Ernst Augustus was the fifth son of George III, a distinguished soldier he was made a Field Marshall in 1813. On the death of his brother William IV, in 1837, his niece the young Princess Victoria succeed to the throne of England, but as under Salic Law a woman could not suceed to the trone of Hanover, the crown passed to Ernst Augustus. On his accession Ernst Augustus took a large quantity of English Royal plate with him to Herrenhausen, the Hanovarian Royal palace. He had the initials EAF's engraved on every piece following Queen Victoria's demand for its return. The silver remained at Herrenhausen, surviving the Franco Prussian War, until a large quantity was purchased by the Vienna dealer Gluckselig and subsequently sold by the London dealers Crichton Brothers from 1924