An Antiques Roadshow guest admitted she had “no intention” of ever selling a family heirloom despite being offered a staggering five-figure sum for it. Last Sunday, the long-running BBC programme headed to Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery, a former country retreat favoured by the late architect Sir John Soane.
Experts such as Fiona Bruce and Alastair Chandler descended on Ealing, where the former sunk her teeth into the science behind the manor’s restoration and the horologist was spotted getting familiar with a unique pocket watch. Fine art consultant Marc Allum was also on the scene to analyse a film premiere programme while James ‘JB’ Broad inspected a guest’s Nike trainer collection.
John Baddeley, who initially joined the Antiques Roadshow team back in 1993, was on hand to value a medal awarded in the 90s. He learned that a guest had inherited a suffragette medal from her great-grandmother, Gertrude Metcalfe-Shaw.
Born in 1864, the writer was one of two suffragettes who unfurled a protest flag at the top of the Monument to the Great Fire of London. Her activism efforts later saw her being awarded a Hunger Strike Medal.
Inspecting the item, John remarked that it featured a shield reading ‘Votes for Women’ and the initials WSPU - Women’s Social and Political Union. “So she got given this by the union around 1903,” he continued.
“Next to it is what looks like a portcullis. Do you know what that’s about?”
The guest explained that her family believed the item was a Holloway Brooch, awarded to specific suffragettes who spent time in Holloway Prison.
“She was imprisoned for breaking Scotland Yard’s window and sentenced to three weeks’ imprisonment. She immediately went on hunger strike and was released after five days.”
The Roadshow star admitted her relative was admitted to prison again years later, but that she was unsure what action actually landed her in a cell.
John remarked that the medal was “rare” before asking whether his guest was “proud” of her ancestor.
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“Very proud, very proud,” she confessed before the expert gave his final valuation.
“I would say this group of three in the original box with the dedication and the photograph, we’re talking about a figure at auction between £25,000 and £30,000.”
The guest was left speechless before admitting she and her family had “no intention” of ever parting with the award.
“I’m sure you don’t, because they’re such an important part of the family,” he added.
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One on Sundays at 8pm.
