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Auction: 26003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 304

The mounted M.V.O., O.B.E., K.P.M. group of five awarded to the "Little Man", Captain L. Lindsay, Chief Constable of Glamorgan, community pillar and a vital hand in the Welsh Great War effort

The Royal Victorian Order, M.V.O., Member's 4th Class breast Badge, '831' engraved to reverse; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Officer's (O.B.E.) breast Badge, hallmarks and maker's cartouche to reverse; King's Police Medal (Capt. Lionel Arthur Lindsay. Ch. Const., Glam.); Coronation 1911, County & Borough Police issue (Capt. Lionel Arthur Lindsay, Ch. Const., Glam.), the last four mounted as worn; The Most Venerable Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Officer's breast Badge, silver and enamel, sold together with Glamorgan County Police Christmas card with a printed photograph of King Edward VIII and Captain Lindsay on verso, polished, very fine (5)

M.V.O. London Gazette 5 July 1912.

O.B.E. London Gazette 30 March 1920.

K.P.M. London Gazette 2 January 1912.

O. St. J. London Gazette 3 January 1933.

Lionel Arthur Lindsay was born at Brecon on 27 March 1861 and was the third child of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Gore Lindsay and the Honourable Ellen Sarash Lindsay, whose brother was Captain Godfrey Charles Morgan, 17th Lancers, who rode at Balaclava in the 'Charge of the Light Brigade'. Thus military service was in his blood and after an education at Royal Academy, Gosport, and a stint in Germany, Lindsay enlisted into the Royal Glamorgan Milita, and later the Welsh Regiment. After his brief stint of military service, he resigned his commission to enlist into the Egyptian Police Force, marking the beginning a type of civil service which came to define his life. Out here he achieved the rank of Adjutant-Major and Inspector of Gendarmerie.

After five years out in Egypt, he resigned his commission at the rank of Captain and returned home, taking up the appointment of Superintendent of the Merthyr Division of the Glamorganshire Constabulary. Like father like son, on 7 February 1891, Captain Lindsay succeeded his father and was himself promoted Chief Constable of the Glamorganshire Constabulary, a rank he held for the proceeding 45 years. Like his father before him, he had a reputation for discipline, intelligence and above all, justice.

In this role Lindsay oversaw the largest police force in Wales and was responsible for 700 officers. He was in charge of maintaining peace in the coalmines, notorious historically for their strained relationship with the police, and yet, Lindsay was able to help turn this around. He was awarded the King's Police Medal in 1912 for distinguished service during the coal strike and later that same year was awarded the M.V.O., likely linked to King George V's Royal Visit to Wales following his coronation.

Given his military heritage and his own military service, it is not surprising that Lindsay was staunchly against the pacifist movements during the Great War. He personally tried to prosecute a number of high profile pacifists but for the last couple years of the war he again became concerned with mining-related social disturbances. Due to his high-profile status within Glamorganshire, Lindsay played an important part of recruiting for the Welsh Guards, for which he released many of his own men from police service.

For his services to the community and the war effort, Lindsay was awarded the O.B.E. in 1920 and later in 1933, the St. John Officer's breast badge. He lived an active lifestyle and was a keen sportsman; he retired at the age of 75 years, the oldest Chief Constable in the country. He died on the 15 April 1945 in Llandaff and his obituary in the Western Mail, 19 April 1945 refers:

'The death of Captain Lionel Lindsay after a lifetime of public service has brought to mind the work of a devoted and loyal public servant. The "Little Man" as he was affectionately known to all police officers in South Wales and to many in the Metropolitan Police, had worked hard with his men all through the changing scene of passing years. He was always interested in their welfare.

As Chief Constable he won the friendship and esteem of his men by his fair and sympathetic attitude. He refused utterly to lower the high standards which he had set himself, whatever it might cost him and never failed in the essential qualities of courtesy and close attention which rendered him quite incapable of pomposity or patronage. His impatience of all shams, his passionate love of justice, and the fact that there was not room in his mind for a mean thought, made him a man who shared the troubles of his subordinates in times of trouble.' Sold together with substantial copied research.

For further information on the life and times of Captain Lindsay, please read Ian Hall's "The Little Man", which was published in the May 2000 edition of the O.M.R.S. Journal. It proved a very enlightening and insightful read and immensely helpful for the cataloguing of this group.

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Estimate
£400 to £600

Starting price
£320