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Lot# 4328 - Auction 234-243

  • Lot# : 4328 Griqualand

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    Warren Expedition to Bechuanaland 1885: Soldier's Letter endorsed at top "From Trooper Learmonth, 1st Mounted Rifles" and counter-signed at lower left by Officer Commanding, franked at concessionary rate by Cape of Good Hope 1 d. carmine-red tied by 'BARKLY / G. W.' cds (Jan 31) in black. The cover, addressed to Capt. Sinclair of the 5th Lancers in Dublin, was readdressed with backstamps of Kimberley (Jan 31), Cape Town (Feb 3), 'H & K Packet' (Feb 26), Dundalk (Feb 26 and March 2) and Jedburgh (March 3) upon eventual arrival. Mail was despatched weekly from the Expedition from the Headquarters in Barkly. Extremely rare.rnrnNote: In 1879 Charles Warren was Chief Administrator of Griqualand West. On his return to England he was asked by the Admiralty in 1882 to lead a search party to Sinai to discover what had happened to Professor Edward Henry Palmer's archaeological expedition. He discovered that the expedition members had been robbed and murdered, located their remains, and brought their killers to justice for which he knighted upon his return. Due to his Griqualand service he was asked to lead the 1884 'Warren' Expedition into Bechuanaland to assert British sovereignty in the face of encroachments from Germany and the Transvaal, and to suppress the Boer states of Stellaland and Goshen, which were backed by the Transvaal and were stealing land and cattle from the local Tswana tribes.The force of 4,000 British and local troops headed north from Cape Town, accompanied by the first three observation balloons ever used by the British Army in the field. The expedition achieved its aims without bloodshed, and Warren was recalled in September 1885 and was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) on 4 October 1885.
    Starting bid : 750 CHF
    Hammer price : 1,300 CHF