The magnificent group of orders and medals to Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Bilbe Robinson

The magnificent group of orders and medals to Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Bilbe Robinson, K.C.M.G., G.B.E., K.B., comprising: The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George, Knight Commander's star and neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Knight Grand Cross's star and badge, Britannia type; Knight Batchelor's Badge, first type, silver-gilt and enamels; British War Medal 1914-20 and Victory Medal (LT. COL. SIR. T.B. ROBINSON.); Coronation Medal 1902; Coronation Medal 1911; France: Legion d'Honneur, Officer's badge; Italy: Order of the Crown, Companion's badge; Belgium, Order of the Crown, Companion's badge; mounted in a glazed case, mainly extremely fine or better.

Thomas Bilbe Robinson was a British born Australian soldier, business magnate and public servant who is principally remembered for his outstanding achievements in securing supplies of meat for British and Commonwealth armed forces and civilians during the Great War. His entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography refers to him as "the greatest export butcher the world has ever seen", making him an unusual example of an officer to whom the epithet 'butcher' was not applied as a term of reproach.

Born in Rotherhithe 25th November 1853, Thomas Bilbe Robinson emigrated to Queensland in 1881, becoming a Major in the Queensland Militia. In 1910 he was appointed Agent General for Queensland in London. Agent Generals represented Canadian and Australian state governments in London, being responsible, among other things, for promoting migration. Robinson was knighted at St James' Palace, 7th July 1910. In 1913 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. Following the outbreak of war in 1914 the Board of Trade made him Director of Meat Supplies Allied Forces, in which capacity he guaranteed supplies of meat not only for soldiers at the front but for the British and Australian domestic market, of which the importance in time of war can scarcely be overstated. He is credited with securing control of the vital meatworks on the River Plate in South America, using his business acumen to foil the designs of American packers to exploit wartime shortages. On the 12th of July 1917 he received a temporary commission as Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army Service Corps (without pay or allowances), and in the following month he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. The Allied nations of France, Italy and Belgium recognised his services also, and he received royal authority to wear the distinctions mentioned above during the period 1917-1919. On the 5th June 1920, he was promoted in the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, to Knight Grand Cross "[for] Services to [the] Board of Trade in connection with purchase and distribution of frozen meat for Allied Forces"