Unk!
Colonel Harold Eustace Coad AMICE Royal Engineers
The Man Harold Eustace
Coad was born on 7th January 1876 at Portsea Island, Hampshire, Son
of Thomas, a Surveyor in the Royal Engineers and Agnes J and the youngest of
seven children, Kathleen Elizabeth born in 1861, John Edwin 1864, Edith Agnes Cochrane
1865, Leonora K 1867, Stanley Allan 1871 and Thomas Herbert Edgar 1874. By 1881 Harold, aged 5 was living with his parents, siblings and servant Eliza Moore aged 22, at 2 Hampshire House, Commercial Road, Portsmouth and listed as a scholar. By 1891 the family had moved to 89 Sheperds Bush Road in London and Harold now 14 was attending St. Paul’s Street School where he remained until 1893. His brother Stanley was now a Medical Student, Thomas a student at King’s College and living with them was a Niece, Jessie Worth and Eliza Stacey, Domestic Servant. Harold studied at University College in London between 1894-96 following in his father’s footsteps qualifying as a Surveyor. He was admitted as an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Engineers on 4th December 1894 having been tutored by Professor J Hudson-Beare. On 27th October 1899 aged 23 and after open competition Harold was employed as an Assistant Surveyor, Royal Engineer Civil Staff working for the War Office, Whitehall and with the Honorary rank of Lieutenant. On 5th August 1905, Harold together with ‘Mrs Coad’, departed Southampton aboard The Gaupe, a liner of The Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company sailing to the Mauritius under The Master J W Bay-Edan, and working in the RE office there, later moving to Barbados before returning to the UK, where in 1907 he was based at the RE Offices St. Leonard’ Bank, Perth in Scotland. On 1st April 1907 he was appointed an Inspector of Works.
By the 1911 census Harold was based at the Curragh Military Camp, Kildare in Ireland, living in House 192 with his wife Edith Beatrice Coad and on 11th November the same year promoted to the honorary rank of Captain. Between 1911 and the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 Harold and Edith sailed again to work in Canada returning to Glasgow aboard The Corsican a liner of the Allen Line on 1st June 1915. Harold was promoted to Honorary Major on 1st July 1917 and posted overseas to France & Belgium on 7th September until 3rd April 1918 and again on 3rd September - 11th November 1918 entitling him to the British War and Victory Medals. He became Acting Superintending Inspector of Works between 5th September 1918 and 7th December 1919. Between January and March 1919 aged 43 he married Edith Beatrice S Kneller at Woolavington Church, Bridgewater, Somerset, and had no children. It is interesting that the marriage was only registered at this time as Harold was shown as being married to Beatrice as early as 1905, 14 years earlier. In the Supplement to the London Gazette of 8th March 1920 Harold was appointed as Commander of the Military Order of Aviz by The President of the Portuguese Republic for Royal Engineer Services. During the 1920s Harold was sent to work in Japan, returning on 12th July 1927 from Yokohama to London aboard the Hakone Maru of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha line. Three months later on 5th October 1927 Harold and Edith sailed again, this time from London to Gibraltar aboard the Hakusan Maru, under Master Y Okuno. He became the Superintending Inspector of Works on 11th February 1931 and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel the same day. He was granted the local rank of Colonel whilst acting as Chief Inspector of Works at the War Office on 12th September 1938 and promoted to full Colonel on 25th November and made Chief Inspector of Works, Staff for Royal Engineer Services. By 1939 he was living at The Cottage, Netherhampton in Wiltshire as a private resident and retired from the Army on 7th January 1941 aged 65 and placed on retired pay, earning the War Medal 1939-45. Following his retirement Harold and Edith lived at The White House in Netherhampton, and Edith died during the last quarter of 1951. After her death Harold moved into a small property in the extensive grounds of a smallholding owned by Edith’s brother, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Douglas Roe and his wife Ida Margaret at Ballintaggart, Edington, Somerset. Harold was described as a very tall and ‘spare’ man, was a superb horseman, and in retirement enjoyed long walks, cooking and smoking his pipe. He died on 8th April 1965 aged 89 at Ballintaggart and left the sum of £2084 to his sister in law, all the other beneficiaries having died before him. Harold was described by his niece as “The most delightful man. Very affectionate towards us children, hugely supportive to Ida and with the most wonderfully good manners imaginable and a very modest and private person”
The Story This unusual group of medals including the Portuguese Military Order of Aviz awarded to Colonel Harold Coad were purchased from Ian Laidler at the Birmingham Medal Society Convention in Coventry on 12th June 2004. A brief biography was prepared from trawling the London Gazette and drawing a copy of his will from the Family Records Division in London. Seven years later in September 2011 some further useful detail was taken from Ancestry.com where two family trees had been started. In January 2015, 11 years after the initial acquisition, Harold Coad’s niece Lilac Johnston found his entry on this web site and made contact. She provided much additional useful information to help piece Harold’s life together including the sought after photograph, thus enabling another face to be put to the ‘Man Behind his Medals’, and affectionately referring to him as ‘Unk’. Coincidentally at the same time more detail was released on Ancestry.uk. Sadly whilst communicating with Lilac, her Granddaughter Liana, Harold's Great-Great-Niece, passed away aged just 22. Her story is detailed below, and proves that medal collecting is not just about history or the artefact itself, but can have a very human touch and deal with the present linking both forever.
