WHILE Queen Elizabeth was in Dublin honouring those who died fighting for Irish independence, the medals of the British general who suppressed the 1916 Rising were auctioned in London.
The “honours and awards” given to General Sir John Maxwell – the British military commander in Dublin in 1916 who ordered the execution of the Rising’s leaders – sold for £26,000 to an unnamed bidder, at Dix Noonan Webb, the numismatic auctioneer in Mayfair.
The collection included the insignia awarded to Maxwell for assisting with a royal visit to Ireland. In 1903, he helped organise the visit of King Edward VII to Ireland, and was appointed a commander of the Royal Victorian Order – the honours system to reward service to the monarch.
Auctioneer David Erskine-Hill said the “splendid array” included all of Maxwell’s major medals. He served at the Battle of Omdurman in Sudan, the Boer War in South Africa and commanded British troops in Egypt during the early part of the first World War.
