Townley Ward Dowding, Lieutenant (RMLI) HMS Active

Townley Ward Dowding

11 Apr 1847 Born in Downton, Wiltshire, England, son of Townley W. Dowding and Elizabeth Dowding

Educated at Marlborough College, left Christmas 1863

28 Jun 1865 Entered the Royal Marines as 2nd Lt. RMLI (Portsmouth)

3 Aug 1867 Promoted to Lt. RMLI (Portsmouth)

1 Oct 1869 Lt. Marines on HMS Duke of Wellington (Flagship at Portsmouth)

31 Mar 1874 Lt. Marines on HMS Penelope (Double Screw Corvette)

25 Oct 1876 Lt. Marines on HMS Tourmaline (Corvette, Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa)

25 Jul 1877 Transferred to replacement ship, HMS Active (Corvette, Flag Ship Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa) During the Old Colony war landed with the “Active's” brigade, in command of the Royal Marines in the Old Colony; mentioned in despatches. Again landed during the Zulu war, He was in command of the Royal Marine detachment on 11Dec 1878, when Sir Bartle Frere’s Ultimatum was read to the Zulu emissaries; he commanded the Royal Marines at the action of Inyezane, June 22nd, 1879; formed part of the garrison of Ekowe. While at Eshowe, Dowding led a company of marines as part of the force that attacked a Zulu kraal in early March 1879. On April 11 Dowding wrote a letter about the incident that was published in the “Marlburian” 28 May 1879; afterwards joined General Crealock's Column and advanced to Port Durnford; mentioned in despatches; promoted; South Africa Medal with clasp “ 1877-8-9”. He served ashore in the Zulu War from 19 Nov 1878 to 21 Jul 1879.

15 Nov 1879 Promoted to Captain RMLI (Portsmouth)

1 Sep 1880 Promoted to Major RMLI

1881 Brevet Major attending Royal Naval College, Greenwich

30 Jun 1881 Brevet Major Marines HMS Nelson (Double Screw, for Service on Australian Station)

17 Dec 1884 Married to Florence Mary Lamb, daughter of Walter Lamb, Esq., of Kambala, New South Wales at all Saints Church, Woollabra, New South Wales

1 Oct 1889 Major Marines borne on HMS Wildfire (Flag Ship, Sheerness) for service at Royal Naval Barracks

11 Dec 1893 Promoted to Lt. Col RMLI

22 Jun 1897 Lieutenant Colonel in command of a battalion of Royal Marine Light Infantry in the parade for her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee, London

30 Dec 1899 Promoted Col. Second Commandant (Inspector of Marine recruiting) Portsmouth

19 Oct 1900 Col. Commandant

1903 Promoted to Major General

19 May 1910 Promoted to Lt. General

16 Dec 1910 Promoted to General

11 Apr 1912 Retired due to mandatory age

4 Sep 1927 Died unexpectedly at his residence, Singleton, Hampshire at age 80; buried at St. Mark’s Churchyard, Gosport


Petty Officer Tom

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"A rare and important South Africa Medal pair awarded to General T. W. Dowding, Royal Marines, who commanded the R.M. Naval Brigade in South Africa from December 1877 until July 1879, gaining a brace of “mentions” and the Brevet of Major: a little over 30 members of the Royal Marines qualified for the ‘1877-8-9’ clasp, Dowding’s example being unique to an officer
South Africa 1877-79, 1 clasp, 1877-8-9 (Lieut. T. W. Dowding, R.M., H.M.S. Active); Jubilee 1897


