Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Major F. de C. Helbert-Helbert, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, later Royal Fusiliers, who served as Aide-de-Camp to The Maharaja Holkar of Indor

India General Service 1854-95, 1 clasp, Burma 1885-7 (Lieut. F. de C. Helbert-Helbert. 1st-R. Welsh Fus.) a later issue impressed in small sans-serif capitals; Jubilee 1887, 1 clasp, 1897, silver, unnamed as issued, good very fine and better (2) £400-£500

Frederic de Courcy Helbert-Helbert was born in Brighton on 14 July 1862 and was educated at Winchester College. He was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Somerset Light Infantry on 22 October 1881 but transferred to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in November the same year. With the 1st Battalion he went to Burma in 1885 but was invalided home sick. During the Jubilee celebrations of 1887 he was A.D.C. to The Maharaja Holkar of Indor. He was placed on Half Pay in April 1888 but returned to Full Pay in May 1889 and was appointed A.D.C. to the Governor and C-in-C., New South Wales, a post he held until November 1891. In November 1892 he transferred as a Captain to the Devonshire Regiment but retired with a gratuity in February 1895. On 28 August 1895 he became a Major in the 5th (Militia) Battalion, Royal Fusiliers.

Helbert-Helbert was removed from the Army on 23 April 1902, ‘His Majesty having no further use for his services’. The reason for this is not known exactly but it seems it was bankruptcy. He was imprisoned in February 1904 for obtaining credit while a bankrupt and stealing a ring. He was incarcerated in Wormwood Scrubs. Yet again in November 1907 he was incarcerated in Wormwood scrubs for 18 months for three offences against Francis McCarthy: altering a cheque, misuse of a share certificate and misuse of cash. The Officers Mess Minute Book records on 15 May 1908: ‘Pieces of silver presented by F de C Helbert should be made away with out of the mess for obvious reasons but decided to hold over until the Regiment is together again.’ A further entry on 5 December 1910 records: ‘The Cup presented to the Mess by Major Helbert should be sold and the proceeds given to a charity to be decided on at the next meeting.’
The recipient’s Bankruptcy papers held at the National Archives also describes how in 1896 Helbert-Helbert was at sea and made friends with a young man of wealth and position who died on the voyage. On Helbert-Helbert’s return to the UK he produced a will purportedly made by the young man leaving him his estate. The young man’s friends contested the will but a settlement was reached out of court with Helbert-Helbert receiving £25,000.

Sold with copied research.

Note: The India General Service Medal roll shows that a replacement medal was issued on 30 November 1937; the naming style on the IGS in this lot is consistent with the style used at the time.