104 Year Old Shrieval Legacy Donated to Surrey Heritage

 

104 year ago the High Sheriff of Surrey was an inspirational and caring man from Merrow, John St Loe Strachey. At the beginning of WW1, amidst all of the fervent patriotism, John recognised the need for some means of self identification for those young men who attempted to sign up in the armed forces, but were deemed unfit for whatever reason. He created a badge, ‘The Strachey Willing Badge’, for those individuals to wear with pride. Only one such badge was known to still exist before the recent discovery on farmland in Send by a local detector, Steve Benedict, working under the guidance of Andy Jones, who discovered a second. In a perfect example of timely public-spiritedness, Andy (second right) yesterday donated this badge to Surrey Heritage. It was a privilege as the 797th named High Sheriff of Surrey, to accept this wonderful example of the generosity of spirit of past High Sheriff John St Loe Strachey. More details of this incredible find in a few days!