TWO identical medals awarded to two Bolton-born soldiers named Greenhalgh who fought in the same war 200 years ago — but who may never have met —are now set to fetch about £2,000 each within minutes of each other at the same auction.
The silver Waterloo 1815 medals were awarded to Private Richard Greenhalgh, born in Bolton in 1791 and to Private William Greenhalgh, born in Bolton in 1792.
Richard Greenhalgh, who served with the 1st Regiment Dragoon Guards, was severely wounded in several parts of the body, with a sword, during the Battle of Waterloo,one of the most famous battles in British history, in what is now Belgium on June 18,1815.
William Greenhalgh, who served with the Coldstream Guards, was present at eight battles and was in Lieutenant Henry Dawkins’s Company during the Waterloo campaign in 1815.
Now, nearly 200 years later the Waterloo 1815 medals awarded to these Bolton heroes will be auctioned at Spink (correct) in Bloomsbury, London, on Thursday.
Richard Greenhalgh’s medal is expected to sell for between £1,400 and £1,800,while William Greenhalgh’s medal is set to fetch between £1,600 and £2,000.
Richard Greenhalgh was lucky to have survived the Battle of Waterloo as 3,500 British and Allied troops, led by the Duke of Wellington, were killed in the battle and a further 10,200 were wounded. And 28,000 French troops, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, were killed or wounded.
Despite the severe wounds he received at Waterloo, Richard Greenhalgh remained in the army for another 17 years and was not discharged until 1832, when he was in his early forties.
William Greenhalgh left the army in 1816, the year after the Battle of Waterloo.
But what happened to Richard and William after their military careers ended — or whether they ever returned to Bolton — is a mystery.
In the 1930s Bolton Wanders had a young Bolton-born full-back named Norman Greenhalgh (1914-1995) on their books.
But whether he was a descendant of Richard or William Greenhalgh is not clear.