Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An Order of St. John group of six awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick William Gibbon, Royal Army Medical Corps

The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knight of Grace set of insignia, neck badge, silver and enamel; breast star, silver and enamel, with gold pin; Coronation 1902, silver, unnamed; Coronation 1911, silver, unnamed; Volunteer Officers’ Decoration, V.R., reverse inscribed, ‘Surg.-Major F. W. Gibbon, 1st Durham R.E.’, hallmarks for London 1892, with brooch bar; Volunteer Force Long Service, V.R. (Surgeon Captain F. W. Gibbon, 1st. D.V.R.E. May 1896 Army Med. Res.); Territorial Decoration, G.V.R., unnamed, hallmarks for London 1919, with brooch bar, mounted court style for wear, some contact marks, very fine (7) £500-600

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Long Service Medals from the Collection formed by John Tamplin.

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Frederick William Gibbon was born at Seaham harbour, Co. Durham, on 8 July 1862. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and at Durham University College of Medicine. He became a L.S.A. London in 1883 and a L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S. and L.M., Edinburgh in 1886. Gibbon first practiced at 87 Hudson Street, Tyne Dock, South Shields. He became a Fellow of the Obstetricians Society of London; he was Medical Examiner of Army and Militia Recruits; Surgeon to the Juvenile Oddfellows, and Medical Referee to a number of Assurance Companies. In 1888 he became Surgeon to the Don Sheet Iron Works at Jarrow. He later became a Member of the British Medical Association, and a Fellow of the British Institute of Public Health. He also became Medical Officer of the Tyne Dock and West Harton District, Public Vaccinator to the West Harton District, and was Consulting Physician to the Victoria Home for Diseases of Women in Newcastle. Gibbon was granted a degree as a B.Hy. at Durham in 1893, and became a D.P.H. in 1902. Within the Order of St. John, he became an Examiner of the St. John Ambulance Association in 1899. In 1904 he was Assistant Commissioner in Charge of the 6th District of the S.J.A.B., and by 1908 was Deputy Commissioner. He was appointed an Honorary Associate of the Order on 28 February 1899 and was appointed a Knight of Grace on 27 February 1906. He continued to practice at Hudson Street until about 1907 when he moved to 12 Sydenham Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle. By 1909 he had moved to Littlethorpe Hall, Ripon and in about 1926 had moved to Hove, Sussex

After joining the ranks of the Volunteers in about 1875/76, he was granted a commission on 11 May 1881, serving as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Northumberland Rifle Corps (late the 2nd Volunteer Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers). On 1 July 1881 he was promoted to Lieutenant and on 11 February 1882 was advanced to Captain. After resigning his commission on 30 April 1884, he was appointed Acting Surgeon of the 5th Volunteer Battalion Durham Light Infantry on 17 May the same year. On 7 May 1887 Gibbon was appointed Acting Surgeon of the 1st Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Durham Royal Engineer Volunteers. In 1888 the unit split, and Gibbon continued as Acting Surgeon of the 1st Durham Engineer Volunteers. He was promoted to Surgeon on 1 February 1889, later becoming Surgeon-Captain when that rank was introduced in 1891. By Army Order 77 of April 1896 Gibbon was awarded the Volunteer Force Long Service Medal. Promoted to Surgeon-Major on 26 September 1900, he was then awarded the Volunteer Officers’ Decoration, this published in London Gazette 4 December 1900. Gibbon transferred on 13 May 1903, and became the medical Officer of the Tyne Division, Royal Engineer Volunteers. In March 1906 he granted the honorary rank of Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel. With the formation of the Territorial Force in April 1908, Gibbon was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in the R.A.M.C. (T.F.). In 1909 he was attached as M.O. to the Northumbrian R.E. (T.F.), and in 1911 to the Tyne Electrical Engineers, R.E. (T.F.). During the Great War Gibbon was in turn, Officer Commanding the Military Hospital at Gosport, at Ripon, and at Grimsby, 1914-16, and later was President of No.1 Travelling Medical Board in Northern Command. Lieutenant-Colonel Gibbon, V.D., was awarded the T.D. on 14 January 1920. He retired on 10 November 1921, having attained the age limit. Sold with original photograph of the recipient in uniform and copied research.