A right Royal affair as historical documents come under the hammer

Jan. 4, 2012 - PRLog -- Birmingham-based auctioneers Biddle & Webb are anticipating a great year as some really exciting and rare items will be featured in the first sale of the New Year on the 6th January 2012.

*Among the treasures up for sale at the Ladywood auction house is a collection of historical documents signed by both George III and the Prince Regent.

The collection of documents and treaties allude to some very significant aspects of English history including the official notification of the Duke of Wellington’s appointment as Constable of His Majesty’s Tower of London, dated the 30th January 1827.

Other documents include a Writ of Summons which discusses making Lord Byron a Baron of the Realm and his claim as being the rightful heir to the title.

The more politically significant documents include a “Warrant for affixing the Great Seal to the Ratification of Three Separate and Secret Articles of the Treaty of Defensive Alliance between his Majesty and the King of Prussia” dated 31st March 1814. There is also a similar document relating to Austria dated 19th August 1815 and signed by George III, the Prince Regent and the Emperor of Austria.

Confirming George III’s incredibly long reign is a “Warrant for affixing the Great Seal to Three Commissions for seizing pirates”. The document was dated the 14th December 1819 – and denoted “the 60th year of our reign” which include both the King and the Prince Regent’s signatures.

There are a total of 19 documents in the collection sanctioning significant treaties between England and Europe and other events and honours dating back to 1805 up until 1827.

Biddle & Webb’s managing director Jeremy Thornton is highly excited at the historical significance of the documents as they refer to some of the most defining moments in English history. He said:” King George III: King of Great Britain and Ireland reigned from 1760 until his death in 1820. He laboured long and hard to resolve some of the political crises of the day but his reign was somewhat stained by the loss of British control over the American colonies.

“Sadly, what was believed to be at the time, his advancing mental illness rendered George III unable to fulfil his official duties during the last decade of his life, which made it necessary for the Prince Regent to rule in his place.

“The documents were signed during a very significant era for Great Britain, as the country began to gain a foothold in Europe through alliances with like-minded foreign powers that also opposed Napoleon. We are hoping the collection will attract a good deal of interest.”

*The post 1820 documents are signed singularly by George IV the former Prince Regent, after his father’s death. The collection has a pre-sale estimate of £1,000 to £2,000 and was brought into one of Biddle & Webb’s regular valuation mornings.

Other items included in the sale with distinctive Royal origins are George V and Queen Mary presentation cufflinks complete with Crowned Order of the Garter collars.

To view a sample of the documents and some of the other ‘star lots’ included in the sale visit: http://www.biddleandwebb.co.uk/starlots.cfm