Military Order of Aviz
History of Military Order of Aviz
The Military Order of Aviz , known as the Royal Military Order of Aviz before 1910 and the Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz, before 1789 and prior to then the Knights of St. Benedict of Aviz or Friars of Santa Maria of Évora, is a PortugueseOrder of Chivalry. The Kingdom of Portugal, founded in 1128, was not only contemporaneous with the Crusades but conducted one of its own against the Moors. Some crusaders were bound only by temporary vows, and when these expired they would sometimes return to their country although the war was not ended. This accounts for the favour with which military orders were regarded beyond the Pyrenees, in Portugal as well as in Spain; for in them the vow of fighting against the infidels was perpetual, like other monastic vows. Knights Templar were found in Portugal as early as 1128, and received a grant from Teresa of Leon in the year of the Council of Troyes, which confirmed their early statutes. A native order of this kind sprang up in Portugal about 1146. Afonso, the first King gave to it the town of Évora, captured from the Moors in 1211, and the Knights were first called "Friars of Santa Maria of Évora". Pedro Henriques, an illegitimate son of the King's father, was the first grand master. After the conquest of Aviz the military castle erected there became the motherhouse of the order, and they were then called "Knights of St. Benedict of Aviz", since they adopted the Benedictine rule in 1162, as modified by John Ziritu, one of the earliest Cistercian abbots of Portugal. Like the Knights of Calatrava in Castile, the Knights of Portugal were indebted to the Cistercians for their rule and their habit -- a white mantle with a green fleur-de-lysed cross. The Knights of Calatrava also surrendered some of their places in Portugal to them on condition that the Knights of Aviz should be subject to the visitation of their grand master. Hence the Knights of Aviz were sometimes regarded as a branch of the Calatravan Order, although they never ceased to have a Portuguese grand master, dependent for temporalities on the Portuguese King. At the death of King Ferdinand (1383) war broke out between Castile and Portugal. When João I, who had been grand master of the Knights of Aviz, ascended the throne of Portugal, he forbade the knights to submit to Castilian authority, and consequently, when Gonsalvo de Guzman came to Aviz as Visitor, the knights, while according him hospitality, refused to recognise him as a superior. Guzman protested, and the point remained a subject of contention until the Council of Basle (1431), when Portugal was declared to be in the wrong. But the right of the Calatravans was never exercised, and the next grand master of the Knights of Aviz, Rodrigo of Sequirol, continued to assert supreme authority over them. The mission of the military orders in Portugal seemed to end after the overthrow of Muslim domination, but the Portuguese expeditions across the sea opened up a new field for them. The first landings of Europeans in Africa, the conquest of Ceuta by King João I (1415), the attacks upon Tangier under João's son Duarte (1437) were also crusades, inspired by a religious spirit and sanctioned by similar Papal Bulls. The Knights of Aviz and the Knights of Christ from Order of Christ, scions of the Knights Templars, achieved deeds of valour, the former under the Prince Fernando, the latter under Henrique, brother of King Duarte. Fernando displayed a no less heroic forbearance during his six years of captivity among the Muslims, a long martyrdom which after his death placed him among the Blessed (Acta SS.,5 June). This splendid enthusiasm did not last. Soon the whole nation became affected by the wealth that poured in, and the Crusade in Africa degenerated into mere mercantile enterprise; the pontifical Bulls were made a vulgar means of raising money and after the grand mastership of the order (1551) had been vested in the King in perpetuity, he availed himself of its income to reward any kind of service in the army or the fleet. If the wealth of the Knights of Aviz was not as great as that of the Knights of Christ, it was still quite large, drawn as it was from some forty-three commanderies. The religious spirit of the knights vanished, and they withdrew from their clerical brothers who continued alone the conventional life. They were dispensed from their vow of celibacy by Alexander VI (1402), who tolerated their marriage to prevent scandalous concubinage; Julius III (1551) allowed them to dispose freely of their personal properties. Nobility of birth remained the chief requirement of aspirants to the mantle, a requirement confirmed by a decree of 1604. Pope Pius VI (1789) and Queen Mary I reformed the order into a secular institution. In 1834, when the civil government of Portugal became anti-Catholic, after the defeat of King Miguel in the Civil War, under the constitutional monarchy the order lost its properties. The ancient military orders were transformed by the liberal