Beschreibung:

A Victorian Infantry Officer's Presentation Sword to Lieutenant Ralph Sneyd of the Queen's Own Royal Staffordshire Yeomanry by Robert Mole & Sons of Birmingham the slightly curved blade bearing the maker's name at the ricasso, etched over much of its surface with scrolling foliage, trophies of war, VR Royal cypher and Staffordshire knot device, the inscription panel inscribed 'Presented to Lieutenant Ralph Sneyd - On His Coming to Age - This 10th Day of December 1884 - By the Officers and Troopers of the Newcastle Squadron, Queen's Own Royal Staffordshire Yeo'y' Colonel Ralph Sneyd inherited Keele Hall from his father Walter, although he spent very little time there, especially in his later life when he went to live in the south of England. He served as a Colonel of the Staffordshire Yeomanry. During the Great War he arrested the exotic dancer and courtesan Mata Hari for counter-espionage, it was discovered that Hari was spying for the Germans and was charged for causing the deaths of at least 50,000 men. However, during her trail her lawyer was unable to cross examine any of the witnesses and she was found guilty and executed by firing squad on the 15th October 1917 The Keele Estate 'In 1870 the estate passed to Ralph's famously idle brother, Rev Walter Sneyd Walter was so exhausted in God's ministry that he retired to a comfortable but busy indolence in his mid-twenties. He went on to collect rare books and manuscripts and established one of the most notable private libraries in the country. Walter’s son Ralph threw a notable party for three thousand people at Keele Hall when he attained his majority. He also found time to race horses and to lead the local Hunt. "Sporting Ralph" was the last of the family to reside at Keele, although he actually lived away for much of the time. He founded the Keele Park racecourse and built breeding stables (now the Clock House buildings) and even a railway station for the convenience of race-goers. The Keele racecourse was located to the right of Clockhouse Drive, facing away from the Clock House. The home straight is now under the M6. In 1907 Uttoxeter Racecourse was built and opened by a company formed to take over the interests and licence of Keele Park Racecourse which had recently ceased to operate. Ralph Sneyd copyright Vanity Fair MINI "Sporting Ralph" continued as a Victorian gentleman at the end of the nineteenth century should - a world tour, a new yacht, shooting-parties with the King, horse-racing, three wives and an expensive divorce. He seldom visited Keele although it seemed to "possess every qualification which could be required in a country seat". In 1902 there was a severe reversal of future - an economic slump coincided with the expiry of the lease on the Silverdale coal mines. Legal disputes over the condition of the mines continued for years and heavy financial losses were incurred. Image: Sporting Ralph in Vanity Fair 1898 From 1901 to 1910 Keele Hall experienced a brief renaissance when it was rented to the Grand Duke Michael of Russia, a cousin of the Tsar. He had been exiled from Russia for marrying below his station and dismissed from command of his regiment in disgrace. His wife was given the title of Countess de Torby by the Grand Duke of Luxembourg in an attempt to elevate her status. She was grand-daughter of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and, through him, a descendant of Peter the Great's African slave Abram Hannibal. The Grand Duke indulged his passion for the life of an English country squire and took a full part in the Keele community - for example, as Governor of Keele School and as patron of the cricket club. The Bolshevik Revolution prevented his return to Russia and he died in 1927. Ralph lived on in the south of England, serving as Colonel of the Staffordshire Yeomanry. In his absence, the Sneyd family's association with Keele - so glorious in the 17th Century and revived briefly in the late 19th Century - gradually dwindled in the face of an exp