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Auction: 22001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 458

(x) South Africa 1877-79, 1 clasp, 1879 (Capt: R. C. Drury-Lowe, Lonsdales Horse.), edge bruise, good very fine

Richard Curzon Sherwin Drury-Lowe was born Richard Curzon Sherwin Holden. A fine biography is offered by Cam Simpson in Things New About Anglo-Zulu War Personalities via the Anglo-Zulu War website:

'Whilst Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Drury Curzon Drury-Lowe of the 17th (Duke of Cambridge’s Own) Lancers is a well-known figure of the Anglo-Zulu War his younger brother Captain Richard Curzon Sherwin Drury-Lowe of Lonsdale’s Horse is lesser known and whilst his participation in the war was brief, his military career remains interesting, albeit not unique for the time.

Born at Spondon, Derbyshire, England on 21 July 1849 as ‘Richard Curzon Sherwin Holden’ he was the youngest son of William Holden at which point during that year his name was changed to ‘Richard Curzon Sherwin Lowe’. He was commissioned an Ensign by purchase into the 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment on 10 November 1869 being promoted Lieutenant on 1 November 1871 to a ‘non salable commission’ and subsequently saw foreign service in Malta. On 3 September 1878, General Sir Alfred Horsford wrote a testimony for Drury-Lowe that read:

‘I have referred to the reports made upon you while in the 52nd Foot during the time that the Reg’t formed part of the Garrison under my Command at Malta, and I am happy to say that your conduct was highly satisfactory’.

On 29 October 1873 having served four years with the 52nd, he transferred as a Lieutenant to the 10th (The Prince of Wales’ Own) Hussars and saw more foreign service in Bengal, India. He retired, receiving the value of his commission, on 12 May 1875 and was by 1878 recorded to have been a Gentleman Farmer of Hill House, Sapperton in Gloucester. He was declared bankrupt in 1879 and with many former officers making their way to volunteer for service in the Anglo-Zulu War he too sailed for South Africa. Probably using his brother’s influence he obtained a commission as a Captain in Lonsdale’s Horse and served with them until the end of the War before returning to England in September 1879.

With broken finances, on 2 March 1880 he wrote from his brother Colonel D.C. Drury-Lowe’s house at Aspley Guise, Woburn, Buckinghamshire to the
Colonial Secretary in Cape Town requesting a commission in the Cape Mounted Rifles (CMR) which were being reformed and revitalized with some new blood. This new blood was in the form of such men as Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Carrington CMG, Captains A.E.B. Blaine, H.C.D. D’Arcy VC and others fresh from the Anglo-Zulu and Second Anglo-Bapedi Wars.

Unsuccessful in his application for a commission, he was not the first former Officer to serve in the ranks of the CMR so he attested on 27 July 1880 as a First Class-Private in No 3 Troop, ‘Left’ Wing (No. 855 as ‘Richard Drury Lowe’) under Captain John Palmer Cochrane and a veritable plethora of names of men that would make their mark in South Africa. He served in the Basotho Gun War of 1880-81 and was promoted to Third-Class Sergeant on 1 February 1881 and in January 1883 he received his South Africa medal for his service as a Captain in Lonsdale’s Horse and in the Zulu War. He was subsequently promoted to Second-Class Sergeant on 1 May 1881 and to First-Class Sergeant of No1 Troop, ‘Right’ Wing, on 28 November 1883. During a reorganization of the CMR he was forced to
revert to the rank of Second-Class Sergeant on 1 September 1884 and in the same year, he formally changed his name to ‘Richard Curzon Sherwin Drury-Lowe’.

With no entries in the regimental defaulters’ book and possibly being discontented with limited prospects of a commission, he purchased his discharge from the CMR for £3 on 12 February 1885. Returning to England at some point, he was married in London in 1900 and was recorded as residing in Portsmouth in 1901. He died at ‘Lonsdale’, Craneswater, Southsea, Hampshire on 28 September 1906 leaving
an estate worth £5,000.'

https://www.anglozuluwar.com/images/Things%20about%20Anglo-Zulu%20War%20Personalities.pdf

Subject to 5% tax on Hammer Price in addition to 20% VAT on Buyer’s Premium.

Sold for
£1,800

Starting price
£450