Pair: Lieutenant-Colonel A. G. Spratt, Devonshire Regiment

India General Service 1895-1902, 2 clasps, Punjab Frontier 1897-98, Tirah 1897-98 (Major A. G. Spratt 1st Bn. Devon Regt.); Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Cape Colony, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (Major A. G. Spratt, Devon Rgt:) toned, generally good very fine (2) £500-£600

Arthur Graves Spratt was born in Malta in May 1854, the third son of Vice-Admiral Thomas Abel Brimmage Spratt, C.B., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.R.G.S. (1811-88) and grandson of Commander James Spratt, R.N. (1771-1853), who distinguished himself, when a Master’s Mate in H.M.S. Defiance at the Battle of Trafalgar, in boarding the French ship L’Aigle.

Spratt was commissioned Sub-Lieutenant in 1st West India Regiment in May 1874 and advanced to Lieutenant two years later. Between 1880 and 1882 he was Fort Adjutant at Cape Coast Castle on the Gold Coast; he was promoted Captain in March 1882.

In May 1883, Spratt exchanged to 1st Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment, then stationed in Dublin. He was promoted Major in November 1892, by which time the Battalion had moved to Alexandria, in Egypt, but had been warned for posting to India in 1893. The Battalion served on the North-West Frontier 1897-98 as part of the Tirah Field Force and Spratt subsequently received the India Medal 1895-1902, with clasps ‘Punjab Frontier 1897-98’ and ‘Tirah 1897-98’, having been present at the capture of the Sampagha and Arhangha passes.

Spratt next served as Second-in-Command of the 2nd Battalion during the Second Boer War, subsequently receiving the Queen’s South Africa Medal 1899-1902 with four clasps. He retired in May 1902, and resided in Brampford Speke, Devon.

On the outbreak of the Great War, Spratt briefly commanded the 3rd/4th (subsequently the 4th Reserve) Battalion of his regiment but was retired with the honorary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in March 1916; he does not appear to have qualified for, or claimed, any First World War campaign medals. He died, unmarried, in Brampford Speke in March 1939 and was buried in the parish churchyard.