constitution and subsequent legislation into mere orders of merit. The privileges which once had been an essential part of the membership of the old military orders also ceased. In 1910, when the Portuguese monarchy ended, the Republic of Portugal abolished all the orders except the Order of the Tower and Sword. However, in 1917, at the end of the Great War, some of these orders were re-established as mere orders of merit to reward outstanding services to the state, the office of grand master belonging to the head of state - the President of the Republic. The Military Order of Aviz, together with the other Portuguese Orders of Merit, had its statutes revised on several occasions, during the First Republic (1910–1926), then in 1962, and again in 1986. The Military Order of Aviz, together with the Military Orders of Christ and of St. James of the Sword form the group of the "Ancient Military Orders", governed by a chancellor and a council of eight members, appointed by the President of the Republic, to assist him as grand master in all matters concerning the administration of the order. The order, despite its name, can be conferred on civilians and military, both Portuguese and foreign, for outstanding services to the Republic, in the parliament, the government, the diplomatic service, the courts of justice, public authorities or the civil service. The Order of Aviz, as awarded by the Portuguese government today, comes in five classes: Grand Cross (GCA), which wears the badge of the Order on a sash on the right shoulder, and the star of the Order in gold on the left chest. Grand Officer (GOA), which wears the badge of the Order on a necklet, and the star of the Order in gold on the left chest. Commander (ComA), which wears the badge of the Order on a necklet, and the star of the Order in silver on the left chest. Officer (OA), which wears the badge of the Order on a ribbon with rosette on the left chest. ·Knight (CavA) or Dame (DamA), which wears the badge of the Order on a plain ribbon on the left chest. The badge of the Order is a gilt cross with green enamel, similar to the Order's emblem illustrated here, but with a longer lower arm. During the monarchy the badge was topped by the Sacred Heart of Christ. The star of the Order is an eight-pointed, faceted star, in gilt for Grand Cross and Grand Officer, and in silver for Commander. The central disc is in white enamel, with a miniature of the modern badge in it. During the monarchy the Sacred Heart of Christ was placed at the top of the star. The ribbon of the Order is plain green.
The Military Order of Aviz , known as the Royal Military Order of Aviz before 1910 and the Order of Saint Benedict of Aviz, before 1789 and prior to then the Knights of St. Benedict of Aviz or Friars of Santa Maria of Évora, is a PortugueseOrder of Chivalry. The Kingdom of Portugal, founded in 1128, was not only contemporaneous with the Crusades but conducted one of its own against the Moors. Some crusaders were bound only by temporary vows, and when these expired they would sometimes return to their country although the war was not ended. This accounts for the favour with which military orders were regarded beyond the Pyrenees, in Portugal as well as in Spain; for in them the vow of fighting against the infidels was perpetual, like other monastic vows. Knights Templar were found in Portugal as early as 1128, and received a grant from Teresa of Leon in the year of the Council of Troyes, which confirmed their early statutes. A native order of this kind sprang up in Portugal about 1146. Afonso, the first King gave to it the town of Évora, captured from the Moors in 1211, and the Knights were first called "Friars of Santa Maria of Évora". Pedro Henriques, an illegitimate son of the King's father, was the first grand master. After the conquest of Aviz the military castle erected there became the motherhouse of the order, and they were then called "Knights of St. Benedict of Aviz", since they adopted the Benedictine rule in 1162, as modified by John Ziritu, one of the earliest Cistercian abbots of Portugal. Like the Knights of Calatrava in Castile, the Knights of Portugal were indebted to the Cistercians for their rule and their habit -- a white mantle with a green fleur-de-lysed cross. The Knights of Calatrava also surrendered some of their places in Portugal to them on condition that the Knights of Aviz should be subject to the visitation of their grand master. Hence the Knights of Aviz were sometimes regarded as a branch of the Calatravan Order, although they never ceased to have a Portuguese grand master, dependent for temporalities on the Portuguese King. At the death of King Ferdinand (1383) war broke out between Castile and Portugal. When João I, who had been grand master of the Knights of Aviz, ascended the throne of Portugal, he forbade the knights to submit to Castilian authority, and consequently, when Gonsalvo de Guzman came to Aviz as Visitor, the knights, while according him hospitality, refused to recognise him as a superior. Guzman protested, and