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Naval General Service Medal (1793-1840): CM.1386-2009

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Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Mint: London
Ruler: Victoria (1837-1901)
Artist: Wyon, William
Ruler: Victoria regina (With the title of)

Entities

Categories

Description

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.
The return of Emperor Napoleon I from exile in St Helena in 1815 galvanised Europe into a fresh spasm of warfare known as the Hundred Days. Although pitted against Britain, Russia, Austria, Sweden, Prussia, the Netherlands and various German states, France was not completely alone, as Napoleon's former general Joachim Murat, since 1812 King of Naples, threw in his lot with the returned Napoleon and declared war on Austria in March 1815. His population signally failed to rally to his call and the Austrians routed his armies within two months, and restored Bourbon rule in Naples on May 23. Some parts of the Kingdom of Naples resisted longer, however, and one of these was the city of Gaeta, which fell to the Austrians only after a prolonged siege.
Joining with the Austrian attack were two vessels of the Royal Navy, the 74-gun third-rate HMS Berwick and the 84-gun HMS Malta, ex-French Guillaume Tell. The two battleships bombarded the city for three days from 17 July, and it finally capitulated on 8 August, so the date chosen by the Admiralty for the relevant bar to the NGSM is slightly odd. 89 were awarded in 1848.
This example is inscribed to Thomas Cook, of the Royal Marines contingent aboard HMS Berwick. The presence of such a man aboard the vessel at this time is verified, and the Medals Roll confirms the award of the piece to him, but also shows that other men of the same name were awarded the commoner bars for Syria and other engagements. This makes it impossible to be certain that this piece is not one of the commoner issues retooled with a rarer bar, but it is certainly possible that this is genuinely the Berwick crewman's medal. Lester Watson purchased it late in his life, from the London dealer Seaby in 1937; it had previously been sold at Sotheby's in November 1912.

Notes

History note: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Seaby 1937. Ex Sotheby’s, November 1912.

Legal notes

Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 36.3 mm
Weight: 36.05 g

Place(s) associated

  • London

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (2009) by Watson, Lester

Dating

1849 - 1851

Materials used in production

Silver

Techniques used in production

Struck

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: Bust of Victoria facing left

  • Text: VICTORIA REGINA
  • Location: Obverse
  • Type: Design

Inscription present: Britannia with trident seated sideways on seahorse

  • Location: Reverse
  • Type: Design

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: CM.1386-2009
Primary reference Number: 141480
Watson Catalogue: 294
Ordering: M-0269
Previous object number: LW.0269
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 15 January 2024 Last processed: Monday 15 January 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Coins and Medals

Citation for print

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/141480 Accessed: 2024-11-02 19:34:17

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141480 |title=Naval General Service Medal (1793-1840) |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-02 19:34:17|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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