Townley Ward Dowding, who was born near Salisbury, Wiltshire, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Portsmouth Division, R.M., in June 1865. One of his early ship appointments was in H.M.S. Warrior, in which period he was advanced to Lieutenant.
Of his subsequent services in South Africa, the following extracts have been taken from his service record:
‘Commanded Royal Marines of Naval Brigade from December 1877 to April 1878; was present at the operations against the Kaffirs in the Transkei and at the engagement of Newmaxa and Zuinand, also in subsequent operations in the Peiri bush.
Mentioned in Despatch of General Officer Commanding the Troops at the Cape of Good Hope to War Office, 20 January 1878: ‘Most valuable assistance was rendered by the Royal Marines under Lieutenant Dowding’; further Lieutenant-General the Hon. Thesiger, C.B., to the Secretary of State for War, dated 29 July 1878, requests the Admiralty may be informed that Lieutenant Dowding, R.M., ‘gave him every satisfaction in the manner he exercised his command in the force engaged against the Kaffirs in March 1878.’
Zulu War 1879: Mentioned in Commodore Sullivan’s despatch of 3 February 1879 (Gazette 11 March 1879): ‘appears to have handled his men with skill, and to have shown here, as he did in the late war in Cape Colony, all the attributes of a good soldier.’
Landed in command of Royal Marines of Active from November 1878 to July 1879; was with No. 1 Column, present at the battle of Inyezane, also for two and a half months in Ekowe during the occupation; subsequently with No. 1 Column at the opening of Port Durnford and the operations near the Umlatoosi River (Mentioned in Despatches - Gazette 7 November 1879); specially promoted to the rank of Captain for services (Board letter, 17 November 1879); Brevet rank of Major in recognition of his services in the Field in South Africa in the years 1877-8-9.’
Dowding’s service record also confirms his award of the Jubilee Medal 1897, when he was serving as a Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in the Chatham Division, R.M.
His final appointment was an Inspector of Marine Recruiting and he was appointment Colonel Commandant in October 1900 and a Major-General in October 1902. Having then been placed on the Retired List, he received advancement to General in November 1910 and died in September 1927"

Source: The sale room.com

Note this went for seven times the estimate!
Steve

Steve do you know why?

I think it had the dealers puzzled - a good medal but that is an astounding amount of money. Royal Marine medals are a particular collecting interest which might mean there were two bidders determined to have it - but even so. The other thing is that there seems to be a real competition for SAGs at the moment with very few on offer and prices increasing. Some strange things happen at auctions.

Steve

Hi Steve
I know someone who put in a much larger bid than he thought was necessary , and was still doubled by the Hammer Price ! . As for the SAGS Medals , the prices have been driven through the roof since the start of the year . I among others , have no clue as to the reason why . I thought the Allen NNC , KIA at Isandlwana would be a little higher than what it hammered for , did you
90th

Hi. Gary
Wasn't there a rumour that an individual had bought them all up?
On the Allen medal perhaps the problem of the different Allens in the NNC depressed it a bit. People are very picky! But I am no expert.
Steve

Hi Steve
I think I thought that was the case as well . But I did ask Historik Orders who bought the medals they had , as they had been for sale for several years , as they were a little expensive , they were sold in a 1 or two week period , earlier this year , I asked was it an individual , he said no , they were sold to random buyers . So it seems it isn't the work of one man .
Cheers 90th

I have done a lot of investigation on this and spoken to a number of dealers and fellow collectors, As I can piece it together here is what is happening..

There is an individual with very deep pockets who started collecting SAGS at the start of the year end of last year, He hoovered up a lot of the regular Imperial medals at the dealers as well as I believe the Rorkes Drift Defender at Stanley Gibbons.

This sudden drying up of supply caused a mild panic amongst collectors and dealers alike. Some dealers bought for stock but generally more expensive medals like historiK only got bought up at the end as they became the only stock available for collectors.

This lack of supply manifested itself at the last two DNW auctions - which have seen rarer medals command stunning prices. As competition increases Colonials such as Sgt Rampton Lonsdale Horse selling for circa £1500 and ordinary imperial medals around the £8-900 mark (£5-600 at start of 2014).

As a result of the high costs a lot of people have stopped general sensible bidding (hence the comparative low price on the Isandlwana casualty) to put in one big bid on something rarer like Dowding. When this gets trumped by MR Deep Pockets the price is jacked up massively.

The dealers see the continuing rising bids and when they get stock have to pay more for it and know they can still add 10-20% and it will sell. I cant blame them for that - they are subject to the laws of supply and demand.

On the plus, the value of our collections has gone up exponentially and has even stopped Mrs D querying the purchase of medals once I pointed out the difference between current interest rates. But supply is scarce and frankly putting run of the mill medals out of reach for a lot of budgets.

Personally I did not bid at DNW for a SAGS this time round and pursued medals from a different war. I just hope this bubble stops inflating rather than bursting. As it is becoming increasingly difficult to source any medals at a sensible price for the 17th Lancers (my fixation).

the latest batch of SAGS to come to market at the excellent and highly recommended Jager medals were a little sticky but have eventually sold at £895!!.

If any one is interested there is one medal available at auction at http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/dickins-auctioneers-ltd/catalogue-id-srdic10064/lot-34e5e6f3-02e4-46d6-acd8-a55c0135196a?utm_source=auction-alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=auction-alert&utm_content=lot-image-link.
Its very polished - but a small auction house so might go reasonably.

Regards and Good Hunting!!