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Auction: 323 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 762

The K.C.V.O., 1935 'Royal Visit' C.M.G., 1923 'Ireland' O.B.E. Group of Seventeen to Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Howard Kerr, 11th Hussars, Aide-de-Camp to Viscount Fitzalan, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1921-22; and Equerry, Comptroller, and Extra Equerry to H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester, 1924-74, Accompanying the Latter on the Garter Mission to Japan, 1929
a) The Royal Victorian Order, Knight Commander's (K.C.V.O.) set of Insignia, neck Badge, silver-gilt and enamel, reverse officially numbered 'K670', with neck riband; Star, silver and enamel, reverse officially numbered '670', with gold retaining pin, in Collingwood, London, case of issue, this numbered 'K670'
b) The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Companion's (C.M.G.) neck Badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with neck riband
c) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 1st type, Civil Division, Officer's (O.B.E.) breast Badge, silver-gilt (Hallmarks for London 1919), on 2nd type riband
d) British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. W.H. Kerr)
e) Territorial Force War Medal (2864 Pte. N. Arnott. 23-Lond. R. [sic])
f) 1939-1945 Star
g) Africa Star
h) France and Germany Star
i) Defence and War Medals
j) Jubilee 1935
k) Coronation 1937
l) Coronation 1953
m) Belgium, Kingdom, Order of Leopold, Military Division, Knight's breast Badge, silver and enamel, French motto
n) Japan, Empire, Order of the Sacred Treasure, Third Class neck Badge, silver-gilt, silver, and enamel, with neck riband, in slightly damaged rio-nuri lacquered case of issue
o) Royal Canadian Humane Association Bronze Medal, the reverse engraved 'Awarded to Howard Kerr for Courage in the rescue of Effie Dunlop from drowning at Caribou Lake, July 1909', with integral top 'Bravery' riband bar, generally nearly very fine or better, the breast awards mounted as worn and housed in a Spink, London, leather case (18)

K.C.V.O. London Gazette 10.6.1948 Lieutenant-Colonel Louis William Howard Kerr, C.M.G., C.V.O., O.B.E.

C.V.O. London Gazette 1.1.1943 Major Louis William Howard Kerr, C.M.G., M.V.O., O.B.E. (to be dated 10th August, 1942)

M.V.O. IVth Class London Gazette 19.7.1929 Captain Louis William Howard Kerr, O.B.E., 11th Hussars
'On the occasion of the Special Mission of His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester to Japan to invest His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Japan with the Most Noble Order of the Garter'

C.M.G. London Gazette 2.4.1935 Captain Louis William Howard Kerr, M.V.O., O.B.E., Equerry to His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester
'On the occasion of the visit of His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester to Australia and New Zealand.'

O.B.E. London Gazette 1.1.1923 Lieutenant William Howard Kerr.

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Louis William Howard Kerr, K.C.V.O., C.M.G., O.B.E., was born in November 1894, the son of Captain Walter Kerr, and was educated at Lower Canada College, Montreal, and Trinity College, Cambridge. At the age of 14 he was awarded the Royal Canadian Humane Association Bronze medal for rescuing a girl from drowning on Caribou Lake in Ontario, Canada. Commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Cheshire Yeomanry in 1914, he transferred to the 11th Hussars in 1915, and served with the Regiment on the Western Front from February 1916 until the end of the War, before accompanying the Regiment to Egypt in 1919. Believing himself entitled to the Territorial Force War Medal (although his Medal Index Card specifically notes 'Ineligible for T.F.W.M.', which suggests that some correspondence must have been entered into between Kerr and the Medal office) he chose to acquire and mount another man's medal in his own group and wore it as if it were his throughout his career. A keen sportsman, he won the Army Lightweight Boxing Championship, and went onto represent England at ice-hockey.

Appointed Aide-de-Camp to Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in 1921, he served under him until the post of Lord Lieutenant was abolished in December 1922 upon the creation of the Irish Free State. The latter's tenure, although it coincided with the Civil War, was relatively uncontroversial, helped no doubt that, as a scion of the Dukes of Norfolk, he was the first Roman Catholic to hold the office since the reign of James II- 'an olive branch in place of a dictatorship' as one newspaper greeted his appointment, and Kerr was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the following month's New Year's Honours List. Appointed Equerry to H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester in 1924, he remained in the Duke's service for 50 years, as Crown Equerry until 1946, Comptroller of the Duke's Household from 1946-50, and, in retirement, as Extra Equerry from 1950-74. He accompanied him on the Garter Mission to Japan in 1929, for which he was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order and received the Japanese Order of the Sacred Treasure; and his visit to Australia and New Zealand in 1934-35, for which he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. He was the personal assistant to the Duke of Gloucester with the British Expeditionary Force in France, 1939-40, and accompanied him throughout the Second World War on visits to Gibraltar in 1941 and 1942; as his Chief of Staff on his tour of Middle East Forces in 1942; and was temporarily attached to the United States Army in France, Belgium, and Holland in 1944. In later life he was a Governor of Queen Mary's Hospital, a Fellow of the Metropolitan Museum of New York, and an Associate of Yale University. He died at home in Melbourne, Derbyshire, in July 1977.

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