Lot 67
Bell Rock Work Yard Medal
Admiralty protection medal - granted to John Spinks
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 07 February 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
White metal medal, 3 x 2.5cm, laid into a card, the medal reading: “Medal referring to Admiralty Protection and a description of the person by the Engineer”, with the Northern Lighthouses motif to the obverse, the front of the card reading: “John Spinks – Sir Joseph Banks of Craft at the Bell Rock – Signature of the Master [?] Sir Joseph Banks,” with two additional signatures reading ‘David Taylor’ and ‘Lachlan Kennedy’, the reverse of the card reading: “Bell Rock Work Yard Arbroath 23. Sept. 1808, John Spinks, [?] in the Service of the Hon. The Commissioner of the Northern Light-houses aged twenty five years – five feet six inches high – fair complexion brown eyes. [signed] Robert Stevenson, Eng. For Northern Light.”
Footnote
FROM THE LIBRARY OF THE STEVENSON LIGHTHOUSE ENGINEERS
Such medals were issued to provide the bearer Admiralty protection from impressment.