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Auction: 23001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 310

An outstanding R.V.M. group of eleven miniature dress medals worn by Mr W. J. Blane, Principle Gentleman Porter to King Edward VII, Royal Household

Royal Victorian Medal, E.VII.R., silver; Victoria Faithful Service Medal, attractively engraved clasp, '10 Years', silver; Jubilee 1887, clasp, 1897, silver; Coronation 1902, bronze issue; Germany, Prussia, Medal of the Order of the Red Eagle, silver; Norway, Kingdom, King Haakon VII Commemoration Medal, silver-gilt; Spain, Kingdom, Order of Naval Merit, silver; Italy, Kingdom, Royal Service Medal, silver-gilt; Portugal, Kingdom, Coronation 1889, silver; Sweden, Kingdom, Royal Household Medal, with crown suspension, silver-gilt; Germany, Württemberg, Silver Medal of Merit, 1892, mounted court-style as worn, in their Spink & Son leather case, overall good very fine and likely a unique combination in miniature (11)

Provenance:

Wooley and Wallis, November 1985.
DNW, November 2005.

William Jonathan Blane was born in 1836 and joined the Royal Household as a Footman in 1861. Appointed 3rd Clerk of the Kitchen in 1883 he was promoted 2nd Clerk in 1890 and awarded his Faithful Service Medal the same year. With the death of Queen Victoria, Blane was kept on and appointed Principal Gentleman Porter to Edward VII in 1902. In this role he received a number of honours - notably in January 1904 the Italian Royal Service Medal, in February 1904 the Wurttemberg Silver Medal of Merit and later in August 1906 the Spanish Order of Naval Merit.

Blane retired in 1910 and lived with his family at 1 Balmoral Villas, New Road, Windsor. On the outbreak of the Great War three of his sons enlisted - with one, Trooper Alfred Blane, dying of wounds sustained at Hill 70, Gallipoli, while serving with the Berkshire Yeomanry. The other two children served with Territorial Battalions of the Berkshire Regiment. Blane senior died in late-1915 and is buried at Windsor Cemetery; sold together with a typed biographical note and copied research including extracts from the Windsor Slough and Eton Express and Royal Service as well as a photograph of the recipient, besides a copy of a Warrant of Entry to the Royal Household, 8 March 1866, and bestowal documents from Württemberg, Spain and Italy.

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Estimate
£1,400 to £1,800

Starting price
£1200