A Collection of Medals formed by the Reverend Canon Nigel Nicholson, OStJ, DL 136
‘I now begin to make an intensive study of the military position of Europe. The Chief of the General Staff, Sir William Nicholson, was an old friend of mine and I had served with him as a young officer on Sir William Lockhart’s staff at the end of the Tirah Expedition in 1898. He wrote fine broad appreciations and preached a clear and stay doctrine.’
Winston Churchill
The mounted group of twelve campaign medals awarded to Field Marshal Sir William G. Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson, Royal Engineers, who served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff 1908-12, as Aide-de-Camp to H.M. the King, and was a close friend and confidante of both Lord Roberts and Winston Churchill
Jubilee 1897, silver, unnamed as issued; Coronation 1902, silver, unnamed as issued; Coronation 1911, silver, unnamed as issued; Afghanistan 1878-80, 3 clasps, Charasia, Kabul, Kandahar (Captain W. G. Nicholson. R.E.); Kabul to Kandahar Star 1880 (Captain W. G. Nicholson. R.E.); Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, dated reverse, 1 clasp, Tel-El-Kebir (Major W. G. Nicholson. R.E.); India General Service 1854-95, 1 clasp, Burma 1885-7 (Major. G. Nicholson. R.E.); India General Service 1895-1902, 2 clasps, Punjab Frontier 1897-98, Tirah 1897-98 (Colonel W. G. Nicholson. R.E.); Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 5 clasps, Cape Colony, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill (Sir W. G. Nicholson. K.C.B.); Ottoman Empire, Order of Osmanieh, Fourth Class breast badge, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, with rosette on riband; Khedive’s Star 1882, unnamed as issued; Japan, Empire, Russo-Jpanese War Medal 1904-05, bronze, with clasp, mounted court-style as worn, an official replacement group, the campaign medals all identically impressed in small caps, extremely fine (12)
£5,000-£7,000
Provenance: Sotheby’s, 1978 (when sold alongside his Orders of Knighthood and Field Marshal’s Baton) G.C.B. London Gazette 26 June 1908. K.C.B. London Gazette 20 May 1898. C.B. London Gazette 30 May 1891. Order of St. John, Knight of Grace London Gazette 6 March 1903.
William Gustavus Nicholson, 1st Baron Nicholson, was born in Roundhay Park, Leeds, on 2 March 1845, and was educated at Leeds Grammar School and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, where he was awarded the Pollock Medal. He was commissioned Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 21 March 1865, and from 1868 to 1871 was employed on coastal fortification work in Barbados. He was then posted to India, where he was employed with the Public Works Department at Hyderabad, the Punjab Irrigation Branch, and involved in barracks and waterworks construction at Rawalpindi and Peshawar.
Nicholson was promoted Captain on 16 March 1878, and served during the Second Afghan War, serving first as Field Engineer with the Kandahar Field Force from 10 October 1878 to 5 March 1879, and as Royal Engineers Commander for the Thal-Chotiali Field Force from 6 March to 30 April 1879. He subsequently served as Field Engineer, 1st Division, Kabul Field Force, from 23 September 1879 to 7 August 1880, being present at the action near Surkai Kotal on 14 October 1879, the defence of the Shutargarden in October 1879, and at the defence of Ladaband in December 1879. He then served as Field Engineer with the Kabul-Kandahar Field Force, taking part in the advanced that led to the relief of Kandahar, and was present at the Battle of Kandahar. For his services during the Second Afghan War he was three times Mentioned in Despatches.
Nicholson was appointed Secretary of the Defence Committee at Simla in 1880, and was promoted Brevet Major on 1 March 1881. The following year he served with the Indian contingent in the Egyptian Campaign; his force made a successful flanking movement at the battle of Tel-El-Kefir and opened up the way to Cairo by cutting he enemy’s railway system near Zagazig, where Nicholson himself, as part of the cavalry, captured four trains, which were later used to transport British infantry. For his services in Egypt he was awarded the Ottoman Order of Osmanieh, 4th Class, and was confirmed in the rank of Major on 21 March 1885.
Returning to India, Nicholson served as Assistant Adjutant General of the Royal Engineers in Bengal, and safe further service during the Third Anglo-Burmese War, for which he was again Mentioned in Despatches and was promoted to the Brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel on 25 November 1887.
In 1890 Nicholson was appointed Military Secretary to Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief in India, and was promoted to the substantive rank of Colonel on 1 January 1891, being appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in that year’s Birthday Honours’ List. He was later employed with the Military Works Department, India, as Chief Engineer from 1893, and was appointed Adjutant General for the Punjab, with the rank of Brigadier, in 1895.
www.dnw.co.uk all lots are illustrated on our website and are subject to buyers’ premium at 24% (+VAT where applicable)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236
