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Picture courtesy of Noonan's

QSA (3) Natal, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, unofficial rivets between state and date clasps (2451 Gnr: J. Burns, Durham R.G.A.)

John Burns was born in Jarrow in 1870 and attested at Hartlepool on 3 May 1894 for the Durham (Militia) Royal Garrison Artillery. Embarked for service in South Africa 24 March 1900, he is recorded as slightly wounded on 26 September 1901 at Fort Prospect; strongly attacked in the early hours by a force of 400 burghers commanded by Major-General J. J. C. Emmett, the small complement of 50 men of the Durham Militia Artillery - bolstered by 35 men of the Mounted Infantry and a small party of Zululand Police - successfully held out against a superior Boer force. The stoic defence was later recognised with the award of the DSO to Captain Rowley and DCM to Company Sergeant Major Young.

Picture courtesy of Spink

CMG n/b;
SDO GV;
Ashanti 1900 (0) (Lieut: C. F. G. Page. R.A.);
QSA (5) Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (Lieut: C. F. G. Page, R.G.A.);
1914-15 Star (Cap. C. F. G. Page. R.G.A.);
British War and Victory Medals with MID (Lt. Col. C. F. G. Page.)
Italy, Al Valore Militare, silver issue;
Italy, Kingdom, War Merit Cross, bronze issue

CMG London Gazette 3 June 1919.

DSO London Gazette 3 June 1916.

Al Valore London Gazette 25 March 1918.

War Merit Cross London Gazette 21 August 1919.

Cuthbert Frederick Graham Page was born on 21 January 1880, Newcastle, son of Margret and Professor Frederick Page. Attending Clifton College he matriculated to Pembroke College, Cambridge, and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in 4th (Cambridge University) Volunteer Battalion, Suffolk Regiment on 24 January 1900. Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 17 February 1900 with Royal Garrison Artillery he was one of four Royal Artillery officer to be seconded as a Special Service Officer to the Ashanti Expedition in 1900.

Upon the end of the expedition, he joined the 97th Company, Royal Garrison Artillery for service in the Anglo Boer War. Promoted Lieutenant on 3 April 1901 while still serving in that role, Page remained in the theatre until the end of the war. After the end of hostilities, he was appointed as ADC to the Governor of St. Helena, taking up the post in in 1903. Despite this he did return to South Africa to marry in 1904.

Returning to Britain after the appointment he was seconded to the Volunteers as Adjutant of the 1st Fifeshire Royal Garrison Artillery on 23 January 1907. With the creation of the Territorial Force Page was transferred to the Adjutancy of the North Scottish Royal Garrison Artillery, still on secondment, from 1 April 1908. Promoted Captain on 15 March 1911 he attended Gunnery Staff Course on 27 September 1913, a course which was to stand him in good stead during the war.

On the outbreak of war Page returned to active service and entered the war in France on 17 July 1915. He served there for a year, being awarded the DSO for his efforts and earning a ‘mention’ to go with it (London Gazette 15 June 1916). Soon after returning to Britian, he was appointed 3rd Assistant Superintendent with the Experimental Staff on 11 March 1916. Here his staff training came into good effect however he was still eager for active service.

Gaining an appointment to the 94th Brigade, Royal Garrison Artillery he landed in Italy in March 1917. Appointed Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel on 2 January 1918 he was given command of a battery in Italy and was awarded the Italian Al Valore Medal in early 1918.

Unfortunately, Page was seriously injured in the final days of the war, returning to Britian he died on 6 December 1919. Buried at Heene Cemetery he was twice further ‘mentioned’ for his services (London Gazette 6 January 1919 and 5 June 1919) and received the Italian Bronze Cross later in the year, he was further appointed a Companion of the Order of St. Micheal and St. George in 1920.

Picture courtesy of Spink

Ashantee 1873 (Lieut: W. G. Lowther. 17th Bde. R. A. 1873-74).

AGS 1902 (1) N. Nigeria 1903 (Lieut: E. St. G. Lowther. 2nd N.N. Regt.);
QSA (3) Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (Lieut: E. St. G. Lowther, R.F.A.)

1914 Star with clasp (2. Lieut: T. B. Lowther. Lan: Fus.);
British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. T. B. Lowther.)

