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1912 (18 September) Colonel Fred Crawford's truncheon made to defend the Ulster Covenant

Currency:EUR Category:Collectibles Start Price:1,350.00 EUR Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,000.00 EUR
1912 (18 September) Colonel Fred Crawford's truncheon made to defend the Ulster Covenant

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Auction Date:2011 Sep 24 @ 12:00 (UTC+1)
Location:The Freemasons Hall - 17 Molesworth Street, Dublin, Dublin, ., Ireland
1912 (18 September) Colonel Fred Crawford's truncheon made to defend the Ulster Covenant

48 by 5cm., 19 by 2in.
Provenance:
Gifted to the present owner by Mrs Dorothy Crawford-Browne, wife of the nephew of Lt. Col. Crawford
The unique turned wood truncheon of Frederick Hugh Crawford, stamped with red hand symbol in shield. With contemporary handwritten note in Crawford's own hand and signed "Lt. Col. F. H. Crawford C.B.E. had batons made for use of U.V.F. in case of trouble at the signing of the Covenant by Lord Carson at the City Hall on September 18th 1912". Colonel Crawford the only man to sign the Ulster Covenant in his own blood and organiser of gun running for the Ulster Volunteer Force prior to the First World War was born in Belfast in 1861. Staunchly opposed to the introduction of Home Rule he became involved with the Ulster Volunteer Force. He rose to the position of Director of Ordnance for the UVF and imported large numbers of arms, his greatest achievement being the Larne Gun Running. On Ulster Day 1912 large crowds gathered to sign the Ulster Covenant at Belfast City Hall, the grounds of which were guarded by 2500 members of the Unionist Clubs of Ireland all under the command Colonel Crawford. It was for this occasion that Crawford commissioned the truncheon. A rare and important piece of Irish Unionist history. Also with F. H. Crawford's autobiography 'Guns for Ulster', Belfast 1947.