in a box and also saved to CD.