An intriguing story about the discovery of three medals that had been hidden away in the writing slope of an antique Victorian desk featured in the November 2022 issue of Family Tree magazine. Ingeniously concealed in a secret compartment, they were auctioned in London last September. Sergeant Edward Webb’s Crimea medal, (with three clasps), Army long service medal and good conduct medal were found along with a swivel locket brooch containing his photograph and a lock of his hair. Also a watch fob, no doubt a parting gift, engraved with the words: ‘To Armor Sergt E. Webb from The Sergts XCI AH June 9th 1874’. But who was this veteran, and did he have any descendants?
Tracing back through the censuses
Since Sergeant Webb appeared to have left the Army and the 91st Regiment in 1874, the first step was to see if he could be traced in the 1881 Census. If he had served for at least 12 years in the Army, he would have been receiving a pension in his retirement, so hopefully, he would be described as a ‘pensioner’ in the census. The Crimean War had taken place between October 1853 and February 1856, probably when Sergeant Webb was a young soldier,
