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Auction: 17003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 481

'They were only after a pigeon'.

Bucks Herald 13 January 1906, refers.

The Queen's South Africa Medal awarded to Private F. Parslow, Oxfordshire Light Infantry, a man of Edwardian intrigue, who having returned from active service at the Cape appears to have been charged for the brutal murder of a Railway Detective in 1901; he was later convicted of poaching game from the Earl of Buckinghamshire in 1906

Queen's South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State (1454. Pte. F. Parslow, 1/Oxfd. L.I.), toned, good very fine

Frederick Parslow was born in 1871 at Lacey Green, Buckinghamshire. He enlisted in the Oxfordshire Light Infantry in February 1889, at which point he was illiterate, simply signing his Militia Attestation papers with 'his mark'. Having served with the Regiment in South Africa from 5 February-30 August 1900 it would appear his character descended. A man of his name was charged together with two others for the shocking murder of Railway Detective Thomas Hibbs on the Birmingham Canal. Having chased and drawn his truncheon upon the three men he suspected of stealing coal on 10 August 1901, the trio turned upon him and beat him with his own truncheon before tossing him into the canal to drown (Faringdon Advertiser and Vale of the White Horse Gazette, 31 August 1901 refers). At the trial, a mixture of indirect evidence and contradictory statements left the case unsolved, with all three being cleared.

Parslow continued his foray into criminality and was sentenced for his part in night poaching in Monckton Wood, upon the estates of the Earl of Buckinghamshire on 4 December 1905 (Bucks Herald, 13 January 1906 refers). Parslow was seen firing three shots by a gamekeeper, the prize of a pigeon being picked up by his brother, after which the pair were apprehended. He received a sentence of fourteen days, or settling £1 together with fees; sold together with copied Militia Attestation papers and research.

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Sold for
£140