Duncan and Liz Chilcott expect the next sale to take place on March 6
- Credit: Sue Cade
The final auction of 2020 was an overwhelming success for Chilcotts Auctioneers with enough lots for a jam-packed two-day sale.
Outstanding sales included the medals of female WW2 pilot Joan Hughes which went for the unexpectedly high figure of £5,800. Auctioneer Duncan Chilcott said: “We were delighted with the amount of interest around Joan’s medal - her story was so interesting and inspirational that it captured people’s imaginations. A civilian MBE will usually sell for around £100 so this was a real surprise.”
Another top performer was the watch section, with an 18-carat gold vintage Rolex with diamond points the star attraction, achieving £11,000. Pocket watches also did well, as did an Omega Seamaster which sold for £1,150 and a Hamilton stainless steel watch which fetched £340, with Girard-Perregaux and Breitling watches also proving popular.
Elite WW2 pilot Joan Hughes. Picture: Chilcotts.
- Credit: Archant
The collection also includes a scrapbook put together by an admirer of her piloting skills, which includes fascinating details not just about Joan but many other female pilots.
A Civil MBE medal belonging to one of an elite group of female pilots who flew in WW2 is to be sold by Chilcotts Auctioneers in Honiton.
The medal was awarded to Flight Lieutenant Joan Lily Amelia Hughes in 1946 in recognition of her extraordinary contribution to the war effort flying new planes to RAF bases around the country.
Joan asked her parents if she could learn to fly after her brother Douglas started; they both learnt with the East Anglian Flying Club at Abridge. She was just 15 when she took her first solo flight in a Gypsy One Moth bi-plane, securing her pilot’s licence at 17 to become the youngest flyer in England. She went on to train as a flying instructor with Rosamund King Everard, but it was during the Second World War t
Mary Chilcott with the Tolson Cup. Picture: Chilcott Auctioneers
- Credit: Archant
A recent house clearance by Honiton’s Chilcotts Auctioneers unearthed a cup which turned out to have a fascinating story behind it, as a tale of maritime history and heroism came to the fore.
It transpired the cup was awarded to Capt. Thomas Tolson Edwards of the British Steam Ship ‘Illyrian’, a huge ship that regularly transported people and goods from Britain to the United States in the late 1800s.
While commanding the SS Illyrian, Capt. Edwards had rescued the crew of US Clipper Isaac Webb after it got into trouble on a voyage across the Atlantic.