GUARDS

[‘The Grand Old Duke of York’: Prince Frederick Augustus, Duke of York and Albany.] Autograph Signature (‘Frederick / Colonel 2d. L. Gds.’) and conclusion of letter to ‘Mr Harrison’ regarding Captain Wyngard.

Author: 
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany [Frederick Augustus] (1763-1827), brother of King George IV, reformer of the British Army commemorated in the nursery rhyme ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’
Frederick
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£25.00
Frederick

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of 19 x 5.5 cm piece of laid paper. In good condition, lightly ruckled and with traces of mount on reverse. Clearly cut from a letter for an autograph hunter. Reads: ‘Captain Wynguard who has [...] is fit to succeed to that situation. / I am, Dear Mr Harrison, / Yours most sincerely / Frederick / Colonel 2d. L. Gds.’ The ‘2’ of ‘2d.’ looks like a ‘1’, but the signature is certainly his.

[Sir Richard Airey: the man who issued the order for the Charge of the Light Brigade.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mrs. Gardiner’, describing the ‘escape by a miracle’ of ‘Gardiner’ after a dangerous fall from his horse.

Author: 
Sir Richard Airey [Richard Airey, 1st Baron Airey] (1803-1881), senior British Army officer, remembered for writing out the order for the Charge of the Light Brigade, and 1879-1880 Airey Commission
Publication details: 
29 June 1865; ‘Horseguards’ [Horse Guards, London.], on embossed government letterhead.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB: ‘Following Raglan's instructions, he wrote out the order which led to the fateful charge of the light brigade on 25 October 1854, but unfortunately in the heat of battle kept no duplicate. Subsequently, he had to request a copy from Lieutenant-General Lord Lucan, the cavalry division's commander, to whom the order was addressed and who strongly resented implications that he was at fault. In writing and in person Airey attempted to placate Lucan, reputedly arguing that “it is nothing to Chillianwallah”’.

[Charles Henry Alexander Paget, 6th Marquis of Anglesey, soldier and courtier.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Anglesey’), thanking A. C. Cox for offering ‘the Commissions in the name of the Marquess of Anglesey’.

Author: 
Marquis of Anglesey [Charles Henry Alexander Paget, 6th Marquis of Anglesey (1885-1947)], Lord Chamberlain to Queen Mary, soldier with Royal Horse Guards, courtier and landowner, patron of Rex Whistle
Publication details: 
26 January 1937; on letterhead of Plas Newydd, Llanfairpwll, Isle of Anglesey, with stamp ‘GUARDS 2 / RECEIVED’.
£38.00

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, folded once. Headed by him ‘Guards & Cavalry’. He is obliged to Cox for his ‘courtesy in offering me the Commissions in the name of the Marquess of Anglesey’, and will be ‘very grateful for them and they will be with all the family papers of which there are a great many & well cared for & catalogued’.

[Frederick Burnaby, British traveller and national hero.] Engraving by Elizabeth Adela Forbes, of a drawing of Burnaby by Mary Blanchard Reed, signed by both women ('Mary B Reed' and 'Elizabeth A. Armstrong').

Author: 
Frederick Burnaby [Frederick Gustavus Burnaby] (1842-1885), soldier, traveller and balloonist; Elizabeth Adela Forbes [née Armstrong] (1859-1912), Canadian artist; Mary Blanchard Reed; Sidney Redrup
Publication details: 
'London Published July 8th. 1885 by Sidney Redrup. 175. New Bond Street. Copyright Registered.'
£1,500.00

See the Oxford DNB entry on Burnaby ('He was commemorated in verse, song, and Staffordshire pottery').

[12th (The Suffolk) Regiment of Foot.] Manuscript 'Assignment Offreckonings [sic]' to Messrs John, Nicholas & Brice Pearse, with Clothing Board certification, signed by 3 British Army Generals: William Picton, Sir William Fawcett, Sir David Dundas.

