11cm (4in) x 40.7cm x 26cm (10.2in)
Silver mounted oak. A late Victorian silver bound cigar box, the hinged lid applied with an escutcheon presentation plaque engraved with the 24th Madras Infantry Elephant badge and battle honour scrolls for Seringapatam (1799), Assaye (1803), and Ile Bourbon (1810), over the inscription: 'Presented to by Lieut. Col. H.E. Porter & the Officers 24th MI on the Occasion of his Marriage’. Maker’s label to the interior of the Army & Navy Cooperative Society Ltd, London. length 40.7cm. Hallmarked London London 1898
Major Charles Halford Baldwin Clark (1867-1908) was born in Ceylon, educated at Malvern and commissioned into the Army in 1889. After serving with the York and Lancaster Regiment he transferred to the Indian Staff Corps in 1890, and while serving with the 24th Madras Infantry, he was awarded the Royal Humane Society’s medal for rescuing an Indian woman at Secunderebad. He served latterly with the 73rd Carnatic Infantry.