A George IV Irish sterling silver gilt freedom box, Dublin 1821 by Richard Garde of Cork

A George IV Irish sterling silver gilt freedom box, Dublin 1821 by Richard Garde of Cork

Rectangular form with rounded corners, hinged lid raised by a simple thumbpiece. The lid engraved with a central oval with the city arms of Cork, within a motto ribbon reading STATIO BENE FIDA CARINIS, all within a star cartouche surmounted by a crown, the Royal arms to the left, and transected by swords, against a striated ground, within a rectangular frame, edged with a floral band engraved with Irish harps and thistles, corned with encircled crowns. The sides with wriggle work borders. Engraved underneath with a presentation inscription reading “The Freedom at large of the City of Cork was unanimously voted by the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Common Council to the Right Honourable Edward, Earl Digby, as a Testimony of the high sense they entertain of his lordships character Oct 10^th 1822 Henry Bagnell Esq Mayor, John Saunders, Julius Bernard Jnr } Sherrifs, William Jones Town Clerk.”. Gilt interior. Fully marked and with provincial maker’s mark.

Length – 7.08 cm / 3.05 inches

Weight – 105 grams / 3.38 ozt

Edward Digby, 2nd Earl Digby (1773 – 1856), known as Viscount Coleshill from 1790 to 1793, most notable for serving as Lord Lieutenant of Dorset for nearly fifty years, from 1808 to 1856.

Provenance: Colonel Sir Francis Henry Douglas Charlton Whitmore, 1st Baronet (1872-1962), thence by descent.

There is a connection between Whitmore and the Earl’s of Digby. His father Captain Thomas Charles Douglas Whitmore (1839-1907) had come into the possession of Orsett Hall, Essex, from Digby Wingfield-Baker, to clear a debt. Orsett Hall had been inherited by his grandfather William Wingfield (1772-1858) in 1827. William firstly married Lady Charlotte-Maria Digby (d.1807), eldest daughter of Henry Digby, 1st Earl Digby (1731 – 1793). It was the first son of William and Charlotte-Maria, George Digby Wingfield Digby (1797-1883) who inherited the estates of the Earl of Digby after the death of the second Earl in 1856 with issue.

It seems plausible that this Freedom box made its way from the second Earl of Digby to his nephew George, and then from George to his brother Richard, before moving with Orsett Hall to the Whitmore family.

Another Cork Freedom box, marked for Dublin 1808, no maker’s mark with a similar scheme of engraving to the lid was sold Bonham’s Knightsbridge, 16 Feb 2022, lot 765 (£3187.50 incl. prem)

Another Cork Freedom box marked for Dublin 1825 by the same maker is also known.