A pair of large Victorian silver salvers, Edward Barnard & Sons, London, 1852

The inscriptions read:

‘This Salver is presented to GEORGE GRAY, ESQ. by his Brothers, Sisters & Brother in Law on the final settlement of the Estate of his late father William Gray, Esq. Graymount, County Antrim to record their high appreciation of the Honorable Manner in which he discharged the duties of Joint Administrator. January 1855.’

and

‘This Salver is presented to JAMES GRAY, ESQ. by his Brothers, Sisters & Brother in Law on the final settlement of the Estate of his late father William Gray, Esq. Graymount, County Antrim to record their high appreciation of the Honorable Manner in which he discharged the duties of Joint Administrator. January 1855.’

George Gray (1815-1879) and his brother, James (1827-1903) were sons of William Gray (1785-1850) of Graymount, co. Antrim and his wife, Mary Ann (1786-1852), daughter of James Harden of Harrybrook, co. Antrim.

George Gray, a Justice of the Peace, who inherited Graymount, was a captain in the Antrim Artillery. In 1873 he was granted the honorary rank of major, with permission to continue wearing the uniform of the regiment on his retirement. By then he was already a well-known figure in English and Irish racing circles. The various cups and trophies which his racehorses won in the 1860s and are included in this sale were eventually inherited by his grandson, Terence James Stannus Gray (1895-1986). The latter was the owner of Zarathrustra, winner of the 1957 Ascot Gold Cup, ridden by Lester Piggott.

James Gray, also a Justice of the Peace, became chairman of the Great Northern Railway.