TOPIC:

Definitely a group for this thread, Rory!

Great find Rory...... Mike

Picture courtesy of City Coins

KCB military, gold;
CMG b/b gold;
Colonial Auxiliary Volunteer Forces Officers’ Decoration, Edward VII with floral pattern top bar (Major General Sir J.G. Dartnell, K.C.B., C.M.G.); Indian Mutiny 1857 (1) Central India (Lieut. J.G. Dartnell, 86th Regt.) naming impressed;
IGS 1854 (1) Bhootan (Captn. & Bt. Majr. J.G. Dartnel, A.D.C.) naming impressed upside down;
SAGS (1) 1979 (Comdt. Major J.G. Dartnell, Natal Mtd. Police) engraved in usual Natal colonial style;
CGHGSM (1) Basutoland (Commdt. J.G. Dartnell, Natal M. Pce.) usual UK engraved naming;
QSA (5) Talana, Defence of Ladysmith, Orange Free State, Transvaal and Laing’s Nek (Bgdr, Genl. Sir J.G. Dartnell, K.C.B. Natal Pol.) engraved in usual Officer’s style;
KSA (2) (Maj. Genl. Sir. J.G. Dartnell, K.C.B., C.M.G. Natl. Fcs.) engraved in usual Officer’s style;
Natal Rebellion 1906 (0) (Maj. Gen. Sir J.G. Dartnell, Natal Militia Staff) engraved in usual running script as for officers.

(KCB: LG 19 April 1901; CMG: LG 24 May 1881, CAFOD: NG 11 November 1903).

Major General Sir John George Dartnell, KCB, CMG was born in Penetanguishene, Simcoe in Ontario, Canada on 2 April 1838. His father, George Russell Dartnell, served as a Staff Surgeon in the British Army and it was while serving in Canada that Jack was born being the eldest son in a large family.

Jack Dartnell joined the 86th Regiment of Foot as an Ensign in 1855 being promoted Lieutenant the following year. He first saw action with his Regiment during the Indian Mutiny being present at the storming of Chanderi in March 1858 and the storming of Fort Jhansi on 3 April 1858 when he was wounded while climbing the ladders to scale the walls. He was reportedly the first man to ascend the ladder and was immediately set upon by the mutineers who shot and slashed him with their sabres. Although recommended for the Victoria Cross, the recommendation was not approved and he missed out on being awarded highest gallantry decoration. For his gallantry he was however promoted Company Commander and was invalided back home to Britain to recover from his wounds.

Promoted Captain the following year in 1859 he transferred to the 16th Regiment of Foot and in 1862 exchanged to serve with the 27th Regiment. He took part in the Bhutan War of 1865 serving as Aidede-camp to Major General Sir Harry Tombs and was present at the capture of Dewngiri.

Remaining in India he married Clara Alicia Steer in 1865 and with her had six children, five daughters and a son. After serving for some 15 years, he retired from the Army with the rank of Captain and his medal complement comprising an Indian Mutiny and Indian General Service medal pair.

Following his retirement in 1869 he moved to Natal with his young family intending to become a farmer. Behind every good man there is a good woman and his wife soon tired of the solitary farming life and urged him to find something else to do to earn a living.

In 1894 following the so called Langalibalele Rebellion the then Governor of Natal decided to raise a mounted police force and Jack Dartnell, although he had no experience in police maters decided to apply for a posting. He was offered and accepted the senior position and after studying the management and operation of the Frontier Armed and Mounted Police in the Cape Colony, he set about raising the Natal Mounted Police which was to become a most respected police force in Natal.

His first call to military duty was during the Anglo Zulu War when members of his Natal Police were attached to the British Army in the Central Column under Lord Chelmsford. Tragically 25 of their number were killed during the massacre at Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 – Jack Dartnell was lucky to escape having been attached to Chelmsford’s Staff and had therefore not remained in camp during that fateful day. His message sent to Chelmsford about the sighting of the main Zulu War still evokes much discussion amongst Zulu War historians. With Dartnell at the helm the Natal Mounted Police also served during the Gun War in Basutoland in 1881 and played a role during the First Anglo Boer War.

Jack Dartnell was soon placed in command of all the Volunteer Forces in Natal and was promoted Colonel in 1885.

