The Paul Morrissey Collection
17th May 2022
A collection of medals belonging to a former Sergeant of the London Irish Rifles is expected to make around £15,000 when it comes up for auction in Salisbury on 25th May.
Fifty five lots from the collection of the late Paul Brendan Morrissey come under the hammer at Woolley and Wallis, with the second part of the collection due to be sold in November.
Among the highlights are a Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and Military Medal (MM) group awarded to Corporal Wilfred ‘Jimmy’ Hands, also of the London Irish Rifles. The group of five medals is accompanied by a cartoon of Hands at the Battle of Loos in 1915, and carries a pre-sale estimate of £2,000-3,000.
“Morrissey had a particular interest in medals of his former regiment, and those awarded to members of the 18th Battalion London Regiment predominate,” said militaria specialist, Ned Cowell. “He was for 40 years a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society, regularly contributing articles to its journal. As such, his collection is especially well researched, which provides added interest.”
Over 200 individual recipients are represented in this first part of the collection, and another highlight is the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and King’s Police Medal group awarded to Colonel William Henry Wyndham Murphy of the Leinster Regiment, London Regiment and Zanzibar Police.
“The collection has been put together with an eye to research rather than investment, so there are lots to suit the pockets of a wide range of collectors,” continued Cowell. “There are some interesting pieces to enthuse new collectors. We also include Morrissey’s first purchase (a Crimea Medal awarded to Henry Palmer, Captain of the Mizzen Top), which got him started several decades ago.”
