Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An inter-War ‘Royal Visit’ C.V.O. group of six awarded to Surgeon Captain A. C. W. Newport, Royal Navy

The Royal Victorian Order, C.V.O., Commander’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, the reverse officially numbered ‘C761’, with neck riband, in Collingwood, London, case of issue; 1914-15 Star (St. Surg. A. C. Newport. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Surg. Commr. A. C. W. Newport. R.N.); Japan, Empire, Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with neck riband complete with the usual fitments; Egypt, Kingdom, Order of the Nile, Officer’s breast badge, by Lattes, Cairo, silver-gilt and enamel, maker’s name to reverse, with rosette to riband, the Great War awards all later issues (see footnote), very fine and better (6) £1,400-£1,800

Provenance: Dr. A. L. Lloyd Collection, Bonhams, March 2013.

C.V.O. London Gazette 7 July 1922.
For the Prince of Wales’s visit to India and the East.

Alexander Charles William Newport was born on 30 December 1874 and was educated at Dover College. He qualified as a Surgeon in 1902 at London, and entered the Royal Naval Medical Service as a Surgeon on 21 November 1902. Recorded as being granted a pension for wounds, dated 9 January 1906, he was promoted to Surgeon Lieutenant-Commander in November 1910 and to Surgeon Commander in November 1916. He served during the Great War on the Home Station in H.M.S. Dido and H.M.S. Renown, and after the War accompanied the Prince of Wales for his world tour to Canada, New Zealand, Australia, India and Japan. For his services on the Royal Yacht he was awarded the M.V.O. in 1920 and advanced to C.V.O. in 1922. Joining H.M.S. Agamemnon on 9 April 1923, he was appointed to the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert on 1 June 1923, and served in this ship until he transferred to the Retired List with the rank of Surgeon Captain on 30 December 1924. He died in Southsea on 19 April 1948.

Note: The recipient’s Great War medals are duplicate issues. The Royal Party was involved in a fire in Tokyo in 1922: certainly medals and orders of the Victorian Order for presentation were lost in this fire so it seems likely this is why Newport needed replacements. Unusually, his service papers have not been released to the National Archives, and neither are they held in the Royal Navy archives; it is possible, given his connections with Royal service, that they were transferred to the Royal Archives and are being held under a longer release period.

Sold with copied research including various photographic image of the recipient with the Royal party on board the Renown.