image

Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 18003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 648

Volunteer Force Long Service Medal, E.VII.R. (Lt. Col. F. J. Stohwasser. H.A.C. of London.), nearly extremely fine

Francis Joseph Stohwasser - later Stowe - was born in 1846, the son of Joseph Stohwasser, a German tailor of Austrian ancestry. His father built up a successful business in Conduit Street, London, and Francis spent his childhood living with his parents and sister, Amelia Charlotte, at 7, Marlborough Road, St. John's Wood.

Young Francis obtained an Ensigncy in the Honourable Artillery Company (H.A.C.) in November 1875 and gained steady advancement over the coming decades. He was appointed a Major in September 1890 and advanced to Lieutenant-Colonel in December 1893 and finally resigned his commission on retiring to the Veteran Company in March 1897. He was subsequently appointed President of the Veteran Club in 1913 and Voluntary Officer in Charge of Records during the Great War, as well as serving as Treasurer.

His military career aside, Francis also served as Master of the Fitzroy Lodge 569 in the early 1880s - Freemasons of the Honourable Artillery Company - and was one-time Deputy-Grand Sword Bearer. He was also appointed Junior Warden to the Worshipful Master of the Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers of London in 1897 and shared the patent for a 'Combination Wagon and Tent' filed in Washington D.C. on 5 February 1901.

Following the death of his father in 1880, Francis continued as a partner in the family tailoring business until it was finally dissolved in 1897. He died in 1921, leaving £12,468 in his Will. Interestingly, his son Francis Temple Stowe changed his surname from Stohwasser in September 1914, and it appears that Francis had begun to use Stowe before his death; sold with an attractive Life Membership Pass to 'Lt. Colonel F. J. Stowe' from the National Rifle Association, and a silver-gilt neck badge, enamelled to reverse, 'Coach & Coach Harness Makers Company, Lt. Col: Francis Joseph Stowe, Master 1900-01.'

Please see Lot 0000 for his son's awards.


Subject to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium. For more information please view Terms and Conditions for Buyers.

Sold for
£800