VERY RARE EARLY HRH KING EDWARD VII FIRST SIGNED COMMISSION DOCUMENT 1901.

We are very pleased to offer for sale a very Rare Antique Original Authentic bold and clear hand signed in ink commission document by HRH King Edward VII dated 5th January 1901, 17 days before Queen Victoria Died. This example is a Very Rare example to find indeed being one of the first military commissions signed by HRH king Edward VII (the Edwardian era) when he became king of the United Kingdom. This document is Prepared on a Queen Victorian commission with her royal blue paper seal remaining to the side, due to her illness and death it bears an very early Edward RI signature ,HRH Queen Victoria at this time was gravely ill and unable to sign documents, once she sadly passed on the 22rd of January 1901 and Edward became king immediately the same day he signed the first back log of documents immediately making this example one of his first signed duties as king of the united kingdom, the document also bears the signature of Conservative politician, St. John Brodrick (later the 1st Earl of Midleton), who was Secretary of State for War from 1900-1903. Also come with its original envelope. A very early signed document indeed, would look amazing framed. Please note the photo of the king dose not come with the sale of the king and is for reference only. Size: of document 400mm x 305mm
Condition: Overall GC slight age wear.

Document -A Boer War 1900 1st Bn Devonshire Regiment Early King Edward VII Signed Commission. This commission appoints Charles Wilfred Hext as a Second Lieutenant of the 1st Bn on the 2nd January 1900. Prepared on a Queen Victorian commission due to her illness and death it bears a very early first Edward RI signature and also the signature of Conservative politician, St. John Brodrick (later the 1st Earl of Midleton), who was Secretary of State for War from 1900-1903 Second Lieutenant Charles Wilfred Hext came from Barnstable in North Devon. He was commissioned in January 1900 and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with clasps Belfast, Orange Free State and Natal. He was also awarded the King's South Africa Medal with two clasps.
During WW1 he served with the Indian Army.

Second Lieutenant Charles Wilfred Hext was a British military officer born in Barnstaple, North Devon on November 14, 1880. Ancestry
He was the son of Edward Staniforth Hext and Ellen Constance Foster. His notable military career began at the turn of the century and spanned multiple major conflicts.
Ancestry
The Boer War (1900): He was officially commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment on January 2, 1900. His commission papers were originally prepared during Queen Victoria's final illness but bear the early signature of King Edward VII along with Secretary of State for War St. John Brodrick. He served in South Africa from May 1900 to January 1902, he was posted to India and subsequently transferred permanently to the Indian Army, serving within the Supply and Transport Corps. World War I: At the outbreak of the Great War, he deployed from India to the Western Front in September 1914. He later served with the Aden Field Force before being stationed in Alexandria, Egypt.
He achieved the rank of Major (and later temporary Lieutenant Colonel). He died at the age of 38 on July 21, 1919, at Ras-el-Tin Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt, and is remembered on the Newton Abbot War Memorial in Devon.