William Gorges Lowther was born at Shrigley Hall, Shrigley Park, Cheshire on 11 February1850, the son of the Reverand Brabazon and Ellen Lowther. Educated at Cheltenham College where he rowed with the College Boat he later joined the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich on 2 February 1869. Commissioned Lieutenant on 4 January 1871 with the Royal Field Artillery. Posted first to the Gold Coast in 1873 he was well placed for service the Second Ashanti War. Here he was one of 53 men of the 17th Brigade and one of only three officers with the unit although some others served attached to different formations. Lowther was later to see further service in India.

Promoted Captain on 9 February 1881 and later Advanced Major on 29 October 1886, his final promotion came with a secondment to the Admiralty where he was engaged as a gunnery instructor. Further promoted Lieutenant-Colonel upon his return on 11 November 1893 and retired the following year, being appointed commander of the Devon Artillery Militia while retired on 8 May 1894. Not long after his retirement tragedy struck when his eldest son, Sub-Lieutenant William Ernest Lowther drowned while serving with H.M.S. Alarm. The elder Lowther retired to the family home of Shrigley Park and died on 25 April 1928. He was survived by his elder brother, the diplomat Sir Henry Lowther, G.C.V.O., K.C.M.G., a recipient of the Order of the Dannebrog; sold together with copied Burke's Landed Gentry entry and handwritten notes.


Edward St. George Lowther was born at Limerick, Ireland, the son of William Gorges Lowther of Shrigley Park. Joining the Devon Artillery Militia as 2nd Lieutenant on 1 February 1898 he transferred to the Royal Artillery on 22 December of that year. Promoted Lieutenant with the Royal Artillery on 16 February 1899 it was in this rank that he entered the Anglo Boer War.

Noted as severely wounded he was also 'mentioned' in Lord Roberts' dispatch of 1901 (London Gazette 4 September 1901). With the end of the war Lowther was posted to the North Nigeria Regiment for service in the expedition of 1903. This endeavour saw British troops fighting between Sokoto and Birmi through the Spring and Summer of 1903.

Lowther was promoted Captain on 21 September 1906 and served with the Egyptian Army. He died in Marseilles as a result of the wounds he had sustained in South Africa; sold together with copied newspaper entry and extract from the South African War 1899-2902 as well as handwritten notes.


Thomas Beresford Lowther was born at Southend-on-Sea on 9 April 1890, the son of William Gorges Lowther. Educated at Cheltenham College between May 1904-July 1908, he was later commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 4 February 1904 with the 4th (Militia) Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers. Appointed to a permanent commission with the same unit on 14 August 1914 he entered the war in France on 8 December 1914, attached to the Northumberland Fusiliers.

Invalided home later in the month he was promoted Lieutenant on 17 February 1915 and re-joined the Lancashire Fusiliers. Posted for service with the 1st Battalion at Gallipoli in April 1915 Lowther was part of an attack at Achi Baba on 4 June 1915. He was killed during the fighting. A confusion by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission led to him being commemorated upon the Menin Gate Memorial however this has since been amended and he is commemorated upon the Helles Memorial.

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MBE 1st type, Military, HM 1919;
QSA (4) Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill (78790 Sjt. H. C. Crowden. R.H.A.) this a somewhat later issue;
British War Medal 1914-20 (Q.M. & Lieut. H. C. Crowden.);
Victory Medal 1914-19, naming erased;
Delhi Durbar 1911, silver (78790 B.Q.M. Sjt. H. C. Crowden. R.H.A.) later impressed naming;
Army LS&GC Ed VII (78790 B.Q.M. Sjt. H. C. Crowden. R.H.A.) this a somewhat later issue

Together with the trio to Gunner R. Crowden, Royal Artillery
Defence and War Medals 1939-45;
Efficiency Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue, Territorial (2088682 Gnr. R. Crowden. R.A.)

Noonans, May 2022 (QSA only).

MBE London Gazette 12 December 1919.