Author: 
General William Picton (c.1724-1811); General Sir William Fawcett (1727-1804); General Sir David Dundas (1735-1820); 12th (The Suffolk) Regiment of Foot; British Army; J. C. Pleydell
Publication details: 
'From 6th July 1800: | To 5th July 1801' With certification by three General Officers of the Clothing Board, from Horseguards [Whitehall, London], 18 November 1801.
£300.00

See E. A. H. Webb, 'History of the 12th (The Suffolk) Regiment, 1685-1913' (1914). Picton was the uncle of 'the illustrious Picton', Lt-Gen. Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815), who was his sole executor and residuary legatee. The year of Picton's birth is variously reported, but the Monthly Magazine, December 1811, is among several sources reporting his death in Bond Street at the age of 87. 4pp, folio. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and with closed tears along the three fold lines. Endorsed on reverse of second leaf: '12th.

[Princess Elizabeth, daughter of George III.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Elizabeth') to Anna Maria Dashwood, regarding an offer from Lord Cathcart to place her father Sir Henry Dashwood's eldest son in the Life Guards.

Author: 
Princess Elizabeth (1770-1840), daughter of George III, Landgravine consort of Hesse-Homburg, artist [Anna Maria Tottenham-Loftus, Marchionesss of Ely; Sir Henry Watkin Dashwood; Lord Cathcart]
Publication details: 
Weymouth; 15 September 1799.
£250.00

The recipient Anna Maria Dashwood (1785-1857) was the daughter of Sir Henry Watkin Dashwood (1745-1828), and was fourteen years old at the time the letter was written. In 1810 she would marry John Loftus (1770-1845), 2nd Marquess of Ely. An Anne Dashwood – presumably a relation – had been a maid of honour of Princess Elizabeth's mother Queen Charlotte. The letter is written in the most affectionate terms, and concerns an offer by William Cathcart (1755-1843), 1st Earl Cathcart, to place Sir Henry Dashwood's eldest son Henry George Mayne Dashwood (1782-1803) in the Life Guards. 5pp, 4to.

[Charles Townshend, British politician behind the Townshend Acts.] Autograph Signature ('C Townshend') and seal, with signatures of Charles Bembridge, John Powell, Thomas Farraine, to document appointing Robert Digby deputy paymaster of Minorca.

Author: 
Charles Townshend (1725-1767), British politician behind the Townshend Acts in the American Revolution; Charles Bembridge; John Powell; Thomas Farraine [Admiral Robert Digby (1732-1815); Minorca]
Publication details: 
'the 12th. of June 1765 in the Fifth Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Third of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, &c.'
£220.00

1p, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to edge on reverse. Folded once. Signed 'C Townshend' with good impression of seal in red wax at bottom right. Nineteen-line document in a secretarial hand, with tax stamp at head. At foot, by two members of the Army Pay Office, Horse Guards: 'Sign'd, Sealed and delivered, (being first duly stamp'd) in the presence of | John Powell | Chas: Bembridge'.

[Mansion House Banquet, 1888, featuring the Coldstream Guards Band.] Printed 'Plan of Tables' titled: 'Mansion House Banquet to the Executive Council of the British Section, Paris Exhibition, 1889. The Right Honourable Polydore de Keyser Lord Mayor.'

Author: 
Mansion House Banquet, 1888; Coldstream Guards Band; Paris Exhibition, 1889; Polydore de Keyser; W. G. Forbes
Publication details: 
Jas. Truscott & Son, London. Mansion House, London.] Banquet on 31 July 1888.
£35.00

On a piece of paper, folded three times into a packet. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The plan covers the whole of one side, with the names of around 150 invitees (including George Augustus Sala, Henry Trueman Wood, A. M. Broadley, Prince Iskandar Ali of Moorshedabad and the Mayor of Colchester) printed in black ink on a seating diagram in brownish-red. Dead centre at the top table is the Lord Mayor of London, flanked by the French ambassador and 'M. Georges Berger (Director-General of the Paris Exhibition). To the right of the ambassador are Sir Lyon Playfair and Sir Lothian Bell.

[ Sir Alexander Campbell Mackenzie, Scottish composer, and John Mackenzie Rogan, Director of Music, Coldstream Guards. ] Their signatures, each with an autograph bar of music, for composer Herman Finck, on a menu from Pagani's Restaurant, London.