the point remained a subject of contention until the Council of Basle (1431), when Portugal was declared to be in the wrong. But the right of the Calatravans was never exercised, and the next grand master of the Knights of Aviz, Rodrigo of Sequirol, continued to assert supreme authority over them. The mission of the military orders in Portugal seemed to end after the overthrow of Muslim domination, but the Portuguese expeditions across the sea opened up a new field for them. The first landings of Europeans in Africa, the conquest of Ceuta by King João I (1415), the attacks upon Tangier under João's son Duarte (1437) were also crusades, inspired by a religious spirit and sanctioned by similar Papal Bulls. The Knights of Aviz and the Knights of Christ from Order of Christ, scions of the Knights Templars, achieved deeds of valour, the former under the Prince Fernando, the latter under Henrique, brother of King Duarte. Fernando displayed a no less heroic forbearance during his six years of captivity among the Muslims, a long martyrdom which after his death placed him among the Blessed (Acta SS.,5 June). This splendid enthusiasm did not last. Soon the whole nation became affected by the wealth that poured in, and the Crusade in Africa degenerated into mere mercantile enterprise; the pontifical Bulls were made a vulgar means of raising money and after the grand mastership of the order (1551) had been vested in the King in perpetuity, he availed himself of its income to reward any kind of service in the army or the fleet. If the wealth of the Knights of Aviz was not as great as that of the Knights of Christ, it was still quite large, drawn as it was from some forty-three commanderies. The religious spirit of the knights vanished, and they withdrew from their clerical brothers who continued alone the conventional life. They were dispensed from their vow of celibacy by Alexander VI (1402), who tolerated their marriage to prevent scandalous concubinage; Julius III (1551) allowed them to dispose freely of their personal properties. Nobility of birth remained the chief requirement of aspirants to the mantle, a requirement confirmed by a decree of 1604. Pope Pius VI (1789) and Queen Mary I reformed the order into a secular institution. In 1834, when the civil government of Portugal became anti-Catholic, after the defeat of King Miguel in the Civil War, under the constitutional monarchy the order lost its properties. The ancient military orders were transformed by the liberal constitution and subsequent legislation into mere orders of merit. The privileges which once had been an essential part of the membership of the old military orders also ceased. In 1910, when the Portuguese monarchy ended, the Republic of Portugal abolished all the orders except the Order of the Tower and Sword. However, in 1917, at the end of the Great War, some of these orders were re-established as mere orders of merit to reward outstanding services to the state, the office of grand master belonging to the head of state - the President of the Republic. The Military Order of Aviz, together with the other Portuguese Orders of Merit, had its statutes revised on several occasions, during the First Republic (1910–1926), then in 1962, and again in 1986. The Military Order of Aviz, together with the Military Orders of Christ and of St. James of the Sword form the group of the "Ancient Military Orders", governed by a chancellor and a council of eight members, appointed by the President of the Republic, to assist him as grand master in all matters concerning the administration of the order. The order, despite its name, can be conferred on civilians and military, both Portuguese and foreign, for outstanding services to the Republic, in the parliament, the government, the diplomatic service, the courts of justice, public authorities or the civil service. The Order of Aviz, as awarded by the Portuguese government today, comes in five classes: Grand Cross (GCA), which wears the badge of the Order on a sash on the right shoulder, and the star of the Order in gold on the left chest. Grand Officer (GOA), which wears the badge of the Order on a necklet, and the star of the Order in gold on the left chest. Commander (ComA), which wears the badge of the Order on a necklet, and the star of the Order in silver on the left chest. Officer (OA), which wears the badge of the Order on a ribbon with rosette on the left chest. ·Knight (CavA) or Dame (DamA), which wears the badge of the Order on a plain ribbon on the left chest. The badge of the Order is a gilt cross with green enamel, similar to the Order's emblem illustrated here, but with a longer lower arm. During the monarchy the badge was topped by the Sacred Heart of Christ. The star of the Order is an eight-pointed, faceted star, in gilt for Grand Cross and Grand Officer, and in silver for Commander. The central disc is in white enamel, with a miniature of the modern badge in it. During the monarchy the Sacred Heart of Christ was placed at the top of the star. The ribbon of the Order is plain green.
