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Folio (12.75 inches). Return to an Address of the Honourable The House of Commons, dated 24 February 1857; -for, A Copy of the Royal Warrant dated the 29th day of January 1856, laying down the Regulations under which the Decoration of the Victoria Cross is to be Conferred. War Office, February 1857. F. Peel. (Captain Scobell.) Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 13 March 1857. Parliamentary Paper 108. Caption title, 3 pages + docket. Neatly extracted from a bound volume and expertly mended. Contemporary manuscript numbers written at the corner of each leaf. In the wake of the carnage caused by the Crimean War with Russia (1853-1856), Queen Victoria called for a new military medal to be awarded to officers or men who had served in the presence of the enemy and performed some signal act of valour or devotion to Great Britain. With a view to place all persons on a perfectly equal footing in relation to eligibility for the decoration, neither rank, nor long service, nor wounds, nor any other circumstance or condition whatsoever, save the merit of conspicuous bravery would be considered in establishing a sufficient claim to the honour. The Victoria Cross was to be the highest award of the United Kingdom honours system. Queen Victoria, under the guidance of Prince Albert, suggested that the award be called the Victoria Cross, and consist of a Maltese Cross of bronze with the Royal crest at its centre and the inscription For Valour beneath. The Victoria Cross was established by Royal Warrant on 29 January 1856, and outlined fifteen rules and ordinances by which the decoration was to be awarded and managed (as reproduced in this Return prepared exclusively for the information of Members of the House of Commons). The first Victoria Crosses were awarded on 26 June 1857. By convention, the Victoria Cross was to be suspended from the left breast, by a blue ribbon for the Navy, and by a red ribbon for the Army. Additional acts of bravery were recorded by a Bar attached to the ribbon. Those that received the Victoria Cross were also entitled to a special pension of £10 per year, and an additional £5 per year for each additional Bar. Between 1857 and 1945, the Victoria Cross was awarded to 96 Canadians. Seller Inventory # 056
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