Baldwin & Sons
Auction 75 26 September 2012
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MILITARY MEDALS. Campaign Groups. Great War Group of 3 awarded to Major Alexander Rayner OBE, MD, Royal Army Medical Corps, mentioned in despatches, an eminent Radiologist who established the very first X-Ray department in Great Britain, and brother to the famous Suffragette Edith Rigby (née Rayner), The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, OBE (Civil) 1st type, British War and Victory Medals (Major A. E. Rayner.) with MID bronze oak leaves; medal pair officially impressed, group swing-mounted with reverse pin for wear, set within an initialled 'AER' brown leather case, by Spink & Son Ltd, sold with two large engraved bronze medical medals. (5)
OBE London Gazette 03.06.1919
Arthur Ernest Rayner was born c.1878 in Preston. Himself the son of a General Practitioner, he went into Medical Practice and rose to some eminence in his career as a Radiologist, establishing the very first X-Ray Department at the Preston Royal Infirmary in 1904 and was later appointed Honorary Physician & Radiologist.During the Great War, he became a Lieutenant in the RAMC, being swiftly promoted to the rank of Temporary Captain. It was in this same year, in May, that he entered active service in Mesopotamia (MIC confirms). He was awarded the OBE in 1919 and given the rank of Major in June 1919 and went on to serve some 42 years in Medicine.
An interesting historical connection to this medal group is the one shared with his sister, the famous Suffragette Edith Rigby (née Rayner), who was incarcerated numerous times for various activist crimes. In 1907 she formed the Preston Branch of the Women's Social and Political Union, and also famously took part in a march to the Houses of Parliament with Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst.
Sold with copy MIC, handwritten notes written by a relative ('My uncle etc'), and copy London Gazette mentions.
Estimate: £250-300
OBE London Gazette 03.06.1919
Arthur Ernest Rayner was born c.1878 in Preston. Himself the son of a General Practitioner, he went into Medical Practice and rose to some eminence in his career as a Radiologist, establishing the very first X-Ray Department at the Preston Royal Infirmary in 1904 and was later appointed Honorary Physician & Radiologist.During the Great War, he became a Lieutenant in the RAMC, being swiftly promoted to the rank of Temporary Captain. It was in this same year, in May, that he entered active service in Mesopotamia (MIC confirms). He was awarded the OBE in 1919 and given the rank of Major in June 1919 and went on to serve some 42 years in Medicine.
An interesting historical connection to this medal group is the one shared with his sister, the famous Suffragette Edith Rigby (née Rayner), who was incarcerated numerous times for various activist crimes. In 1907 she formed the Preston Branch of the Women's Social and Political Union, and also famously took part in a march to the Houses of Parliament with Christabel and Sylvia Pankhurst.
Sold with copy MIC, handwritten notes written by a relative ('My uncle etc'), and copy London Gazette mentions.
Estimate: £250-300