Sheila’s Story for Remembrance Day
At ThroughFineHands, we understand that antique jewellery carries the echoes and experiences of the people who wore it. Every item we have ever sold lived a life before it reached our hands and, every so often, a piece of jewellery might find its way back to a family that it was always destined to belong to.
Recently, a beautiful antique 18ct gold and diamond sweetheart ring bearing the insignia of the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) was purchased by one of our wonderful customers, Sheila, who now lives in Australia. Shiela reached out to us to explain just why this ring had struck her so powerfully.
The ring's insignia, the crowned French horn and white rose of Yorkshire, belonged to the regiment her father had served in during the Second World War.
With her blessing, we are honoured to share her story with you today.
From Yorkshire to Scotland to Australia
A Family Marked by Service
Sheila’s father was born in 1918 in Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire. Despite being far too young to fight in the First World War himself, he grew up in a community where many men, including his father, uncles and cousins, served proudly with KOYLI. However, peace in Europe was not to last and on his 21st birthday in 1939, he was called up for duty in World War Two.
While Sheila’s father would rarely speak about his time serving in the KOYLI, Shiela remembers fragments of his service during his time with the regiment. He served in Italy, Egypt and possibly Crete, all key theatres for the KOYLI regiment who played a vital role in the Allies' battle for supremacy in North Africa and the Mediterranean.
Her father was also wounded during his service - something that Sheila had once discovered when seeing the scars of past war wounds on his leg. Thankfully though, he remained alive and well during his years as a soldier in the regiment where he would remain a reservist until 1959, the year the family immigrated to Australia.
But it wasn’t just Shiela’s father who took an active role during the Second World War. In 1941, he met Sheila’s mother in Scotland, where she worked in a munitions factory; the local wool mills having recently been converted into wartime factories. They married in 1942 and shared 57 years together until his passing in 1999.
The Moment the Ring Found Her
Sheila has collected antique and vintage buckle rings, snake rings and trilogy rings all her life, but she was yet to get her hands on an iconic and hard to come by sweetheart ring. One quiet evening, as she browsed for antique rings online, she found this one in our shop.
“I was blown away by the connection”
Once she had confirmed that the insignia matched her fathers regiment, she purchased it immediately. Even the estimated delivery date felt like a sign; 16th November, her fathers birthday and the same date he had been called up to fight in the Second World War.
“I never thought I’d be part of a story like this.”
A romantic and heroic echo of wartime history, Shiela’s new antique solid 18ct gold sweetheart ring speaks of devotion and timeless commitment to love in the face of deadly conflict. Crafted in the Edwardian era, this ring was once gifted as a cherished token by a serviceman from the KOYLI to his beloved. Beyond its beauty, it represents the shared experience of every serviceman and every partner, lover or relation fighting on the home front. Shiela now owns a very real link to her family's past and we at ThroughFineHands are delighted to have played a part in uniting such a beautiful and meaningful ring like this with such a fitting home.
The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry is one of Britain’s most storied regiments. Fast moving light infantry drawn from the heart of Yorkshire, in the KOYLI, entire families often served shoulder to shoulder. In the First World War, KOYLI battalions fought with fiery determination and resilience at the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele and Arras; battles where many of Sheila’s relations would have stood together. In the Second World War, they carried that same courage across continents, serving in France and Belgium, North Africa, Italy, Crete, India and the Far East. It’s a regiment defined by loyalty, endurance and the unbreakable spirit of Yorkshire itself.
This Remembrance Day, as we end Shiela’s story and our look at this remarkable sweetheart ring and the men and women it calls to mind, we’re excited to keep the thread of history going. This weekend, we’ll be publishing a blog exploring the wider tradition of sweetheart jewellery. Exploring the symbolism and wartime origins of these sentimental pieces to investigate why they still resonate so deeply today.