He was a member of the Colony’s Defence Committee and when all the various police and prison service merged into a single force to becoming the Natal Police in 1894, he was appointed as the Chief Commissioner of the new force. He was appointed as a Justice of the Peace, acted on occasion as the Secretary for Native Affairs, as the Commissioner of Mines and the Inspector of Prisons. He was a very well-respected member of the Natal Establishment.

The new police force expanded significantly. Establishing 11 police districts the number of “out stations” more than doubled and in 1898 the native police in Zululand amalgamated with the Natal Police with a further 10 police stations being set up in Zululand. In all of this Jack Dartnell was at the helm.

With the commencement of hostilities during the Anglo Boer War he was placed on the Staff of Major General Sir William Penn Symon at Dundee. After the fighting at Talana the police under his command retired to Ladysmith. He played a leading role during the defence and was lucky to escape serious injury when his empty tent received a direct hit from a Boer shell destroying its contents.

When the guerrilla phase of the War began Dartnell was promoted local Brigadier-General and placed in command of the Volunteer Brigade being given the task of forcing the Boer invaders out of Natal. He served under General Buller in 1900 and commanded the Imperial Light Horse Brigade in the Orange River Colony in 1901.

In his official despatches of April 1901 Lord Roberts recorded the following of Dartnell: “Col. Dartnell, as G.O.C. Natal Colonists, has maintained the best traditions of the regular forces. His name stands very high in the estimation of the colonists, and he possesses the greatest influence over the natives. His advice was of much assistance in the earliest actions of the war, afterwards during the siege of Ladysmith, and finally in the general advance through the Biggarsberg to Laing’s Nek, when Natal was cleared of the enemies of the Queen.”

In recognition of his service during the Anglo Boer War, he was appointed as a Knight of the Order of the Bath.

After 30 years of service to the Colony of Natal honorary Major General John Dartnell retired from the Natal Police and with his wife moved to Rochester in Kent where he had first lived as a young boy. He later moved to Folkstone in the Shepway District where he died on 7 August 1913 aged 76 years.

Sir John’s medals and miniatures where previously sold at Glendinings in July 1983. His miniatures were subsequently sold by DNW / Noonans in June 2005.

The archive include with this lot includes the following:

1. An album containing approximately 40 newspaper obituaries. (some duplicated).
2. A copy of the book “Wreck of the Transport Premier”, published by Jeremiah How, 1895 which includes 6 full page engravings of sketches by his father George R. Dartnell.
3. A fine monogrammed album with leather covers and faced with silk leaves containing two illuminated testimonials attesting to the services he rendered to the Colony of Natal. The first from the Legislative Assembly of Natal dated 2 April 1902 and signed by the Speaker Liege Hulett. The second testimonial from the Office of the Prime Minister’s Office Pietermaritzburg, dated 14 May 1902 and signed by the Prime Minister of Natal, Sir Albert Henry Hime.
4. A typescript of “Short Stories” (These not being of a police or military nature) written by Major General Sir John Dartnell.

Thanks David for this illustrious career detail.
Pity all this is not still in his family archives.
It will be very interesting to see what this lot fetches
Clive

Here is a group that I wish I had the complete set........

Col. Charles Henry Ludovic Sharman

BIRTH 29 Sep 1881, Chelmsford, Chelmsford Borough, Essex, England
DEATH 15 May 1970 (aged 88)
BURIAL Beechwood Cemetery Ottawa,
Ottawa Municipality, Ontario, Canada

Charles Henry Ludovic Sharman CMG CBE ISO (1881 – May 15, 1970) was an English-born Canadian civil servant. He served as Chief of the Narcotics Division in the Department of Pensions and National Health. Along with American Harry J. Anslinger, Sharman played a key role in the development of the global drug control regime. Sharman was the first Chair of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

Service with and known Orders and Medals:

Commander St. Michael and St. George (Yes)
Commander Order Of British Empire
Imperial Service Order (Yes)

North-West Mounted Police. (Yukon Field Force, No Medal)
South African War: Canadian Mounted Rifles, (QSA - Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal 1901 1902)
Canadian Scouts (Discharged Medical Reasons) It is possible that QSA may be for Can Scouts service.
Canadian Expeditionary Force. (W.W.1 Pair)

In 1927, he was named Chief of the Narcotics Division (part of the Department of Pensions and National Health).

M.

That would be quite a group, Mike. Which parts do you have so far?