This is a chocolate tin given by Queen Victoria to her troops for the New Year/New Century. This particular one was given to an Inniskillin Dragoon Guard Thomas Cox, found guilty of mutiny in the Boer War when he and others downed tools and demanded to be fed after a protracted period on iron rations he was subsequently commissioned in the field as an Inniskillin Fusilier in World War One, awarded the Military Cross for heroism on the Somme and he subsequently served as a Captain in Nigeria where he administerd a remote area, the nearest European being a 100 miles away. Between the Boer and Great wars he had been a plate layer on the London underground. The tin still contains a couple of ounces of the original Rowntree chocolate, it's edibility is in question. It's particular history is significant as it embodies the story of Britain's Empire, it's military might and it's use of resources from around the world to manufacture consumer goods for a population gradually growing used to a growing affluence. It's association with Thomas Cox and his rather surprisingly eventful army service also reflects the changing social scene within the 20th century.
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My paternal grandfather Robert Bryan,joined the British Army as a boy soldier and received one of these tins when he was serving in South Africa. He also served in the First World War until he was seriously wounded and had his leg amputated, dying a few years later in 1923. My dad, also Robert Bryan,who served in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, kept his own medals in this box.