Victorian rowing memorabilia stars in our pick of five auction highlights

1. Victorian rowing memorabilia

A group of Victorian rowing memorabilia generated plenty of bidding at Claydon Auctions in Middle Claydon, Buckinghamshire on June 25-26. The dozen lots, mainly English silver trophies and awards, related to the career of British barrister and oarsman Walter Bradford Woodgate (1841-1920).

An alumni of Brasenose College at Oxford (he rowed in the winning Boat Race crews of 1862-63) Woodgate has a small but important footnote in the sport as the man who ‘invented’ the coxless fours.

Concluding that a four could be steered using a wire and lever attached to an oarsman's footrest, Woodgate caused controversy at Henley Royal Regatta in 1868 when he arranged for his cox to jump overboard at the start of the Stewards' Challenge Cup. The cox was caught in weeds and struggled to make it ashore. Brasenose boat, now considerably lighter, triumphed by 100 yards.

The outraged Henley committee disqualified the boat but a special Prize for four-oared crews without coxswains was offered at the regatta in 1869.

Pictured here is Woodgate’s collection of medals awarded in the 1850s and 60s accompanied by three Victorian silver presentation oars, two embroidered silks dated 1863 and 1869 plus his own copy of one of several published books, Reminiscences of an old Sportsman by W.B. Woodgate (1909). Estimated at £500-1000, the lot sold for £5500.

2. Buckingham Palace telephone exchange

A telephone exchange removed from Buckingham Palace during refurbishment 25 years ago, sold in west London on June 21 for £3000. The apparently unique piece of royal memorabilia was offered for sale as part of the Chiswick Auction’s quarterly Autographs and Memorabilia auctions. 

The Dictorgraph telephone exchange was used at Buckingham Palace until 1998. It was originally situated in the office of Robert (Baron) Fellowes who worked as Private Secretary to Elizabeth ll from 1990-99.

As evidenced by labels to the display, the exchange connected the Queen, The Prince of Wales; The Secretary and Equerry to the Prince of Wales; and the Palace Superintendent. The Queen's switch was red, the others black or white.

Although the late 1960s technology was looking a little antiquated at the time, it remained in use at a thrifty palace for several decades.

The London royal residences were first equipped with a telephone system in 1896, following the installation of a similar system at Balmoral Castle. Queen Victoria made the first phone call by a British sovereign on January 14, 1878 although – as she deemed the new device to be unhygienic - she rarely used it. 

'Subscriber number'

At the time Buckingham Palace was allocated the subscriber number of 4832, which it has retained to this day. Today’s computerised exchange is said to have the best directory in the world, with the private numbers of every world leader. 

Robert Fellowes, who married Lady Jane Spencer, elder sister of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1978, was recruited to join the Royal Household as Assistant Private Secretary. He spent the next 20 years in the Private Secretary's Office, becoming Deputy in 1986, and Private Secretary in 1990. He left the job after 10 years to resume a career in private banking.

The vendor of the exchange had bought it at a Reeman Dansie auction some years ago. It had previously been listed on eBay with the asking price set at £4950.

3. Keynes’ The Economic Consequences of the Peace

Presentation firsts of John Maynard Keynes’ The Economic Consequences of the Peace don’t get much better than the copy sold for £40,000 at Bonhams on June 21. This 1919 edition was inscribed on front paste-down: 'To Vanessa Bell from the author in memory of Charleston where he wrote the book'.

Keynes penned his polemic in quick time, having resigned from his position as adviser to the Treasury at the Paris Peace Conference in May 1919. Dismayed at the early drafts for the Treaty of Paris, on his return to England, he holed up at Charleston, Vanessa Bell's farmhouse on the Sussex Downs and wrote his lively and impassioned argument. On publication three months later, it became an instant best-seller and book established Keynes's reputation as one of the most influential economists of the 20th century.

Keynes had his own bedroom at Charleston from 1916. A friend of Lytton Strachey and Leonard Woolf from his Cambridge days, Keynes was an integral part of the Bloomsbury group, becoming Duncan Grant's lover before the war as well as a very close friend of Bell.

This copy of Keynes’ breakthrough work came by descent from Vanessa Bell to an earlier owner and had previously been in private UK collection. The estimate had been £8000-10,000.

4. Victorian silver bravery medal

A privately-produced Victorian silver bravery medal proved hugely popular when offered for sale at Noonans in London on June 21. According to the inscription engraved to the reverse, it was ‘Presented to JH Ive, Driver of 0Q Bayswater Omnibus by Mr Rochester and Family for his courageous conduct in rescuing them from the fire at 498 Mile End Road with his Omnibus on June 25 1878. The detailed engraving to the front shows the method of rescue.

At considerable risk to his own property and person, Ive had positioned his horse-drawn cab close to the building, allowing him to climb up and reach the members of the Rochester family trapped on the second floor. Titled to the bar Novel Fire Escape, the medal struck a chord with collectors of transport-related medals. Estimated at £60-£80, it took £1700.

5. Pedestal knitting machine

The Harrison semi-automatic pedestal knitting machine was designed c.1900 for producing rib socks. It allowed for the simple creation of a tube of fabric plus modifications for creating the heel and the toe.

As knitting enjoys a revival, a vibrant online community had grown up around the use of these vintage circular machines. A dozen or more models emerged in late 19^th century although these were the top of the range. The Manchester company, established in 1856 by William Harrison, was the only English manufacturer of knitting machines to win 10 industry gold medals.

These machines are bought for use rather than curiosity and can command substantial sums. The example offered in Devizes by Henry Aldridge & Son on June 24 was estimated at £100-150 but sold at £2100.