Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The unique “gold” R.V.M., Royal Household “Fifty Years” Long and Faithful Service Medal group of twelve awarded to John Pottinger, one of the longest served members of staff in the history of Royal Household, who was a Page of the Presence at the time of his retirement in 1947, after virtually 55 years of continuous employment

Royal Victorian Medal, G.VI.R., “gold”; Royal Victorian Medal, G.V.R., silver; Jubilee 1897, bronze; Coronation 1902, bronze; Coronation 1911; Jubilee 1935; Coronation 1937; Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal, G.V.R., with dated suspension for ‘1893 1913’ and three Bars for ‘Thirty Years’, ‘Forty Years’ and ‘Fifty Years’, the latter a 2nd rectangular type with the reverse inscribed ‘G.R. VI’ (John Pottinger); Denmark, Royal Household Medal, Christian X, gilt metal; Denmark, Royal Household Medal, Christian X, silver, with crown; Belgium, Royal Household Medal, Albert, silver-gilt, with crowned ‘A’ cypher on ribbon; Sweden, Royal Household Medal, Gustaf V, silver, with crown, mounted court-style as worn, together with a related Royal Tour India 1911-12 presentation silver pocket watch, complete with chain, generally very fine or better and excessively rare (13)
£1500-2000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Selection of Medals from the Collection of the Late Noel Morris.

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John Pottinger was born in Windsor in 1871 and went to work as a coal porter at Windsor Castle in 1892. On transferring to the Duke of York’s Household in the following year, he was promoted to Usher in the Servants’ Hall at Marlborough House and remained in the Duke’s employ when the latter moved to Buckingham Palace upon becoming King George V in 1910. By this time Pottinger had progressed from Cellarman to become Groom of the Cellars.

He accompanied King George and Queen Mary to India for the Delhi Durbar of 1911, holding the post of Wine Butler aboard the Medina and was presented with a silver watch by the King on the ship’s return to the U.K. in the following year.

Indeed Pottinger’s career continued apace under the new King, his appointments including Page of the Presence (Second Class) in 1915 and elevation to First Class in 1924. Afterwards he had a brief spell as Yeoman of the Cellars, a position that apparently brought him to the favourable notice of the Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VIII, but in 1934 he reverted to Page of the Presence (First Class), a position which he retained until his retirement in October 1947.

Pottinger was awarded his first R.V.M., a George V silver issue, in June 1932, while employed as a Page of the Presence, and his second, one of just two G.VI.R. “gold” issues, in June 1944, while employed in a similar capacity. His Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal was originally issued in June 1913, Bars for ‘Thirty Years’ following in 1923, ‘Forty Years’ in 1933 and ‘Fifty Years’ in February 1943, which latter distinction was granted to less than ten holders of a G.V.R. Medal.

Of his foreign Honours and Awards, it is probable that the Belgian example stemmed from King George V’s visit to the battlefields in that country soon after the War, while his Swedish award was presented to him at the time of the King of Sweden’s visit to London in November 1923. It is more difficult to ascertain the exact year of award for his two Danish issues, but possibly they stem from the state visits of the King of Denmark in 1914 and 1920; similarly, it is not possible to confirm with certainty whether he physically received any other foreign awards, other than to say he was probably awarded one or two German state medals pre-1914 (which, of course, were never worn after that date), in addition to more certain entitlement to a Royal Service Medal of Victor Emanuel III for his state visit to London in May 1924 (again, removed, as a result of the 1939-45 War), and the Izzet Medal of Afghanistan for the state visit of the King and Queen in March 1928 - this latter was in gold and possibly found its way into the melting pot.

‘A placid amiable man of large build’, John Pottinger died at Uxbridge in 1957.

Sold with a quantity of related research, including an interesting letter from a junior member of the Royal Household in the 1940s.