A ruby and diamond crowned double heart ring, circa 1780

Set with a rose-cut diamond and facet-cut ruby below a coronet of emerald and diamonds, to bifurcated shoulders and tapering band, diamonds approx. 0.25 carat total, ring size G½

Provenance:

Engagement ring given by Linley Francis Messel to Agatha Anne Alexander.

Linley Francis Messel was born on 31 August 1899 at Midhurst, Sussex, England. He was the son of Lt-Colonel Leonard Charles Rudolph Messel and Maud Frances Sambourne. He married Agatha Anne Alexander, daughter of Commander John Alexander, on 11 October 1933. He and Agatha Anne Alexander were divorced in 1945.

He was educated at Eton College, Windsor, Berkshire, England. He was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.

He was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Middlesex Yeomanry between 1938 and 1941. He fought in the Second World War between 1939 and 1945, and he was mentioned in despatches. He was GSO of the GHQ, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force between 1942 and 1944. He was Deputy Education Officer-in-Chief between 1944 and 1946, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration (TD). He lived at Nymans, Staplefield, Sussex, England. He lived in 1965 at Lower Roundhurst, Haslemere, Surrey, England.

He died in June 1971 at age 71 at Midhurst, Sussex, England.