Military General Service 1793-1814, 3 clasps, Fort Detroit, Chateauguay, Chrystler’s Farm (J. B. Lapierre, Canadn. Militia.) fitted with silver ribbon buckle, minor contact marks, otherwise nearly extremely fine £8000-12000

Provenance: Colonel Walker Powell, Adjutant General Canada (pre 1867); Colonel A. de Salaberry (1867); Lieutenant-Colonel Charles de Salaberry (1868); the medal passed from the Honourable George Baby to the English collector Thomas Gibson (1885); Sotheby (1891 - Collection of James Oliver of New York, Founder of the American Archaeological Society; bought by Spink, £65); Whitaker Collection (Catalogue Part II, 1897), after many years in the Royal United Services Institute, Whitehall, the Whitaker Collection passed to Spink for disposal in 1957; Glendining’s (1965 - Captain W. A. Tinlin Collection, £950, then the highest recorded price for a Military General Service medal), acquired at that time by the noted collector John J. Barnett, and subsequently held in the cabinets of two prominent North American collectors; Spink (March 1995, £5,000); since held in the collection of John Goddard.

It is of interest that Colonel A. de Salaberry was one of those appointed by Lord Elgin to the Board of Canadian Officers tasked “to receive, investigate and report upon the claims [for medals] of all surviving officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the Militia...”

Private Jean Baptiste Lapierre served with the Militia of Lower Canada during the American War of 1812-14 and his name is listed together with his entitlement to the M.G.S. medal and three clasps on the official Medal Roll of Veterans. ‘To one only was awarded the medal with three clasps for services in the three actions’ (Canadian Antiquarian and Numismatic Journal, Vol III, p. 185, April, 1875).

That this medal was loaned to Colonel A. de Salaberry by the Adjutant General in 1867 suggests that Lapierre could not be traced at the time of its issue. ‘The Canadian Government had difficulty in locating some of the recipients and it is known that some medals were loaned to prominent Canadians until such time as they were recalled by the Adjutant General. Few recalls were made and eventually the medals passed into the hands of private collectors without ever having been presented to the recipient or his family’ (The Military General Service Roll 1793-1814, by A. L. T. Mullen, refers).

Now sold with copied extract from The Gazette of Canada (17 April 1879) listing those MGS medals still unclaimed at the Adjutant General’s Office, including J. B. Lapierre with all 3 clasps and with ink annotation ‘Lt. Col. Chas de Salaberry 20 March 1867’