Author: 
Sir Alexander Campbell Mackenzie (1847-1935), composer and conductor; John Mackenzie Rogan (1855-1932), Director of Music, Coldstream Guards [ Herman Finck (1872-1939); Pagani's Restaurant, London ]
Publication details: 
Menu from Pagani's Restaurant, London. Dated by Mackenzie 4 November 1909.
£120.00

Attractive menu, printed in black and gold, on card bifolium, folding into two 8 x 17 cm. panels, partly detached. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Calligraphic design, with 'Pagani's' printed in gilt on the cover, and the menu itself on the recto of the second leaf, facing some calligraphic flourishes on the verso of the first leaf. The two inscriptions are both in pencil, mainly on the recto of the second leaf but with the second extending somewhat onto the facing page. The upper of the two, signed by 'A. C.

[ Privately printed for internal distribution, with fifteen colour illustrations of regimental colours and company badges, in dustwrapper. ] First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards. Review of the Regiment by His Majesty The King.

Author: 
[ First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards ] [ Buckingham Palace, London; the British Army ]
Publication details: 
[ Privately printed, London. ] 'Buckingham Palace, 29th June, 1910.'
£100.00

39pp., 12mo, with an additional fifteen plates. In boards of white shiny paper, with the royal crest of King George V stamped in blue and gilt on the front cover, and with all edges (including the boards) gilt. White dustwrapper with the following printed on the front: 'Extra Copies of this Book may be had on application to the Regimental Orderly Room.' Inscribed three times (reverse of title and last leaf, and on back of a plate) by 'Col. Sergt C. Riches | 3d: Battn. Grenr Gds'.

[ An upper-middle-class English girl's education in the 1840s. ] Autograph Journal of Fanny Higginson, daughter of Lt Gen. Sir George Powell Higginson, including a detailed description of the course of her education.

Author: 
Fanny Higginson, daughter of Lt-Gen. George Powell Higginson (1788-1866) of the Grenadier Guards, and sister of Gen. Sir George Wentworth Alexander Higginson (1826-1927)
Publication details: 
Wilton Crescent and Pont Street, London; and Brighton and other locations. Journal: 1 January to 23 July 1842. Notes: November 1844 to July 1845.
£1,250.00

The present item is highly unusual from the point of view of women's education, being in large part a description by a young English upper-middle-class girl of the 1840s of the rigorous course of education she is undergoing.

[ Archibald Hair of the Royal Horse Guards, doctor to the Duke of Richmond. ] Five Autograph Letters Signed, with part of a sixth, to Sir John Phillipart, on a range of subjects; with printed circular on the War Medal Testimonial to the Duke.

Author: 
Archibald Hair (c.1785-1869), Surgeon to the Royal Horse Guards and medical adviser to Charles Gordon-Lennox, 5th Duke of Richmond (1791-1860) [ Sir John Phillipart (c.1784-1874)f ]
Publication details: 
Four of Hair's letters from between 1848 and 1852, the other two undated; four from 51 Portland Place and two from the Junior United Services Club. Printed circular from the United Services Club, 22 May 1849.
£180.00

ONE: Hair's six letters to 'My Dear Sir John [Phillipart]', editor of the Naval and Military Gazette. (One of the letters has 'Sir John Phillipart' named as the addressee.) In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The five complete letters total 15pp., 12mo. Only the first part of the incomplete letter is present, and it is 4pp., 4to, on a bifolium.

[ Major-General Sir Cecil Lowther of the Scots Guards. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('H. C. Lowther | Brig. Genl.') asking for Captain Barron's credentials.

Author: 
Major-General Sir Cecil Lowther [ Henry Cecil Lowther; H. C. Lowther ] (1869-1940) of the Scots Guards
Publication details: 
On letterhead of G.H.Q., Home Forces, Horse Guards, Whitehall, S.W. [ London ]. 24 October 1916.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. One can hear the clipped tones of the military man: 'Dear Capt. Barron, | Gen. Gosling spoke & wrote to me about you. | What is your present state, duty, light duty, leave, or what? | Please let me know & tell me when you get orders to join a reserve unit, & which. | Yours very truly | H. C. Lowther | Brig. Genl.' Lowther's entry in Who Was Who reads: 'Entered Scots Guards, 1888; Capt.

