Chocolate given by Queen Victoria to troops in 1900 found in Norfolk attic

The chocolate bar is over a hundred years old.

Author: Sam Russell, PAPublished 31st Mar 2021

A 121-year-old chocolate bar that was given to British troops to boost morale during the Boer War has been discovered in the attic of a National Trust property in Norfolk.

The ā€œremarkable findā€, still in its original wrapper and tin, was part of a batch commissioned by Queen Victoria in 1900.

It was found in a Boer War helmet case at the 15th century Oxburgh Hall and belonged to the 8th Baronet, Sir Henry Edward Paston-Bedingfeld.

8th Baronet, Sir Henry Edward Paston-Bedingfeld

National Trust conservators unearthed the ageing treat while cataloguing the belongings of his daughter Frances Greathead, who died last year aged 100.

Anna Forrest, the National Trustā€™s cultural heritage curator, said: ā€œAlthough it no longer looks appetising and is well past its use-by date ā€“ you wouldnā€™t want it as your Easter treat ā€“ it is still complete and a remarkable find.

ā€œWe can only assume that the 8th Baronet kept the chocolate with the helmet as a memento of his time in the Boer War.ā€

The Second Boer War, or South African War, was fought between the British Empire and two independent Boer states over the Empireā€™s influence in South Africa.

It began in 1899 and lasted three years.

More than 100,000 tins, each containing half a pound of plain chocolate, were produced.

It was intended that every soldier and officer would receive a box with the inscription ā€œSouth Africa 1900ā€ and ā€œI wish you a happy New Yearā€ in the Queenā€™s handwriting.

Queen Victoria commissioned the countryā€™s three principal chocolate manufacturers, Cadbury, Fry and Rowntree, to undertake the order.

As pacifist Quakers that opposed the war, all three manufacturers refused to accept payment for the order and originally donated the chocolate in unbranded tins.

However, the Queen insisted the troops knew they were getting British chocolate and the firms backed down, marking some bars.

The tins themselves were never branded.

It is unclear which of the three manufacturers made the chocolate discovered at Oxburgh.

ā€œBy the turn of the century, Henry was a major in the militia of the Kingā€™s Liverpool Regiment and fought in the Boer War,ā€ said Ms Forrest.

ā€œHe was still in South Africa when his father died in 1902, which is when he returned to England and to Oxburgh Hall, aged 42.

ā€œWe know his return to Oxburgh was mentioned in family memoirs.

ā€œItā€™s said that one night while in his tent, Henry heard a woman crying, followed by his fatherā€™s voice saying ā€˜Itā€™s your mother, Henry. Iā€™m dyingā€™.

ā€œIn the morning he met the adjutant, who wrote his story down and dated it.

ā€œBut it was two weeks before they got a telegram confirming his fatherā€™s death.

ā€œHenryā€™s uncle was a friend of the 5th Duke of Wellington and arranged for Henry to be sent back to England.

ā€œWe believe thatā€™s when he returned home to Oxburgh, with the chocolate, his helmet and a new title.ā€

As a gift from the Queen, many soldiers preserved their chocolate tins, with some posting them back home for safekeeping.

While some tins survive, few can be traced to their original recipient, and fewer still contain the chocolate more than 120 years later.

The items are not currently on display but the National Trust hopes to do so in future.

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