Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The C.I.E. and Gold Kaisar-I-Hind Medal group of four awarded to Sir Richard Amphlett Lamb, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., Indian Civil Service, member of the Executive Council of the Governor of Bombay 1910-15

The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, C.I.E., Companion’s 2nd type breast badge, gold and enamels, complete with integral gold brooch bar; Kaisar-I-Hind, V.R.,1st class, 18 carat gold, hallmarked London 1900, complete with integral gold brooch bar; Delhi Durbar 1911, silver; India General Service 1854-95, 1 clasp, Burma 1887-89 (Mr. R. A. Lamb Dy. Comr.) nearly extremely fine (4) £3,000-£4,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Lamb Family Medals.

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Richard Amphlett Lamb was born at Poona, India, on 4 April 1858, son of Veterinary Surgeon William Lamb, 3rd Bombay Cavalry. Educated at Highgate Grammar School, he passed the Indian Civil Service examination in 1877 and was posted to Bombay, where he joined the Indian Civil Service in 1879. He served first at assistant collector, magistrate, and later as forest settlement officer, at Kandesh. He was one of the younger civilians selected for service in Upper Burma where he was appointed Deputy Commissioner in 1887. For his share in suppressing the dacoity which so long delayed pacification he was awarded the medal and clasp. After his return to his own Presidency as a collector, it fell to him in 1897 to act as chairman of the Poona Plague Committee soon after the assassination of its first chairman, his civilian colleague, Mr Rand. Later, he made an excellent Commissioner of the Central Division, for he had a thorough grasp of the complicated revenue system, and was both assiduous and sympathetic. He also did good wrk in the Secretariat, where he filled various departmental secretaryships, and in the Commissionership of Customs, Salt, &c. He was appointed a member of the Executive Council of the Government of Bombay, for which Lord Sydenham selected him in 1910. He was awarded the Kaisar-I-Hind medal (1st Class-Gold) in 1900, and appointed C.I.E. in 1901; C.S.I. in 1909, and knighted as K.C.S.I. at the Delhi Coronation Durbar in 1911. Sir Richard married at Colaba, Bombay, on 31 May 1901, Kathleen Maud, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel J. P. Barry, I.M.S., and had a family of four sons. He died at his residence, Tudor House, Broadway, Worcestershire, on 27 January 1923.

Sold with the following original photographs and documents:

i. Studio portrait in uniform wearing I.G.S. medal.
ii. Studio portrait in uniform wearing C.I.E., K-I-H, and I.G.S., Ahmednagar January 1903 (two versions, standing and seated).
iii. Studio portrait seated in uniform wearing C.S.I., C.I.E., K-I-H and I.G.S., dated December 1909.
iv. Studio portrait in uniform wearing K.C.S.I., C.I.E., K-I-H, Delhi Durbar 1911 and I.G.S. (two versions, standing and seated).
v. Various documents of appointment to the Bombay Civil Service in 1879, together with Birth and Marriage certificates, and five obituary press cuttings.
vi. Court cane in ebonised wood with gilt finial engraved with monogram ‘RAL’
vii. A particularly fine album created in commemoration of the 1911 Delhi Durbar, the cover embossed in gilt lettering ‘Coronation Durbar. Delhi. 1911.’ containing numerous invitations for Sir Richard and Lady Lamb to the many and various official celebrations for the Delhi Durbar, including plan of camp of the Governor of Bombay, captioned photographs of the members of same, invitations to the State Entry and Coronation Durbar of the King Emperor, large fold-out panoramic photograph of the Durbar celebration, other invitations to State Garden Party at Delhi Fort on 13 December 1911, and to Investiture held the following day, the occasion on which Lamb was invested with the K.C.S.I.

For the recipient’s miniature dress medals, see the following lot (Lot 185).