on tricorn base with three shell, foliage and scroll-cast feet, the sides similarly applied, one of the plain sides engraved with an inscription, the baluster stem with foliage and flowers on a matted ground, the detachable arms with three scrolling foliage-cast branches, each with tapering fluted socket with reeded nozzle, with a further detachable central branch with conforming socket and nozzle

63.5cm high, 138oz 2dwt, 4,295gr

The inscription reads 'Presented to L^t General The Right Hon^ble Sir E. Blakeney K.C.B & G.C.H. by a Few Friends Dublin 1841'.

Sir Edward Blakeney, G.C.B., G.C.H. (1778-1868) was born in Newcastle in March of 1778, the fourth son of Major William Blakeney (d.1804) and his wife Sarah Shields. Sir Edward's father served in the British Army at the Battle of Rheinberg, and later the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American War of Independence. He was wounded during both battles and so retired in 1779. He was to go on to sit in the Irish House of Commons.

Given his father's military background it was perhaps inevitable that Sir Edward, as he would later come to be known, would follow him into the British Army, first with the 8th Light Dragoons and shortly thereafter the 121st Regiment of Foot where he was promoted to lieutenant and then a captain of the 99th Regiment of Foot. Having first joined in 1794 by 1809 he had seen action in Dutch Guiana, Santo Domingo as well as the Battles of Alkmaar, Castricum and Copenhagen. Having been promoted to lieutenant colonel by 1808 he was involved in the capture of Martinique and was garrisoned in Nova Scotia.

Despite those successes, he was probably most known for his services during the Peninsular War when he joined Sir Arthur Wellesley, late Duke of Wellington, in Spain in 1810. During his time in Spain he commanded his troops at numerous battles and was injured on at least two occasions, first in the thigh during the Battle of Albuera and later at the Siege of Badajoz. In recognition of his services he was promoted to Colonel in 1814 and appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, as noted on the present candelabrum, the following year.

Sir Edward continued his rise through the ranks of the British Army, eventually ending up as Field Marshall in 1862. In 1836 he was sent to Ireland as Commander-in-Chief and slightly later Lord Justice of Ireland. The same year he was also appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Guelphic Order. Back England he was to go on become Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea by 1856. He had married Maria Gardiner, the daughter of Colonel Gardiner of the East India Company in 1814 and they were to retire, childless, to Richmond House in Twickenham.