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My old friend Ron Lock died on 23 May 2018. Ron had a long and interesting life and was an author of a number of books on Natal history, with a particular interest in the Zulu War.
At one stage he had a good medal collection , but sold this a few years ago. Latterly he had little in the way of military collectibles, but he had a small frame of martingale badges in a frame in his study. He had been a keen horseman and , I guess, that Martingales, being "horse badges" were special to him.
There was one that particularly interested me , and this was a Victorian Natal Carbineers martingale. I have a rather lengthy essay on its acquisition, but it seems that the late Wally Hyde, whose job was to clean up the battlefields , came across this badge on the Isandlwana battlefield in the 1960s . Sometime in the 1970s , Ron traded the Martingale for a 24th Regiment of Foot Helmet plate. Personally I think that Ron got the better of the deal.

That's very nice, they are actually really quite scarce these days and only very seldom seen, it would have originally had a fine silver finish, complete with burnished highlights.
They were made here and retailed by Messrs Hobson and Son in common with the rest of their kit, a truly lovely thing, if only it could talk, I dare say it would have many stories to tell.