Pair: Captain & Quarter Master William Cox, Ordnance Store Departement

South Africa 1877-79, no clasp (Condr., Ord. Store Dept.); Ashanti Star 1896, unnamed as issued, very fine or better and a rare combination (2) £400-500

William Cox was born in Ludlow, Shropshire, on 8 May 1851. He enlisted in London in August 1870, and served abroad in South Africa, November 1876 to December 1888; Jamaica, March 1889 to August 1892; and Africa (Gold Coast), November 1895 to March 1896. He was commissioned in June 1879 and retired in April 1902 with the rank of Captain.

‘He served with distinction in the Zulu War of 1877 and 1879, and in the Ashanti Expedition of 1895-96, receiving a medal for the former, and a star for the latter from the late Queen Victoria. Among his treasured curios is the King of Ashanti’s chair or throne, made of mahogany, seated with leather, and handsomely decorated with gold; and the King’s executioner’s stool or block. The Captain had suffered from attacks of intermittent malarial fever, from which he suffered in Ashanti. For his services in the mobilisation of the troops for South Africa for the war of 1899-1901, Capt. Cox was personally thanked by the Duke of Connaught, the late Earl of Airlie, General Stockton and General Douglas.’ He died in Ash, Frimley, on 13 August 1908, after being stung by a “red headed fly” whilst fishing in the Basingstoke Canal. A carbuncle formed on his neck and blood poisoning set in causing his death. Sold with further research.