Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas (Part I)

Five: Commander Hon. Henry Baillie-Hamilton, Royal Navy, one of the small Naval Brigade to land in South Africa in 1851

South Africa 1834-53 (Midshipman H. Baillie.); Crimea 1854-56, 1 clasp, Sebastopol, unnamed as issued; Ottoman Empire, Order of the Medjidie, 5th class breast badge, silver, gold and enamel; Turkish Crimea 1855, Sardinian issue, unnamed; International, Sovereign Military Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes & Malta, Knight of Honour and Devotion neck badge, 110mm including crown and ribbon bow suspension x 52mm, silver-gilt and enamels, the second polished, otherwise nearly very fine or better (5) £2,400-£2,800

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas.

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Collection

Alan Hall Collection, June 2000.

Only eight Royal Navy and two Royal Marine officers were landed in British Kaffraria in 1851 as part of a small Naval Brigade.

Henry Baillie was born on 29 August 1832, the fourth son of George Baillie who, in 1859, became the 10th Earl of Haddington, and assumed the additional name of Hamilton as well as the Honourable title.

He entered the Royal Navy as a 1st Class Volunteer in 1847 and in 1849 he was appointed to H.M.S. Castor, Commodore Christopher Wyvill, attached to the Cape of Good Hope Squadron. In 1851 he was a member of the 126 strong Naval Brigade landed to support the Army in South Africa. In a letter from Commodore C. Wyvill, dated 27 December 1851, he is recorded as having 'Behaved with the greatest credit whilst co-operating with the Army during the War in British Kafferia' and ordered to be noted for favourable consideration for promotion when he passes for Lieutenant.

Appointed to the steamer Spiteful in 1853 and was present in the Black Sea during the first great bombardment of Sebastopol in which action he received a deep lacerated wound in the upper and back part of the thigh from a fragment of a rocket. He was gazetted on 3 November 1854, as having been severely wounded. He served aboard Spiteful throughout the entire Crimean campaign. On passing his examination he was promoted to Mate in February 1856. He received the Turkish and British Crimea Medals, the latter with clasp 'Sebastopol' and the Order of Medjidie 5th Class, being at the time one of the youngest officers to receive this honour.

In November 1857 he was appointed Mate of the steamer Ardent, Commander John H. Cave, on the West Coast of Africa. In a letter of 11 February 1858, Rear Admiral the Hon Sir Frederick Grey, K.C.B., Commander in Chief Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa reported favourably on his conduct whilst engaged with the Soosos Chief in operations on the Coast of Africa. In recognition of this service he was specially promoted to Lieutenant on 25 April 1858. In April 1859 he was appointed Lieutenant of Cresset, Steamer, Captain the Hon Charles Elliot C.B., Mediterranean, followed in 1862 by Imperieuse, Flag Ship East Indies and China, Rear-Admiral Sir James Hope K.C.B.; and in 1864 Victoria, Flag Ship Mediterranean, Vice Admiral Robert Smart K.C.B. K.H. On 6 January 1866, he was dismissed from Victoria by sentence of Court Martial and sentenced to lose one year's seniority as a Lieutenant.

He was next appointed in June 1866 to the Royal George Captain Thomas Tiller, Coast Guard Service, Kingstown. In May 1869 he was severely reprimanded for slipping the anchor cable of Royal George on the occasion of the Whitsuntide Review. On paying off from Royal George in December 1869 he remained on shore until he retired at his own request on the 10 January 1871, with rank of Commander. He became a Justice of the Peace for Berwickshire and for philanthropic services he was created a Knight of Malta in 1883, dying in 1895.