The Collection of Medals to Musicians formed by the Late Llewellyn Lord

Llewellyn Williams Lord, Jr (1925 - 2016)

To those of us who had had the privilege of knowing him, the passing of Llew Lord was an irreplaceable loss and indeed “the passing of an era.” Llewellyn Williams Lord Jr. died in Baltimore, Maryland on the 25th of May, 2016, sadly missed by many including his three wonderful daughters; Ginger, Ann and Charlotte who grew up sharing their Dad with his hobby. They are happy knowing that other collectors will finally have the opportunity to see his collection fully catalogued for others to now share and enjoy.

Llew had been a longtime resident of Rye, New York but had always wanted to return one day to his native Maryland. This past Spring, following the death of his beloved wife, Skip, he did in fact relocate to Baltimore before he died rather suddenly after a short illness. Before then, he had the fun and pleasure of furnishing every room of his new home with all his medals and badges, military prints, model soldiers, helmets etc. It was a mini museum to his primary love of all things military.

Prior to a successful career teaching at a Boy’s Prep School in New York City, Llew had achieved a BA Degree in History from Princeton University and held a commission in the United States Marine Corps. He was spared the proposed invasion of Japan by the abrupt ending to the war, but as a reserve “Officer of Marines”, he was recalled to duty during the Korean Conflict. Many a very pleasant day was spent with Llew, combing and scouring the antique and junk shops of New York City and suburbs, always hopeful of finding that one elusive “Rorke’s Drift“ defender; known but to Llew! (or possibly a Lucknow piper for this
contributor).

Llew’s primary interest was collecting the medals and research of Welsh regiments of the Victorian period, but he also managed to build a substantial collection of medals to Regimental Drummers of any regiment and was busy upgrading this collection to bandmasters. Many of these will appear throughout this catalogue. A selection of his outstanding badge collection of related Welsh units; including little known militia and volunteer regiments with some rare shako plates worthy of any regimental museum, will be noted here as well.

Although Llew had been a member of the OMRS and the Company of Military Historians his interests were not solely military. Llew also had a large collection of children’s books, particularly those by well known authors. Post cards, military miniatures and prints were another of his endless acquisitions - these latter all to Welsh regiments or Regimental drummers of course!

Llew was always available and willing to share his time and extensive knowledge with others. Good natured, outgoing and friendly, Llew was certainly one of the most respected and admired members of the medal-collecting fraternity. Anyone who had known him, may well have considered Llew a friend for life. Our small group of remaining local fellow collectors has taken quite a “hit” with the passing of Llew; one of our three originals. We still meet often in each others homes within our NY/CT border area to chat and show medals and are all members of the OMRS which aided our fraternity in those pre internet days. Collector friends such as Llew are not easily replaced, but his memory, shared with us over many years, will remain forever.

R.H.C.

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