Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare 'Martiniere' group of three to Volunteer John W. Smith, a pupil at the Martiniere College throughout the Defence of Lucknow, and one of only three boys to be wounded
Indian Mutiny 1857-59, 1 clasp, Defence of Lucknow (J. Smith); Delhi Durbar 1911 (J. W. Smith, Mutiny Veteran) naming officially engraved in running script; Volunteer Force Long Service (India & Colonies), E.VII.R. (Voltr. J. W. Smith, N.W. Rly. Voltr. Rifles) edge knock to the last, light contact marks overall, otherwise good very fine (3) £3000-4000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Richard Magor Collection of Medals Relating to India and Africa, and other Fine Awards.

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La Martiniere was once the residence of the French General Claude Martin and established as a college for European and Eurasian boys in his memory. During the siege the elder boys, though not officially combatant, were armed with muskets and helped their masters in the defence of their quarters. The younger boys helped with some of the domestic work when servants deserted, or carried messages and ammunition to the posts. L.E.R. Rees, in his diary of the siege comments on the health of the boys and his disapproval of the tasks given to them:

‘The poor Martiniere pupils, who go about the garrison more filthy than others, and apparently more neglected and hungry even than we are, are made use of to drive away these insects (flies) from the sick in hospital, and others. That they, too, should contribute their share of usefulness is but just and fair; but that they should be placed in menial attendance upon the healthy great in the garrison is, in my opinion, far from right. But I shall say nothing more on this subject, lest I assume a tone of censure.'

John Smith was one of the three boys who helped to tend Sir Henry Lawrence as he lingered after receiving his mortal wound on the 2nd July. Smith himself was wounded in the left thigh on the 26th July whilst running a note from Miss Schilling to her brother. He was hit by one of the enemy’s marksmen, known to the boys by the sobriquet of “Jim the Rifle,” located in Johannes House, and was nursed to recovery by the teachers. Three of the boys were wounded during the siege and another two succumbed to disease (ref. The Tourists Guide to Lucknow by E. H. Hilton, Student at La Martiniere, published in Lucknow 1911, and A Lady’s Diary of the Siege of Lucknow). John W. Smith is confirmed on the roll of the 1911 Delhi Durbar medal as one of the Mutiny Veterans of Lucknow (ref. The Historical Record of the Imperial Visit to India 1911)