[ British Army, Sicilian Campaign, 1943. ] Two duplicated documents: 'Lecture by Maj-Gen V. Evelegh, C.B., O.B.E. on 78 Div's Part in the Sicilian Campaign' and 'Notes on Observations made in SICILY' by Lieut-Col. D. E. P. Hodgson.

Author: 
Major General Vyvyan Evelegh (1898-1958), General Officer Commanding, 78th Battleaxe Infantry Division, British Army; Lieut-Col. D. E. P. Hodgson of the Welsh Guards [ Sicilian Campaign, 1943. ]
Publication details: 
Evelegh's 'Lecture' without place or date, but contemporary. Hodgson's 'Notes' dated 'IN THE FIELD | 9 Oct 43 [ 9 October 1943 ] | DEPH/LCH'.
£320.00

Both items in good condition, lightly-aged and worn. Both scarce: no copy of either traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC, and no copies in the Imperial War Museum collection. From the papers of military historian Barrie Pitt, author of 'Crucible of War'. ONE: ' 'Lecture by Maj-Gen V. Evelegh, C.B., O.B.E. on 78 Div's Part in the Sicilian Campaign'. Two pages each on a separate leaf, the first 8vo and the second half an 8vo page. Stapled together.

[Sir Harry Calvert, Adjutant General of the Forces.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Henry Calvert') to 'Mr. Ridge', regarding the conveyance of the 'Clothing for M: General Wattevelle's [sic] Regiment' following the Siege of Cadiz.

Author: 
Sir Harry Calvert [Henry Calvert] (1763-1826), Adjutant General of the Forces [Major Generral Louis de Watteville (1776-1836); Watteville's Regiment; The Siege of Cadiz, and War of 1812]
Publication details: 
Horse Guards [London]. 17 October 1812.
£140.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, on aged paper, with slight wear to one edge. Regarding their previous correspondence, Calvert has 'directions to request' Ridge to inform him, 'if you are aware of any Steps having been taken, for conveying back the Clothing for M: General Wattevelle's [sic] Regiment, from Sicily to Cadiz - where that Corps is now stationed'. From Cadiz the Watteville's Regiment would be transferred to Upper Canada, where it would take part in the War of 1812.

[Fitzroy Somerset, Lord Raglan.] Secretarial Letter, signed 'Fitzroy Somerset', informing 'Ensign Bickerstaff' [Robert Bickerstaff] that he may purchase a lieutenancy in the 64th Foot Regiment.

Author: 
Field Marshal Fitzroy Somerset [FitzRoy James Henry Somerset], 1st Baron Raglan [Lord Raglan] (1788-1855), British commander in Crimean War [Lt-Col. Robert Bickerstaff (d.1894), 6th Dragoon Guards]
Publication details: 
Horse Guards [London]. 18 November 1846.
£120.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. Raglan signs and addresses Bickerstaff at the foot of the letter, otherwise it is in a secretarial hand. It reads: 'Horse Guards | 18 November 1846 | Sir, | I am directed by The Commander in Chief [the Duke of Wellington] to acquaint you, that, on your lodging the Sum of £250 - in the hands of Messrs. Cox & Co of Craigs Court His Grace will submit your name to Her Majesty for the purchase of a Lieutenancy in the 64th Foot - | I have the honor to be, | Sir, | Your humble Servant, | Fitzroy Somerset | Ensign Bickerstaff | 64th Foot'.

Autograph Letter Signed from Conservative MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed Colonel David Milne Home [David Milne-Home] of the Royal Horse Guards to the Hon. Secretary of the Berwick Amateur Rowing Club, regarding a trophy to be named the Paxton Cup.

Author: 
Colonel David Milne Home [David Milne-Home] (1838-1901), Royal Horse Guards, Conservative Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed [Berwick Amateur Rowing Club]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the House of Commons Library, 8 May 1877.
£40.00

2pp., 12mo. On bifolium with mourning border. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. He will be 'very happy, if it suits the Committee, to present a Cup somewhat similar to that they accepted fm me last year - as the Paxton Cup.' He prefers to leave the conditions to them, and asks for 'due notice when the time of the Regatta is fixed'.

