Four: Captain of the Forecastle James Constant, Royal Navy

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Syria (James Constant.); Baltic 1854-55, unnamed as issued; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., wide suspension (J. Constant Capt. F. Cle. H.M.S. Lion. 25 Yrs); St. Jean d’Acre 1840, bronze, unnamed as issued, extremely fine (4) £1,600-£2,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals formed by the late Ron Wright.

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James Constant was born at Canterbury, Kent, on 13 August 1823, and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class aboard H.M.S. Cambridge on 27 July 1840, shortly before his 17th birthday. In this ship he saw active service on and off the coast of Syria in September-November of that year. He advanced to Ordinary Seaman in Cambridge in September 1842, and joined Fisgard as Able Seaman in January 1843, remaining in that ship until October 1857. He joined Ganges in September 1848, followed by Excellent in January 1852, and Duke of Wellington in February 1853, serving in that ship in the Baltic operations. He was advanced to Quarter-Master and joined Starling in June 1855, went again to Excellent for a gunnery course in August 1856, qualifying First Class in Gunnery for Gunner’s Mate on 21 July 1857, when he joined Pylades. He was invalided with a ‘Hernia’ at Sheerness on 31 July 1861, and returned to Excellent as a Pensioner from August 1861 to November 1862, when he signed on again ‘to complete time’. Advanced to Captain of the Forecastle, he served in Hogue from November 1862 to June 1864, in Lion from July 1864 to September 1868, and finally in Black Prince from 9 September to 31 December, 1868, his total servitude amounting to 28 years 144 days.

Sold with two small portrait photographs, one in uniform wearing the first three medals with his wife, the other in civilian clothes; together with two parchment Certificates of Service, parchment Certificate as an Out-Pensioner of Greenwich Hospital (dated 22 August 1861, Pension to commence from 31 July 1861), parchment certificate of entitlement to Naval Pension (dated 7 January 1869), and a similar parchment certificate of entitlement to Naval Pension and Greenwich Hospital Pension (dated 28 November 1878).