Sir Thomas Hudson Beare (June 30, 1859 - June 10, 1940) was a South Australian who became Professor of Engineering at
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, at University College, London (where he was a colleague of Karl Pearson) and finally Regius Professor of Engineering at Edinburgh University. He wrote articles for the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) and for the 1911 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica.
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, at University College, London (where he was a colleague of Karl Pearson) and finally Regius Professor of Engineering at Edinburgh University. He wrote articles for the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) and for the 1911 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica.
This tribute to Harold is dedicated to his great-great-niece, Liana:
beloved elder daughter of Diana Bruce-Kidman
and grand-daughter of Lilac Roe Johnston.
7.6.1992 - 7.2.2015
Now amongst the stars
beloved elder daughter of Diana Bruce-Kidman
and grand-daughter of Lilac Roe Johnston.
7.6.1992 - 7.2.2015
Now amongst the stars
Liana, the elder daughter of Diana (née Bruce-Kidman) passed away, aged 22, on Saturday 7th February at Southmead Hospital in Bristol after a very long illness. Liana was educated at the Gryphon School in Sherborne and then went on to study at Yeovil College, with an interest in a career in helping young offenders. Sadly, her studies were constantly interrupted by bouts of the very serious illness that she had contracted whilst she was doing a year's voluntary work in Africa with the Project Trust organisation. Liana had been working as a teaching volunteer in Uganda when she became very unwell due to a severe allergic reaction to her anti-malaria medication, and her pancreas and kidneys were consequently very badly damaged; she was then flown to Nairobi, Kenya, to be treated in hospital there before being brought back to England by her mother, and also with an accompanying doctor, to continue her treatment at home. Over the next three years or so, Liana had multiple surgeries on her pancreas, liver and other digestive organs, in both London and Bristol hospitals - and she was eventually given a successful kidney transplant in Southmead Hospital, Bristol, in January 2014. For the first time in many years she was able to live a relatively 'normal' life for several months, which she greatly relished. During this time, she met her devoted boyfriend Lenzil; she then travelled extensively during 2014, and also became an Advocate for the charity 'Live Life Then Give Life', for whom she then worked tirelessly as her health and strength allowed. During the last few weeks of her life, Liana unfortunately contracted cytomegalovirus, to which she had become susceptible as her immune system had been compromised by the medication necessary to avoid the rejection of her new kidney. She was on life-support for the last seventeen days of her life; but sadly her lungs were too badly damaged by the severity of the virus for her to be able to make a recovery, and the decision was made to let her slip peacefully away. A blessing for her, as she had suffered greatly during recent weeks. Liana had packed a huge amount into her short life, including a sky-dive to raise money for the Project Trust charity which had originally sent her to Africa. She was hugely elated by her aerial experience, and she so longed to repeat it - though this was sadly not possible, in the event of things which then followed. She was tiny, feisty, overwhelmingly loving and compassionate towards others, together with possessing a delicious sense of humour - and, above all, she had a deep and lasting courage; and this is how she will always be remembered by the very many people who loved her and who now so deeply miss her dear presence amongst them. As her mother, Diana, said at Liana's thanksgiving service: "all who met Liana fell a little bit in love with her": and this was so true. Liana's family has been most lovingly supported by all her close friends during this very sad time of great loss. May Diana, Jason, Caitlin-Rose - and Liana's beloved boyfriend, Lenzil - continue to be remembered in all our prayers. Lilac.
Medal Details:
- 1914-18 British War Medal: LT.COL. H.E.COAD
- Victory Medal: LT.COL. H.E.COAD
- War Medal 1939-45: Unnamed as awarded.
- Military Order of Aviz: Unnamed as awarded.
Page last updated 16 Sep 15