The CB (Order of the Bath) and two medals awarded to a Boer War hero and former England footballer who lived in Heronsgate are set to fetch between £1,400 and £1,800 at an auction tomorrow (Tuesday, April 9).

The silver-gilt CB - the fourth most senior of the British Orders of Chivalry - was awarded to Colonel Herbert Rawson, who lived at Home Close, Heronsgate, and who was one of the first people in Heronsgate to install a telephone. In his Who’s Who entry, he simply listed his telephone contact detail as "Chorleywood West".

Colonel Rawson’s CB and his Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902 medal with four clasps and King’s South Africa 1901-1902 medal with two clasps, will be auctioned at Bonhams in Knightsbridge, London.

Colonel Rawson commanded the Royal Engineers in Natal from October 6, 1899, and each of the four clasps on his Queen’s South Africa medal represents a Boer War battle at which he was present. They were: Laing’s Nek, Transvaal, Tugela Heights and the Relief of Ladysmith.

Altogether 26 clasps were issued for the Queen’s South Africa medal but the maximum Colonel Rawson could have obtained as a soldier was nine. If Colonel Rawson’s medal featured all nine clasps it would be worth much more.

Colonel Rawson was not only a fearless army officer he was also a talented footballer and cricketer.

He played football for England and he also starred for the Royal Engineers in two successive FA Cup finals. The first was against Oxford University at The Oval in 1874. The university team won 2-0 in what was only the third FA Cup final. The following year he played against the Old Etonians at The Oval, a game that ended in a 1-1 draw with the Royal Engineers winning the replay 2-0.

In his book, An English Football Internationalists’ Who’s Who, the late Douglas Lamming described Rawson as "a hard worker, skilled dribbler and accurate marksman, qualities that place him among the leading centres of the 1870s. Served in the Royal Engineers 1872-1909, retiring with the rank of colonel.

In 1873, he played on one occasion for Kent County Cricket Club. Further first class cricket opportunities being lost because of a posting overseas the following year."

Colonel Rawson was born on September 3, 1852, and was 72 when he died on October 18, 1924.