1907 British 2nd Leinster “Prince of Wales” Regiment Gallipoli Veteran Presentation Sterling Silver Blotter Book and Photograph

The blotter book carries a large sterling silver cover, approximately 9 by 11-3/4 inches. The cover bears the large relief insignia of the 2nd Leinster “Prince of Wales” Regiment and the engraved presentation “Presented to the Officers , 2nd Leinster Regt. by Capt. J.C. Colquhoun, On Retirement, 5th March 1907.” In the lower left corner of the cover are a silversmith’s mark and three hallmarks. The silversmith mark is that of “Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Company, Ltd.” of London, while the hallmarks are location, date, and assay marks that attest to the creation of the cover in silver in London in 1907. Inside the volume are multiple blotter pages. Most of the blotter pages were obviously used, most likely to blot handwritten documents that were prepared by the officers of the regiment to whom the book was given by Colquhoun. The last few blotter pages remain unused. The interior of the covers had dark blue silk lining that is now worn. Accompanying the blotter book is a portrait photograph of an army officer, possibly of J.C. Colquhoun. The photograph itself is approximately 5-5/8 by 7-3/4 inches, which is tipped on to a photographer’s studio backer with an overall size of approximately 7-3/4 by 11-1/4 inches. The photograph shows an officer in dress uniform with medal bar. His shoulder knots carry three pips for the rank of Captain. Although the engraving on the silver cover refers to Colquhoun’s “retirement” in 1907, it appears that Colquhoun later returned to duty in the First World War, and the photograph appears to have been taken during the war, since the medal bar carries the 1914-1915 star, but it does not appear to include any other World War I medals such as the War Service Medal or Victory Medal, nor does it include the Distinguished Service Order, which Colquhoun received in 1916. However, the first decoration on the medal bar is the decoration of a Member of the Royal Victorian Order. Accompanying the book and photograph is a photocopied page from a book, with the page bearing the heading “War Services of Officers of the Army, Etc.”. This page contains an entry for Captain J.C. Colquhoun, which indicates that he served in the Boer War in South Africa in 1902, receiving the Queen’s South Africa Medal with four clasps. The entry also reflects that between 1914 and 1919 Colquhoun was again serving with the Leinster Regiment, which included being mentioned in dispatches, being wounded, serving at Gallipoli, and being decorated with the Distinguished Service Order. No mention is made, however, of the Royal Victorian Order as worn on the medal bar in the photograph, and the South Africa medal on the bar does not appear to display any clasps on the ribbon, so that further research would be necessary to confirm that the officer in the photograph is indeed Captain Colquhoun. Interestingly, although the Leinster Regment also had the title of “The Royal Canadians”, the regiment was in fact one of eight regiments of the British Army that was considered to be an “Irish Regiment”, and it was disbanded in 1922 after establishment of the Irish Free State. The blotter pages are loose, and the cover shows expected tarnish and scratches, but it remains quite impressive in appearance and constitutes an interesting artifact of the old British Army regimental system, presented to the officers of a noted regiment by one of its own, an officer with an impressive record of service to the crown and valor in combat.