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Picture courtesy of DNW

CMG b/b s/g
MVO 4th Class unnumbered
E&W Africa (1) Sierra Leone 1898-99 (Commr: P. Hoskyns, H.M.S. Blonde);
QSA (0) (Captain P. Hoskyns, C.M.G., M.V.O., R.N., H.M.S. Forte);

CMG London Gazette 9 January 1900: ‘In recognition of services with the Military operations in 1898-9 in the Sierra Leone Protectorate.’

MVO awarded 11 May 1896: ‘Peyton Hoskyns, H.M.S. Blonde; Funeral of H.R.H. Prince Henry of Battenberg.’ One of the first three appointments of the M.V.O., all for like services; the only earlier appointments to this order were G.C.V.Os to The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Connaught, six days earlier.

MID London Gazette 29 December 1899: ‘At the critical period of the Mendi rising the presence of Her Majesty’s ships Blonde and Alecto, which Captain Henderson despatched to Bonthe, absolutely secured that place from attack by the insurgents, and the boat expeditions which were organized from those ships up the rivers and creeks, by the punishment which they inflicted on the insurgents, put any future attempts on the part of the latter to take Bonthe out of the question.

Commander Peyton Hoskyns, R.N., commanded several of these expeditions; amongst others he proceeded on the 4th May up the Jong River to Bogo, driving the insurgents from their stockades and inflicting severe losses on them, and on the 13th he covered with a gun force the advance of Lieutenant-Colonel Cunningham’s column up the Jong River, at times under heavy fire from the banks.’

Peyton Hoskyns was born at Aston Tyrrold, Berkshire, on 15 September 1852, the fifth son of Sir John Leigh Hoskyns, 9th Baronet, and Emma, daughter of Sir John Strutt Peyton, K.C.H. He was educated at Haileybury and H.M.S. Britannia, and joined the Royal Navy as a Naval Cadet in April 1866. He married, 1882, Grace Macduff, daughter of D. M. Latham, J.P., D.L., of Gourock House, Renfrewshire, and had issue two sons and two daughters.

He was appointed a member of the 4th class of the Royal Victorian Order as a mark of Her Majesty’s appreciation of the special services rendered by him on the occasion of the death of H.R.H. Prince Henry of Battenberg, who was taking passage in H.M.S. Blonde after the Ashanti expedition of 1895, and had died en route to Sierra Leone. For his services during the Sierra Leone rebellion in 1898-99 he was mentioned in despatches, promoted to Captain, and decorated with the C.M.G. He commanded H.M.S. Forte during the operations in South Africa 1899-1902, and retired in September 1907. He was advanced to Retired Rear-Admiral on 12 May 1908, and died on 20 December 1919.

Picture courtesy of Spink

E&W Africa (1) Gambia 1894 (F. Moore. Ord. H.M.S. Raleigh.);
QSA (5) TH OFS RoL Tr LN (158514 A-B: F. Moore. H.M.S. Forte.)

One of 16 five-clasp Queen's South Africa Medals issued to HMS Forte.

MID London Gazette 8 February 1901. His service record states: 'Rendered good service attached with the Balloon Section for 3 months. Present at Relief of Ladysmith. Mentioned in Despatches.'

Frank Moore was born at Woolwich Barracks, Kent in July 1875 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in January 1891. Initially serving aboard H.M.S. St. Vincent, he was advanced Boy 1st Class in January 1892. He subsequently served in H.M.S. Raleigh from April 1893 until February 1895, in which period he was advanced to Ordinary Seaman and came ashore with the Naval Brigade in the Gambia operations of 1894 (Medal & clasp). Having then served aboard Wildfire, Empress of India and the Tender Salmon, he joined Forte in April 1899. He would again be landed as a Bluejacket during the Boer War, going ashore at Durban in November 1899. His service record states:

'Took part in operations with Natal Field Force including the Battle of Botha's Pass and Allman's Nek and occupation of Utrecht, Volkornek and Warestroom.'

The exact nature of his service with the Balloon Section remains a mystery, but in all liklihood he served on attachment to the 1st Section, Royal Engineers, due to the combination of his clasps. Moore continued to serve with the Royal Navy before being discharged in July 1905.

Sold for £1,200.

Picture courtesy of Morton and Eden

GCM (m);
KCVO, nr 607;
QSA (2) Cape Colony, South Africa 1902 (Lieut. J. D. Kelly, R.N., H.M.S. Forte.);
1914-15 Star (Capt. J. D. Kelly, R.N.);
British War and Victory Medals, 1914-1919, the latter with bronze M.i.D. spray of oak leaves (Capt. J. D. Kelly. R.N.);
Jubilee Medal, 1935;
France, Legion d’Honneur, Officer’s breast badge in silver gilt and enamels, 40mm width;
France, Croix de Guerre, 1914-1917, with palm upon ribbon;
Italy, Order of the Crown, Commander’s neck badge in gold and enamels, 50mm width.

