Napier. Funeral of Field Marshal of Lord Napier of Magdala, G.C.B. 1890

Military Funeral of Field Marshal Lord Napier of Magdala, G.C.B., G.C.S.I. A manuscript letter on both sides of a sheet of blue paper with the heading HORSE GUARDS, WAR OFFICE, S.W. dated 17th January, 1890 and signed Wolseley, Q.G. [Viscount Wolseley, Quarter Master General] notifying Lieut. General Sir Peter S. Lumsden, G.C.B. that the Commander in Chief [H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge had selected him to be a pall bearer at the funeral of his old commander, mentor and friend. The folio sheet, written in a bold secretarial hand is tipped to an old bifolium with three sides bearing printed pages from the Order of Service, procedure, etc, one showing a plan of the coffin with position of the 12 pall bearers: F.M. Sir Patrick Grant, G.C.B., G.C.M.G, Gen. Sir P. E. Chapman, R.E., G.C.B., Gen, Sir Donald Stewart, Bart., G.C.B., Lt. Gen. Sir Geo. Higginson, K.C.B., Lieut. of the Tower, Gen. Sir Dighton Probyn, V.C., K.C.B., K.C.S.I., Gen. Sir W. Olpherts, V.C., K.C.B., Gen Sir L. Nicholson, R.E., Lt. Gen. Sir Peter Lumsden, K.C.B., K.C.S.I, Gen. Sir Alex. Taylor, K.C.B., Lt. Gen. Sir Martin Dillon, K.C.B., Gen. Sir Charles Brownlow, G.C.B., Lt. Gen. Pearse, C.B. The contents of the 12pp octavo Order of Service are detached without damage from the staples. The edges of the backing paper to which these pages are pasted is chipped but the printed pages are not affected. A scarce ephemeral survival from a grand military occasion.  mar1/5  SOLD 18th March 2023

Provenance: From a large archive of the General’s papers passed down through descendants of his brother, General Sir Harry Lumsden. Lumsden himself had no children.

General Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, G.C.B., C.S.I.. A.D.C. [1829-1918] had a very distinguished career in India, China, and Afghanistan and was the author of the standard work on his brother’s regiment Lumsden of the Guides. He joined the Bengal Army in 1847 and first saw action on the N.W.F. in 1851. In 1857 he was on a special mission to Kandahar and served in the China War with Napier., Bhutan War 1854, QMG India 1868-72, acting Resident Hyderabad 1873, Chief of the Staff in India in 1879 and headed the British Commission for the Demarcation of the N. W. Boundary of Afghanistan 1884-5.  He was made G.C.B. and an ADC to Queen Victoria.