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Auction: 24113 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 96

Afghanistan 1878-80, no clasp (978. Pte. A. Gare. 6/Dgn. Gds.), very fine

Alfred Gare was born Alfred Keylougher at St. Saviour Workhouse in Southwark, Surrey on 23 August 1851, the son of Thomas Keylougher who worked as a hatter. His mother Mary Ann Plampin was remarried to Robert Gare in 1855, and Alfred at some stage adopted his stepfather's last name as his own.

A few months shy of his eighteenth birthday on 18 June 1869, Gare enlisted with the 2/7th Foot Royal Fusiliers at Westminster, having previously served with the 3rd Royal Surrey Militia. He was not with the Royal Fusiliers for long, and transferred to the 6th Dragoon Guards on 30 June 1871 in order to serve alongside his elder brother Thomas (service no. 758).

His military career was not to have an auspicious start, however, and in December 1873 Gare was imprisoned for nearly a week as a punishment for absence. Upon his release, he deserted at Hounslow. He stayed out of the service for five years, during which time in 1875 he married Elizabeth Charman in Lambeth, London. On 24 November 1877, Gare rejoined his Regiment at Colchester, and was court-martialled for desertion four days later. He was sentenced to be imprisoned for 84 days. It is not known whether Gare served the full sentence of his imprisonment as on 29 December 1877, he embarked for the East Indies with K Troop. Gare was to face punishment once more, when he was confined to the barracks for ten days in September 1878 for ill treatment of a Punkah rope-puller.

Gare and his unit joined the Jalalabad Field Force in northern Afghanistan on 24 October 1879. He likely bore witness to the regimental disaster on 5 January 1880, when the 6th Dragoon Guards suffered five men drowned in the Kabul River. Gare returned to the East Indies on 22 August 1880, and was appointed Lance Corporal on 5 January 1881, had his forfeited service restored the following October, and advanced paid Lance Corporal in October 1882. He was discharged at Gosport on 23 May 1883, time expired, with his conduct cited as 'very good'.

Just a few months after the end of his military service, Gare returned to London and joined the Metropolitan Police at Stoke Newington on 22 October 1883. He served under number 68683 and first with the N Division (Islington), later transferring to W Division (Clapham), then V Division (Wandsworth), and finally back to N Division in August 1888. During this time, Gare was married to his second wife Eliza Martin at the St. Paul Parish Church in Deptford on 5 February 1885. Together they had two sons and two daughters, and in 1891 the family was living together at 45 Canonbury Square, Islington. Gare received a commendation 'for promptitude in jumping into the Regent's Canal at Islington, 9th inst., and rescuing a boy from drowning' in June 1892.

Gare retired from the Metropolitan Police at age fifty on 15 March 1902 with a pension. After his retirement, he lived at Churchyard Row, Newington and later in 1916 at Arlington Road, Camden Town. In October 1916 he received a special campaign pension alongside his Metropolitan Police pension. Gare died in London on 17 November 1929; sold together with a wealth of copied and handwritten research.

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Sold for
£110

Starting price
£80