The central presentation inscription reads TO CAPTAIN J. W. POYNTZ XXX REGIMENT OF INFANTRY, which is then further encircled by the inscription PRESENTED BY THE NON COMMISSIONED OFFICERS & PRIVATES OF NO. 7 COMPANY, AS AN HUMBLE OFFERING OF GRATITUTE FOR HIS ZEAL AND ATTENTION TO THEIR COMFORTS WHILE CAPT'N OF THAT COMPANY. The surrounding banners are inscribed BADAJOZ, SALAMANCA, WATERLOO, and PENINSULA, while below the main inscription is engraved a sphinx above the word EGYPT.

The 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, was raised in 1702 and until 1752 known by the names of its successive regimental colonels. In 1751 it became the 30th Regiment of Foot by Royal Command. The regiment served in the Seven Years War, the American War of Independence and the Peninsular War, the battle honors of which are engraved on the present lot, as is the figure of the Sphinx recording the regiment’s service in Egypt. It later served in India, Ireland, Bermuda, Nova Scotia and the Crimea, lastly serving in Canada when in 1869 it was merged with the 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot to become the East Lancashire Regiment.

James William Poyntz (1799-1889) was said to have been born on a troop ship in the English Channel whilst his parents were travelling to India where his father was to serve as Quartermaster to the 30th Regiment of Foot. James volunteered for the army aged 12 and is said to have been present at the Battle of Badajoz when only 13 years of age. He later went to train as an officer at Sandhurst and joined the 30th Regiment of Foot as an ensign in 1814. He was made a lieutenant the next year. In 1828 he reached the rank of captain, dating the present lot to after that point and before he became a major in 1841, shortly after having travelled with the regiment to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Bewitched by the beauty of Nova Scotia and wishing to become settled he retired from the army in 1844 remaining in Bridgetown and latterly Windsor, Nova Scotia. He received the Peninsula Campaign medal from his former commander the Duke of Wellington in 1848 and was made an honorary lieutenant colonel in 1854. He died to the age of 91 and is buried in Bridgetown, Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. He was a prominent figure in the community serving as a Justice of the Peace and a leading Freemason. He founded the Poyntz Lodge in Hants County in 1867.