Crimean service 1821/45 Pattern Artillery sword, and the original owner
A favourite from my personal collection that I acquired in early 2020, this sword is an 1821/45 Pattern British sword to the Royal Artillery, with a quirk to it — it is oversized for the Artillery and heavily built, such that I originally assumed that it must have been for an officer of the Horse Artillery. I was so convinced of this that in searching for the officer in the army lists I fixated on Horse Brigade officers, and only found the correct man when somebody with fresh eyes and no preconceptions looked over the list and corrected my mistake. The original owner was not of the Horse Brigade, and given his service record (detailed later) seems to have been on foot. But first, the sword.
As mentioned above it is quite a large example for a foot Artillery sword, weighing 967 grams and measuring 35 inches long tip to guard, and 1 and a quarter inches wide at the ricasso. The sword is solidly built, and the backstrap seems to have been fully chequered when it was new although this has been worn to almost nothing. The tip of the blade has a bend to it, the edge has some contact damage, and it is fairly heavily patinated in places. The proof slug is not identifiable, being a plain disc with a dot at the base. The retailer etching has been heavily rubbed and is hard to read, but it was sold by Hodgson of Woolwich.
Further etched onto the blade is the fired grenade and field gun of the Royal Artillery, as well as the crest and initials of the original owner. The crest is a crooked armoured arm holding aloft an object that I have yet to identify, and the initials read ‘JAP’.
Helpfully (and unusually) the owner felt the need to have the initials stamped into the ricasso edge in addition to the etchings, making identification of the letters far easier.
‘JAP’ was John Andrew Price, and he was born in Cobh (Queenstown from 1849–1920) on the 21st of July 1832, the son of Morgan Price, a Surgeon in the Royal Navy (whose medical reports on the condition of convicts being transported to Australia still survive today). Joining the army at the age of 18, he was promoted to Second Lieutenant of the Royal Artillery on the 19th of June 1850 and then to Lieutenant on the 1st April 1852.
In December of 1854 Price was in the Crimean War, having stopped off at Gibraltar for three months before moving on to the conflict. He is listed as having been present at the siege and fall of the city of Sevastopol and being wounded on the 2nd of September 1855 in the pursuit of this, having served in the trenchworks with the siege train and having been present at the bombardments of April, the 6th of June and 17th of June.
In a little more detail, The History of the Royal Artillery (Crimean Period) by Julian Robert John Jocelyn reads as follows:
This mentions Price’s near-capture by the Russians, being almost completely surrounded at one point.
For this service he was awarded the Crimean Medal with Sevastopol Clasp, the Turkish Crimea Medal and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor as part of the honours exchange with the French.
On the way back from the Crimean War, his service record shows that he stopped off at Gibraltar again for a period before continuing home. On the 26th of March 1857 he was promoted to Second Captain, this promotion almost certainly being in response to his Crimean service. He received further promotions progressing through full Captain, Major and Lieutenant Colonel, and upon his retirement in 1877 was promoted to Colonel.
On the 6th of April 1869 he was married to Katherine Amy Beaty-Pownall, (born 28/06/1839 daughter to Reverend Charles Colyear Beaty-Pownall, Vicar of Milton Ernest), in All Saints Church, Milton Ernest. Their son Charles Herbert Pownall Price was born in 1871 and baptised in Milton Ernest, with their two daughters Edith L. Price (1873–1958) and Mary Morgan (Maud) Price (1875–1950) following. Katherine passed away on the 4th of April 1880 at the age of 40 due to Bronchitis related complications, being buried on the 8th of April. At the time of her death the family was living at 24 Finch Road, Douglas, The Isle of Man, and Price was still registered as living at this address in April of 1881 with the children and the families three servants.
(Price’s marriage record also lists his previous permanent residence as having been in the Parish of Saint Bartholomew, Dublin).
Based on his will probate and various newspaper articles it seems that some time after the death of his first wife he moved to Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin (Kingstown/Dunleary) and was living on Silchester Road. On the 28th of April 1886 he was married to Maud Spunner, daughter of the late Henry F Spunner.
In January 1902 his sister Louisa Smith was found in the guestroom of his family home with her throat cut — she had been suffering greatly from depression, and had been living with him for almost a year receiving doctors visitations. He had been under the belief that she was getting better, and both he and his son Charles testified as to the situation at the coroners inquest.
He passed away on the 20th of August, 1910 and is buried with his second wife Maud (passed away 30/12/1898 from breast cancer and related complications) in Deansgrange Cemetery, Dublin. He was survived by his son, the by then Reverend Charles H P Price of the Church of Ireland, and his two daughters.
If anyone has or knows of any photographs or portraits of Price, or any period photographs matching his details that could potentially be him, I would be very interested in hearing about it.
Sources:
http://www.igp-web.com/IGPArchives/ire/dublin/photos/tombstones/1headstones/deansgrange-s02.txt
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4106788
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4106405
Christie’s South Kensington 24/10/1991 Catalogue, English and Victorian Pictures, Watercolours and Drawings auction, lot number 81 pictured.