Medals from the Collection of Paul and Margaret Faber

Paul and Margaret Faber

Paul Faber was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1943 (his mother having been evacuated there from Birmingham), and lived in Birmingham his entire life. Educated at King Edward’s School, Birmingham, he was for many years a member of the Old Edwardians rugby club. Margaret was born in Coventry in 1945 and studied metallurgy at Lanchester College of Technology, and in later life studied for a degree in Environmental Science with the Open University. She moved to Birmingham when her father got a job teaching at King Edward’s School, and it was there that they met through the Old Edwardians rugby club.

Paul had a lifelong interest in anything historical, but his true interest lay in military history. Having aspired to join the Regular Army, he was thwarted by poor eyesight, and instead had to settle for roles in both the Territorial and Cadet Forces, from where he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, ultimately being promoted to Captain. Margaret embraced this passion for military history (possibly even willingly), leading to it being a long-term family interest. Paul’s collecting passion was ignited in the mid 1970’s when moving into a new house gave him the opportunity to ‘hang’ a sword on a beam. To finance the hobby, both Paul and Margaret jointly started to trade in antiques and militaria, and were both well known on the Medal and Militaria Fair circuit, and throughout the wider medal collecting world, from the 1980s to the 2000s.

Paul and Margaret’s collecting interests were varied, from presentation swords to medals associated with famous actions, and towards the end they focussed on anything with an interesting story. Many people remember Pual before his illness as happy to talk with anyone about medals, militaria and military history in general, and his love of the subject was infectious. Paul was an active member of the Birmingham Medal Society, and served as a committee member for many years, as well as being President of the society from 1989 to 1993. Paul passed away in 2015 after a long illness, and Margaret passed away in 2024 after a short illness.