Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Major H. A. C. Darley, Royal Field Artillery, late Robert’s Horse and Yorkshire Royal Garrison Artillery Militia

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Transvaal (Lieut: H. Darley. Roberts Horse.) engraved naming; 1914-15 Star (Major. H. A. C. Darley. R.F.A.); Victory Medal 1914-19 (Major H. A. C. Darley.) good very fine (3) £160-£200

Henry Algernon Cholmley Darley was born in York in 1870, the eldest son of landowner and horse breeder Henry Darley of Aldby Park, York, and grandson of Sir George Cholmley. A keen huntsman, he enjoyed a sumptuous 21st birthday celebration at the family home, the event catching the attention of the Yorkshire Gazette on 11 July 1891:
‘Mr. Henry A. C. Darley, said he had yet his spurs to win, and it was their earnest hope that he might serve his Queen and Country for many years, with devotion and honour, as a true Yorkshireman ought (applause).’

Attesting for the Yorkshire Artillery (Western Division) in January 1892, Darley transferred during the Boer War to Robert’s Horse. He was soon mentioned again in the contemporary press, the York Herald of 19 March 1900, stating:
‘The Mayor of Scarborough’s Son at Bloemfontein. Mr. H. A. C. Darley, son of Captain H. Darley [5th Dragoon Guards], Mayor of Scarborough, who is a Lieutenant in Robert’s Horse, telegraphed on Friday from Bloemfontein to his father:- “With French’s from Ramdam, Kimberley and Paardeberg. Fit as possible. - Darley.”’

Happily described in the Leeds Mercury as having ‘won distinction’ in the South African War, Darley was raised Captain in the Royal Garrison Artillery (Militia) in October 1902, and subsequently appointed Honorary Major in the Index to the London Gazette, Military Promotions, Special Reserve, Vol. III (1914). He died at Chunya, Tanganyika, on 2 October 1945.