Illustrated in a Walker & Hall catalogue from the early 20th century was the "Bingham" Yorkshire Field-Firing Trophy. The trophy was the largest piece of sterling hollow ware that had circumference of 11 feet and weighed 1,500 ounces of gilded silver to pass through the Sheffield Assay Office up to 1895.

An article appeared in the Telegraph & Argus on Thursday 7th November 2002, titled - "How could a trophy this size go missing?"    (Footnote 1).

The article related how a researcher realised that the "Bingham" Yorkshire Field-Firing Trophy had disappeared from the Brighouse Museum. The 3ft 6ins high trophy made in 1893 is or was an oval sterling silver vase on a plateau of silver and reputedly cost the large sum of £800. Colonel J E Bingham of Walker & Hall, Sheffield ordered the trophy that was awarded to the winning Yorkshire volunteer battalion in the annual field-firing competition (Footnote 2).

The Brighouse Volunteers won the trophy in 1912 and in 1913, but with the outbreak of war in 1914, the competition was suspended and not held again.

The trophy was then proudly displayed in the local museum as a prized exhibit that was last seen in the 1940s.
 

The Brighouse historian is baffled how such a large item could just disappear without a trace. What was the fate of this trophy that could now be worth about £800,000; was it sold, stolen or melted down - that is the unsolved mystery!

 

Footnote 1: Newsquest Media Group 2002. http://www.thisisbradford.co.uk
Footnote 2: Created a baronet in 1903, Colonel John Edward Bingham, a nephew of Henry Hall of Walker & Hall, was “the popular and esteemed commander of the 1st West York Volunteers, Royal Engineers.” He also presented the "Bingham" Challenge Shield to the Yorkshire Volunteers also illustrated in the same catalogue.