Silver teaspoons with military 'crest'

[Tugger]

Hi all, i'm not sure if anyone can help, but I was given a selection of silver cutlery as a family hand-me-down, included were a couple of teaspoons with a crossed rifles emblem and the letters L.Co. and G.I.P.V underneath, can anyone shed any light on what they might be from. I've attached a pic

 

 

Thanks in advance

Edited November 2, 2019 by Tugger

[10FM68]

Spoons are traditional prizes for shooting competitions.  I suspect that is what these are.

 

10 68

[Tony B]

A lot of companies had at one time thier own shooting clubs, including London Transport and Blue Circle, it was considered to be a socialy responsobile thing for a company to do and a worthy pass time for the working man to develop skills and disciplines which could benifit the saftey of the realm and was a social event that kept them away from alcahol. As was membership of the Territorial Army. Now, I don't know wether to laugh or cry.   

[Richard Farrant]

22 hours ago, 10FM68 said:

Spoons are traditional prizes for shooting competitions.  I suspect that is what these are.

 

10 68

Agreed, I have a number from my shooting days, but looking at the letters, I don't think these are from a rifle club. My impression is " L Company,  G...... I...... P....... Volunteers", possibly a volunteer unit from WW1 era?

[MatchFuzee]

What date are the spoons?

[Tony B]

The use of 'Volunteers' would I expect pre date the formation of the Territorial Army in 1907.  the Term is more assocoaited with the 1899-1902 South African wars. Railway companies were great supporters of such units.

Edited February 18, 2019 by Tony B

[11th Armoured]

There was a Great Indian Peninsula Railway Volunteer Corps:

https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Great_Indian_Peninsula_Railway_Regiment

[Tugger]

On 2/18/2019 at 12:27 PM, 11th Armoured said:

There was a Great Indian Peninsula Railway Volunteer Corps:

https://wiki.fibis.org/w/Great_Indian_Peninsula_Railway_Regiment

That's an interesting point, thanks. The silverware was handed down from my Father's side. His mother (my Grandmother) was born in India in 1900 and her father (surname Church) was a railway engineer as far as I am aware as we have a  plaque mounted on a (very non-PC turtle shell) commemorating the building of the Ugandan Railway. I don't know much else, but it puts things in the right part of the world...I'll see what else I can unearth

On 2/17/2019 at 5:02 PM, MatchFuzee said:

What date are the spoons?

They appear to be dated 1908

[Minesweeper]

Any possibility of showing a picture of the Hallmarks?

[Tugger]

27 minutes ago, Minesweeper said:

Any possibility of showing a picture of the Hallmarks?

Sure, no problem, As far as I've found they were was made by Elkington & Co. and hallmarked in Birmingham

[Minesweeper]

Spot on with the Manufacturer and Date!  Thank you.

[MatchFuzee]

Tugger

With the link to the Ugandan Railway and previous volunteer experience (the spoon was his?) I wonder if he was in the Uganda Railway Volunteer Reserve:-

https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/community/8059

The list of the India Volunteer Corps (1904) corrected to 30th June 1915:-

https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/88335285

The 1st Battalion's officers:-

https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/88335465

[Tugger]

On 2/27/2019 at 4:33 PM, MatchFuzee said:

Tugger

With the link to the Ugandan Railway and previous volunteer experience (the spoon was his?) I wonder if he was in the Uganda Railway Volunteer Reserve:-

https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/community/8059

The list of the India Volunteer Corps (1904) corrected to 30th June 1915:-

https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/88335285

The 1st Battalion's officers:-

https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/88335465

Many thanks for that, I'll have to spend some time looking through it and finding out what I can... In the meanwhile, I'll take a pic of the turtle shell/plaque for you in case you're interested and can glean any more info from it... Thanks again.

[MatchFuzee]

28 minutes ago, Tugger said:

In the meanwhile, I'll take a pic of the turtle shell/plaque for you in case you're interested and can glean any more info from it... Thanks again.

Yes, I would like to a photo of the plaque. 

[Tugger]

On 3/1/2019 at 12:56 PM, MatchFuzee said:

Yes, I would like to a photo of the plaque. 

Sorry for the delay...here's a pic of said shell and plaque. A.F. Church was my Great Grandfather.

Edited March 16, 2019 by Tugger

[MatchFuzee]

Thank you the photos.

Interesting that the signatures have been engraved. 

[Tugger]

Just had a bit of a Google, (why I didn't previously is anyone's guess   ) However, putting A F Church and Uganda Railway in to Google turned up numerous references to the Kenya Gazette dating around 1910-16 and thereabouts. It seems to be A F Church (Arthur Fredrick) was Superintendent of Ways & Works and  Acting General Manager at various times. I wanted to double check I was looking at the same A F Church and thought idly about some of the other names mentioned in the Gazette...

 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1deuo-c2lo4C&pg=PT1&lpg=PT1&dq=uganda+railway++a+f+church&source=bl&ots=SnR6lQrLKE&sig=ACfU3U29IrrNjmxtBgX5iHx1s6eoD4Ll4w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJqe2wgonhAhU8VRUIHYzZBQcQ6AEwDHoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=uganda railway a f church&f=false

 E G Wilson appears having signed off General Notice 300 in the section below A F Church's entry

 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=f3DMn83bIVwC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=uganda+railway++a+f+church&source=bl&ots=Nx90cbyGlK&sig=ACfU3U1wwBHQjWd9vVkOzrsF8CSxNOBhxg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJqe2wgonhAhU8VRUIHYzZBQcQ6AEwC3oECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=uganda railway a f church&f=false

And this appears to be A E Cruickshank

 

Lo and behold if they don't bear a resemblance to these signatures... the search continues