Secretarial Letter Signed ('FitzRoy Somerset') from Lord FitzRoy Somerset [later 1st Baron Raglan] to Lieutenant [Christopher Bernard] Martin, 60th Regiment of Foot.

Author: 
FitzRoy Somerset (1788-1855), 1st Baron Raglan [Lord FitzRoy Somerset; Lord Raglan; General Rowland Hill (1772-1842), 1st Viscount Hill of Almaraz; 60th Regiment of Foot (King's Royal Rifle Corps)]
Secretarial Letter Signed ('FitzRoy Somerset') from Lord FitzRoy Somerset
Publication details: 
29 September 1832; Horse Guards [Whitehall, London].
£95.00
Secretarial Letter Signed ('FitzRoy Somerset') from Lord FitzRoy Somerset

Folio, 1 p. On bifolium. Docketed on reverse of second leaf. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Martin having written to him on 16 September, 'renewing [his] application to be permitted to retire with the Rank and Half pay of Captain', Somerset is 'directed by the General Commanding in Chief [Rowland Hill, 1st Viscount Hill]' to acquaint Martin 'that His Lordship can only repeat the Substance of the communication which I was desired to address to Mr. Daly on the 4th. Instant on the same subject, viz - that it is wholly out of Lord Hill's power to comply with your request'.

[Manuscript and printed] Punishment Book for No. 2 Company Training Battalion Grenadier Guards

Author: 
[Grenadier Guards]
Punishment Book for No. 2 Company Training Battalion Grenadier Guards
Publication details: 
1941-3
£250.00
Punishment Book for No. 2 Company Training Battalion Grenadier Guards

115pp., 8vo, original red boards, hinge strain, damp-affected and signs of silverfish damage, sl. shake, contents good. Stamp and bookplate of the 2nd Company Training Battalion Grenadier Guards. Each page is columnised with the following printed headings: Names | Date | Offences | Witnesses | By whom ordered | Punishment . Every page contains manuscript entries, several hands, giving this information. Offences include Wrong order for the Fatigues Parade, dirty grenade, failing to have two baths, dirty rifle, laughing on parade, late, having long hair, etc etc.

Signed Letter in secretarial hand to the Quartermaster General, Horse Guards.

Author: 
Sir William Schaw Cathcart, 10th Baron and 1st Viscount and Earl Cathcart
Publication details: 
Salton Hall January 27 1810'.
£125.00

Scottish soldier and diplomat (1755-1843). Four pages, octavo. Good, though grubby on discoloured paper, and a little frayed about the edges. Concerns 'the Subject of Issues which are made by the Barrack Department in North Britain to the Forces stationed in this Part of the United Kingdom, but which are not sanctioned by The King's Warrant'. '[...] | I conceive the Establishment of Regimental Schools to be highly conducive to the good of His Majesty's Service, and peculiarly so in the case of 2d.

Typed Letter Signed to G[eorge]. K[enneth]. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Lieutenant-Colonel John Herbert Boraston [Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig; Earl Haig]
Publication details: 
27 June 1919; on letterhead 'G[eneral]. H[ead]. Q[uarters]. The Forces in Great Britain, | Horse Guards, | London, S.W.1.'
£45.00

English soldier and military historian (1885-1969). One page, quarto. Folded twice. Good, but with minor discoloration and some ink smudging along one edge (not affecting text). Bearing the Society's stamp. Replying, as Haig's private secretary, to a letter electing Haig a fellow of the Society. 'Sir Douglas Haig has asked me to thank you very much for your letter of the 25th instant and will be glad if you will convey to the Council and members of your Society his great appreciation of the honour they have done him.

Autograph Letter Signed to Richard Byham, Secretary [of ?].

Author: 
Richard Pigot
Publication details: 
21 May 1848; Roseland Cottage near Reading.
£50.00

Presumably Richard Pigot (1774-1868) who is described in Boase, Modern English Biography, as being a colonel in the dragoon guards at the time of writing and a general from 1851. 2 pages, 8vo. In good condition, but with one margin still adhering to the remains of a stub. 'I enclose you a letter to my old friend Lord Anglesey in favour of Mr Frederick Foster [...] I shall feel obliged to you by your interesting yourself in his behalf to obtain any vacancy that may occur in the Ordnance as a Messenger.

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