Henry Clarence Crowden was born in Newtown, Montgomeryshire, on 12 April 1872 and attested for the Royal Horse Artillery on 3 April 1890. He served with ‘C’ Battery in India from 12 November 1892 to 1 January 1899, and was promoted Corporal on 8 February 1894. Transferring to the Army Reserve on 29 January 1899, he was recalled for War service on 9 October 1899, and served with ‘O’ Battery in South Africa during the Boer War from 27 October 1899 to 18 August 1900, being severely wounded at Diamond Hill on 11 June 1900.

Crowden saw further service in India from 20 October 1901 to 9 July 1904, and again from 21 September 1906 to 19 March 1913, and was promoted Sergeant on 30 October 1901, and Battery Quartermaster Sergeant on 13 November 1906. He is confirmed on the roll for ‘N’ Battery for the Delhi Durbar Medal, and was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, together with a gratuity of £5, on 1 January 1909. Appointed to the Permanent Staff of the Somerset Royal Horse Artillery (Territorial Force) as Acting Sergeant Major on 20 March 1913, he was discharged to pension, no longer physically fit, on 4 August 1914.

Commissioned Quartermaster (Lieutenant) in the 1st (Service) Battalion, British West Indies Regiment on 10 December 1915, Crowden served with them during the Great War in Egypt from 7 January 1916, before being invalided back to England with hepatitis in August 1916. He joined the 2nd Garrison Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment, on 9 November 1916, before transferring as Quartermaster to the 1st Garrison Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was promoted Honorary Captain on 10 December 1918, and for his services during the Great War was created a Member of the Order of the British Empire. He relinquished his commission on 1 September 1921, and died at Blaby on 31 December 1933.

Note: The Queen’s South Africa Medal, Delhi Durbar Medal, and Long Service and Good Conduct Medal Roll were all re-issued on 1 May 1923, the recipient presumably having lost his originals.

Picture courtesy of Noonan's

IGS 1895 (1) Punjab Frontier 1897-98 (80120 Gunr. E. Ede. K. By. R.H.A.);
QSA (5) Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill (80120 Gnr: E. Ede. O Bty., R.H.A.);

Together with the recipient’s Army Temperance Association India 5 Year Meal, silver and enamel, the reverse scratched ‘Gunner E. Ede India 1892’, with 6 Year ‘Watch and be Sober’ top riband bar.

Edwin Ede was born in Sydenham, Kent, in 1871 and attested for the Royal Horse Artillery at London on 28 July 1890. He served in India from 24 September 1892 to 28 March 1898, and saw active service on the Punjab Frontier with ‘K’ Battery. Transferring to the Reserve on 31 March 1898, he was recalled for War service on 9 October 1899 and served with ‘O’ Battery in South Africa during the Boer War from 27 October 1899 to 16 August 1900, being wounded at Kameelfontein on 11 June 1900. He reverted to the Reserve again on 1 April 1902, and was discharged on 27 July 1902, after 12 years’ service.

Picture courtesy of Noonan's

East and West Africa 1887 (1) 1897-98 (74077 Sgt. M. J. Burke Y Bty: R.H.A.);
QSA (3) Driefontein, Paardeberg, Relief of Kimberley (74077 Sgt. M. J. Burke, P Bty., R.H.A.);
[ AGS 1902 (1) N. Nigeria 1902 ];
[ Army LS&GC Ed VII ]

Michael Joseph Burke was born in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, in 1873 and attested there as a Boy Soldier for the Royal Field Artillery on 3 February 1889, having previously served as a Trumpeter in the 5th Battalion, South Irish Division, Royal Artillery. Advanced Sergeant on 31 May 1897, he served with ‘Y’ Battery on the African Gold Coast from 9 October 1897 to 26 March 1899, and took part in the expedition under Sir H. P. Northcote in the Northern Territorities. He subsequently served with ‘P’ Battery in South Africa during the Boer War from 28 October 1899 to 13 August 1900, before returning home, and suffered a wound of the scalp whilst on duty on 13 August 1901.

Burke saw further service in West Africa attached to No. 2 Battery, Northern Nigeria Force from 16 November 1901 to 1 February 1903, and was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal per Army Order 75 of 1904. Promoted Battery Sergeant Major on 12 January 1904, he was posted to India on 6 December of that year, and died of heat stroke at Rawalpindi on 2 July 1905, being commemorated on the memorial there.