CB London Gazette: 1 January 1919
France, Legion d’Honneur, 4th Class: London Gazette: 27 May 1919
Italy, Order of the Crown of Italy, 3rd Class: 6 June 1916
KCB London Gazette: 3 June 1929
GCVO London Gazette: 13 July 1932
GCB London Gazette: 3 June 1935

Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Donald Kelly (1871-1936) was born at Southsea on 13 July 1871, the second son of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Holdsworth Kelly, Royal Marine Artillery, and his wife Elizabeth (née Collum), of Bellevue, County Fermanagh. He joined the Royal Navy in 1884, being promoted to Midshipman in 1886, to Sub-Lieutenant in 1891, and to Lieutenant in 1893. He served for a period of six years on the Australia station, the last three of which were spent aboard the flagship Royal Arthur. After qualifying as a Gunnery Officer he served in the cruiser H.M.S. Forte on the Cape Station (during the Boer War), being promoted to Commander in 1904. He served as Commander on the China station, and then at Home, being promoted again, this time to Captain, in 1911. He served for a year and a half as superintendent of physical training between 1913 and 1914, before returning to sea service in command of the light cruiser H.M.S. Dublin in the Mediterranean, just prior to the outbreak of hostilities in WW1.

During the Great War he distinguished himself when the Dublin, along with her sister ship, H.M.S. Gloucester (under the command of his younger brother Captain (Sir) William Archibald Howard Kelly, were the only ships able to keep touch with the German battle-cruiser Goeben when she had successfully avoided the British battle-cruiser squadron in 1914. He was also in command of H.M.S. Dublin when she was attacked by an enemy submarine and hit by a torpedo off the Albanian coast on 9 June 1915, being attacked again on 14 and 15 December 1915, for which he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy for his ‘professional ability of the highest quality’ shown during his handling of the ship under attack. Captain John Kelly was second in command of the Dardanelles Force at Gallipoli and supported the allied landing. He commanded the cruisers Devonshire and Weymouth, and battle-cruiser Princess Royal between 1917 and the end of the war.

After the war in 1919 Kelly was appointed director of Operations Division of the Naval Staff at the Admiralty, being promoted to Rear-Admiral in 1921. He was appointed A.D.C. to the King in 1921, and between 1922 and 1923 he served as Rear-Admiral with the Home Fleet, a detachment of which under his command spent several months in the Dardanelles and the Bosphoros during a period of disturbances in Turkey. In 1924 he was appointed Fourth Sea Lord, and was promoted to Vice-Admiral in 1926. He returned again to sea service in 1927, commanding the first battle squadron and as second in command of the Mediterranean Fleet for a period of two years. He was promoted to Admiral in 1930, and had sent a letter to the Admiralty requesting that he retire in order to allow for the promotion of younger officers, however before this was put into effect, a political crisis occurred in 1931, requiring a reduction in naval pay (amongst other issues). Such was the displeasure created amongst the men of the Royal Navy, that this decision brought about the ‘Invergordon Mutiny’. Crews from a number of ships chose not to accept further orders, starting a ‘mutiny’ (sometimes considered a strike or period of industrial action), but without violence or major disturbance. Despite these considerations, news of the Invergordon Mutiny created chaos on the London Stock Exchange and a run on the Pound which resulted in the U.K. coming off the gold standard.

Admiral John Kelly was chosen specifically, in all likelihood by King George V himself, to take over command of the Atlantic Fleet with the task of restoring order and discipline amongst the men. Kelly was well-known and liked amongst the men - he had been boxing champion of the Fleet, and had gained respect for his sensible approach and true naval bearing. A stoker from H.M.S. York later remarked of Kelly, after a speech given to the crew: “Now that man – the men in the Navy trusted him. He didn’t come up the gangway and be piped aboard the same as most Admirals, he came over the boom (i.e. as a sailor would come aboard).” In a letter home written by Hubert Fox on 13 October 1931, a Midshipman aboard Warspite, described Kelly’s speech:

‘He told us that he had been talking for two hours to the King before taking up his command. Among other things, the King showed him that his mind was still completely naval and that he understood sailors as well as anyone. He was heartbroken over the recent unrest. Admiral Kelly then explained that the sailors were absolutely loyal to H.M.’s person and crown, as well as to their officers, but he honestly thought that they had been tried too hard – a sailor, he said, did not mind any hardship, death, or anything else, but if his wife and family were tampered with he put his foot down.’ (The Invergordon Mutiny, by Ereira, refers, pg. 168)

He was able to achieve restore order quickly by virtue of his ‘reputation on the lower deck for good sense, plain speaking (and) absolute honesty’. In recognition of this success he was appointed G.C.V.O. in 1932. Kelly was then appointed first and principal naval A.D.C. to the King between 1934 and 1936, and commander in chief at Portsmouth. He held that command for two and a half years when at sixty-five years old (the compulsory age for retirement), he was specially promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, flying his union flag in that rank for one day before retiring to Greenham Hall, Taunton. He died just a few months later on 4 November, 1936, at London, after which he was buried at sea with full Naval honours.

In his personal life, Kelly was married in 1915 to Mary, daughter of Thomas Hussey Kelly, of Glenyarrah, Sydney, Australia, with whom he had one daughter. This lot also offered with a copy of ‘The Invergordon Mutiny’ by Ereira.

This group sold for a hammer price of £7,000 this afternoon.

When it has previously been on the market, it was accompanied by a cased scroll but that has become separated along the way.

The two clasps were originally loose on the ribbon because the claim was very later and potentially a little questionable.

The CMG MVO group of 4 to Rear-Admiral Peyton Hoskyns is back on the market via DNW's next sale. It last sold in May 2018 for a hammer price of £4,000.

The CMG MVO group sold to Hoskyns this morning for a hammer price of £3,000, a figure below the lowest estimate.