Winston Churchill items found in Derbyshire house clearance will go under the hammer

Items once treasured by the late Reginald Parker, personal chauffeur to Britain’s Prime Minister during the Second World War, were found by a 60-year-old clerk on furlough during a clear-out.

The collection includes Post Office telegraphs and instructions from 10 Downing Street and the Metropolitan Police stating when and where the prime minister must be picked up. One note says: ‘The Prime Minister will arrive tomorrow by air at Hendon Aerodrome. Please have police car in readiness’.

One of the cuttings says that Reginald Parker was chauffeur to five Prime Ministers including Ramsay Macdonald, Stanley Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain and Clement Atlee.

Now the ephemera, which nearly ended up in a skip, is due to go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers on July 20 with a guide price of £250-£350.

The owner of the archive, who did not wish to be named, said: “I’m on furlough and I’ve been sorting out cupboards and wardrobes. I saw a jigsaw box in my study and just thought it was one of my many jigsaws. But, when I opened the lid, I found the archive. I’d forgotten all about it.”

They originally found the Churchill collection while clearing a house in Hilton, Derbyshire, where the late resident had the surname Parker.

To find out more about the auction, email: [email protected].