In 1875 Egypt, faced wih a worsening financial situation, sold its share of the Suez Canal to Britain. The rise thereafter of an Egyptian nationalist group headed by Ahmad Urabi Pasha Al-misri threatened British interests. In 1881 the nationalists forced the Khedive to replace his government with a pro-nationalist one, and the British acted. A small fleet, under the command of Admiral Sir Frederick Seymour, bombarded Alexandria on July 11, 1882, and the British effectively occupied the city two days later. A large expeditionary force then took up positions in the north and south of the country with a view to securing the Suez Canal, and under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Garnet Wolseley it defeated the nationalist Egyptian forces at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir on the 13th September, 1882. The British marched on Cairo, taking Urabi and his party prisoner, and effectively taking controlling of Egypt. The two British commanders - Seymour and Wolseley - returned to Britain and were recognised for their achievements: Seymour was made Lord Alcester, and the Corporation of London presented both with honours. The three pieces of ephemera offered here relate to celebrations in the evening of 11 April, 1883, the day on which the Corporation conferred its honours. Among those present at the dinner were Seymour and Wolseley, members of the Corporation, the navy and the army, Members of Parliament, and W. F. Higgins, from whom the ephemera derive.