These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.
Download this imageCreative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.
Ruler:
Victoria (1837-1901)
Ruler:
Victoria regina
(With the title of)
Artist:
Wyon, William
Mint:
London
Just as in 1848 the extensive land campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars and the other conflicts of the pre-Victorian era were recognised by the issue of the Military General Service Medal, those serving in the Navy at the time were recognised with the Naval General Service Medal. As with the Army equivalent and the East India Company's related award, many of the battles for which the medal was awarded had been fought so long ago that few if any claimants survived.
In addition, bars were awarded for many actions whose significance and size were, despite the heroism displayed by those involved, relatively minor. The result was that many of the bars were issued in tiny numbers, with some combinations all but unique, and the medals command a very high price among collectors because of this rarity and individuality. This in turn, along with the manufacture in most cases of more bars than were eventually issued, has led to the `improvement' of many common awards where recipients' names are shared with those present at `rarer' battles. The medal also shares with the Military General Service and Army of India Medals the oddity that Queen Victoria, whose portrait they bear, was not the ruler under whom the battles for which it was awarded were fought.
Although naval warfare of this period was hideously costly in lives and limbs, and most of the recruits unwilling conscripts, it was often fought in a rather different spirit to modern combat. Proof of this may be taken from the battle between HMS Shannon and the USS Chesapeake on 1 June 1813. Shannon, under Captain Philip Broke, found Chesapeake and USS Constitution refitting in Boston harbour, and sent Chesapeake's captain a challenge to come out and fight. Chesapeake eventually did so, and the fifteen-minute fight resulted in Broke's crew boarding and taking over the US vessel, although Broke was severely wounded. A further mark of the age is that when the US vessel left port it was accompanied by several pleasure boats whose owners were anxious to see the action from close by.
44 Naval General Service Medals were awarded for service aboard Shannon in this action, and this one was awarded to John Filer, a member of her Royal Marines contingent. His presence on the ship at this time has been verified, and the Medals Roll confirms the award of this medal to a man of this name. Lester Watson purchased this medal at some point before 1928; it had previously come up for sale in an auction at Glendinings in June 1919.
History note: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt before 1928. Ex Glendining, June 1919
Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009
Diameter: 36.3 mm
Weight: 36.73 g
Method of acquisition: Given (2009) by Watson, Lester
1849 - 1851
Inscription present: Bust of Victoria facing left
Inscription present: Britannia with trident seated sideways on seahorse
Accession number: CM.1378-2009
Primary reference Number: 141472
Watson Catalogue: 286
Ordering: M-0261
Previous object number: LW.0261
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Coins and Medals
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Naval General Service Medal (1793-1840)" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141472 Accessed: 2024-11-14 21:37:01
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141472
|title=Naval General Service Medal (1793-1840)
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-14 21:37:01|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-141472
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0261_281_29.jpg"
alt="Naval General Service Medal (1793-1840)"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Naval General Service Medal (1793-1840)</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...
