Lot 925

Description

Death of Duke of York 1827, in silver (40 mm) by Faulkner (Eimer 1190). Nearly uncirculated and rare in silver.

Son of King George III, the popular Duke was immortalised in the rhyme 'The grand old Duke of York he had ten thousand men. He marched them up to the top of the hill and he marched them down again'. Married to his cousin Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia they had no children. The Duke was however believed to have sired several illegitimate children, among them was Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbs (1787-1873) who became Collector of Customs for the Colony of New South Wales, Australia 1834-1859 helping to transform Sydney into a large prosperous city, and Captain James Molloy (1788-1867) who became a landowner and pioneer of Augusta in Western Australia.