Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

National Rifle Association, Oxford and Cambridge Match for the “Chancellors’” Challenge Plate, silver cross, 69 x 69mm., obv. shields of Oxford and Cambridge; rev. engraved, ‘Wimbledon 1872, Oxford and Cambridge Rifle Match, Pt. C. E. S. Hemery, Trin. Coll. Camb.’, hallmarks for London 1872, good very fine £40-60

The “Chancellors” Challenge Plate was given by the Duke of Devonshire, K.G., and the late Earl of Derby, K.G., for the annual competition between volunteers of the Oxford and Cambridge University Corps. The two universities were restricted to eight volunteers on each side, each taking seven shots at a target 200, 500 and 600 yards distant. Private Hemery was part of the 1872 winning Cambridge team.