Pair: Captain of the Foretop J. T. Gilbert, Royal Navy

East and West Africa 1887-1900, 1 clasp, 1887-8 (J. T. Gilbert, Qr. Mr., H.M.S. Acorn); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension (J. T. Gilbert, Captn. F. Top. H.M.S. Cambridge.) impressed naming, good very fine (2) £1,000-£1,200

Only 38 clasps dated ‘1887-8’ issued to the Royal Navy, including 14 to H.M.S. Acorn. The remaining clasps were shared amongst H.M. Ships Icarus (9) and Rifleman (15).

John Thomas Gilbert was born in Exmouth on 10 December 1857, and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class aboard H.M.S. Implacable on 1 January 1873. Gaining steady advancement over the next decade, he was appointed a Petty Officer 1st Class in March 1883, and joined H.M.S. Acorn in February 1887. Gilbert left the Navy in 1895 and was latterly an R.F.R. man until finally discharged in late 1907. Sold with copied record of service.