The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria

Four: Lieutenant-General Henry Kent, 77th Foot, who served as Colonel of the Middlesex Regiment 1900-20

Crimea 1854-56, 3 clasps, Alma, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Capt. H. Kent, 77th Foot) officially impressed naming; Order of the Medjidie, 5th Class breast badge, silver, gold and enamels; Turkish Crimea 1855, Sardinian issue, unnamed, fitted with Crimean suspension, these three mounted as worn; Turkey, Order of the Medjidie, 1st Class set of insignia, silver, gold and enamels, complete with full sash ribbon, the Crimean medals with contact pitting, good fine, some enamel chips to the Medjidie insignia, otherwise very fine (5) £3,000-£4,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Jack Webb Collection of Medals and Militaria.

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Order of the Medjidie, 5th Class, London Gazette 2 March 1858.

Order of the Medjidie, 1st Class, permission to wear granted 25 August 1894: ‘His Imperial Majesty the Sultan of Turkey has been pleased to confer on you the Imperial Order of the Medjidieh of the First Class as a promotion in that Order, in recognition of your services whilst actually and entirely employed beyond the Dominions in the service of His Imperial Majesty [1886-90].’

Henry Kent was born in 1825 and was appointed Ensign in the 77th Foot on 8 August 1845, his subsequent steps in rank being shown in the list of commissions below. He served in the Crimean Campaign of 1854-55, including the affair at M’Kenzie’s farm, battles of Alma, Inkermann, and siege of Sebastopol (Medal with 3 clasps; 5th Class of Medjidie; and Turkish Medal). He was Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding the 77th Foot from 13 June 1868 to 21 June 1880; Honorary Colonel of the 6th (Militia) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, 1880-1900; and Colonel of the Middlesex Regiment from 1900 until his death on 24 February 1921.

His full dress coatee (1845-55) is in the collection of the National Army Museum.

Sold with original commissions as Lieutenant in 77th Foot, 23 August 1850; Captain in the 77th Foot, 27 October 1854; Major in the 77th Foot, 24 August 1858; Lieutenant-Colonel in the 77th Foot, 12 June 1868; Colonel in the Land Forces, 13 June 1873; Original edition of the London Gazette, dated 2 March 1858, announcing the awards of the Medjidie for services in the Crimean War; together with original Turkish award certificate for Medjidie, 1st Class, and various letters from Horse Guards, the Foreign Office, and the Turkish Embassy, concerning the award of, and permission to wear, the insignia of the 1st Class of the Medjidie; and Licence to accept and wear said insignia, dated 25 August 1894.