Special Collections

Sold on 8 December 2016

1 part

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A Collection of Medals to Members of the Nobility and The Royal Household

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Lot

№ 112

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8 December 2016

Hammer Price:
£650

Four: Captain Sir Alexander Napier, Bt., Grenadier Guards, who was twice wounded during the Great War

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Cape Colony, South Africa 1902 (2/Lt: A. L. M. Napier, Gren: Gds:); 1914-15 Star (Capt. Sir A. L. M. Napier. Bt. G. Gds.); British War and Victory Medals (Capt. Sir A. L. M. Napier. Bt.) mounted court-style as worn, minor edge bruising to QSA, toned, good very fine and better (4) £400-500

Sir Alexander Lennox Milliken Napier, 11th Baronet of Merchistoun, was born 30 May 1882, the eldest son of Sir Archibald Napier, Bt., and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Fairburn, Bt., and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, and transferred to the Grenadier Guards on 5 January 1901. He served with the 2nd Battalion in South Africa during the Boer War, and was promoted Lieutenant on 15 June 1904. He transferred to the Reserve of Officers in 1908, and subsequently served as Aide-de-Camp to H.E. the Earl of Dudley, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Australia, from 1910 until 1911. On the outbreak of the Great War he was recalled to the Colours and was posted to the 4th (Reserve) Battalion, Grenadier Guards on 5 October 1914. He joined the 1st Battalion in France on 20 June 1915, and served with them at the Battle of Loos, where he was wounded in the thigh on 29 September 1915. Promoted Captain on 25 October 1915, he subsequently transferred to the 2nd Battalion, and took part in the attack on Boesinghe, 31 July 1917, and in the attack between the Yser Canal and Elverdinghe, 9 October 1917: ‘In spite of the line of advance being oblique to the trench from which they started, No. 1 Company under Lieutenant Cornforth, and No. 2 Company under Captain Sir A. Napier, managed to keep the direction and the advance continued unchecked... Captain Sir A. Napier was slightly wounded, but remained at duty.’ (The Grenadier Guards in the Great War refers).

Sir Alexander succeeded his father as 11th Baronet of Merchistoun, on 18 January 1907 on the latter’s death. He married Miss Joan Moris daughter of Edward Moris Esq., on 14 June 1913, and they had one daughter. Sir Alexander died on 15 July 1954, and was succeeded to the Baronetcy by his younger brother. The baronetcy is extant, and is currently held by the recipient’s great-nephew.