The important group awarded to His Excellency Sir Henry Bale, K.C.M.G., K.C., Chief Justice and Administrator of Natal

The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, K.C.M.G., Knight Commander’s set of insignia, comprising neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels, and breast star, silver, silver-gilt and enamels, complete with neck cravat and fittings and contained in its R. & S. Garrard & Co. case of issue, the case a little damaged; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (His Excellency Sir H. Bale, Administrator of Natal); Union of South Africa Medal 1910, unnamed as issued, extremely fine (4) £1200-1500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Awards to Civilians from the Collection of John Tamplin.

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Henry Bale was born at Pietermaritzburg, Natal, on 12 January 1854, the only son of William E. Bale, J.P., who had emigrated to Natal from England in the late 1840’s, and was later Mayor of Pietermaritzburg. Henry Bale was educated at the High School in Pietermaritzburg, and at Exeter Grammar School in England. He was admitted an Attorney of the Supreme Court of Natal in 1875, and became an Advocate in 1878. When the Zulu War Relief Fund was formed in 1879, he became a Member of its Committee and one of its most active workers. From January 1886 until the introduction of a responsible government in 1893, he was a Member of the Council of Education, and in November 1890 he was given a seat in the nominated Legislative Council.

Bale took a prominent part in the agitation for responsible government, and when full autonomy was granted to the Colony in 1893, the citizens of Pietermaritzburg elected him as their Member in the first Legislative Assembly. He was twice offered the premiership of the Natal Parliament but delined on each occasion. In October 1897 he accepted the position of Attorney-General and Minister of Education, which he held until the General Election of 1901. In June 1901, Bale was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Natal and Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court, becoming the first Natal-born man to accept the highest judicial post in the Colony, which he held until his death in 1910.

During the Boer War he was Chairman of the Natal Volunteer and War Relief Committee from 1899 to 1902; and Chairman during the same period of the Pietermaritzburg Association for Aid to Sick and Wounded. As Chief Justice, Bale had the unique honour, as a Natal-born colonist, of acting as Administrator of the Natal government on several occasions, for example, in 1903 and 1904, when he went on extensive tours to establish personal contact between the people of Natal and the government. Bale was also, in April 1904, the first colonial-born man to open the Natal Parliament.

Bale was appointed the Representative Member of Natal on the Council of the University of the Cape of Good Hope in June 1902. He was a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute, and in 1910 he again accepted office as President of the Pietermaritzburg Y.M.C.A. He became a Q.C. in 1897, and later on the accession of King Edward VII a K.C.

On 16 August 1901, Bale was appointed a K.C.M.G., on the occasion of the visit of Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York to Natal, and also in recognition of the services he rendered to the Imperial Government as Procurator-General during the Boer war. On the occasion of the Union of South Africa in 1910, Sir Henry Bale was awarded the Commemoration Medal that was specially struck and issued. However, he was by now not a well man and a visit to England in August of that year was thought might be beneficial to his health. He returned to Natal later in the year but the visit to England had not resulted in the improvement that had been hoped for, and, on 1 December 1910, Sir Henry Bale died.