The Collection of Medals formed by The Late John Hillard

Army of India 1799-1826, 1 clasp, Nagpore (Lieut. W. Langford, 12th N.I.), short hyphen reverse, officially impressed naming, with silver riband buckle for wearing, edge nicks, good very fine or better £1000-1200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals formed by The Late John Hillard.

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Approximately 150 “Nagpore” clasps were awarded to Europeans, three of them from the 12th Native Infantry.

William Langford was born in Tipperary, Ireland in June 1796 and, on the recommendation of the Rt. Hon. George Ponsonby, was appointed a Cadet in the Madras Army in 1813. Initially posted to the 21st Native Infantry, he shortly afterwards transferred to the 12th N.I. and was advanced to Lieutenant in November 1816, prior to his part in the Nagpore operations of the following year.

Having then taken extended furlough, he returned to an appointment as Paymaster & Interpreter in his old regiment, the 21st N.I., in September 1822, removed to the 41st N.I. as Adjutant in June 1824 and, as a consequence of the re-organisation of the Army in October 1826, to the 51st N.I., in which regiment he was still serving at the time of his advancement to Captain in May 1829.

Langford again took extended furlough in the early 1830s, returning to an appointment in the 51st in December 1836, his service record further noting that he commanded a wing of the regiment in the Canara insurrection - so, too, a string of favourable reports throughout that decade and a recommendation for regimental command. However, he was invalided from the Fort St. George Establishment in early 1843, when he was placed on the Retired List in the rank of Major; accompanying research suggests that the Major may have eventually settled in Australia, where his son was registered as a doctor in Victoria in the 1860s.