Orders, Decorations and Medals

Board of Trade Medal for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea, V.R., large, silver (Michael Geoghegan, Wreck of the S.S. “Tyne Queen” on the 10th December 1887) slight edge bruising, good very fine £240-280

The steamship Tyne Queen was rendered disabled and helpless in very bad weather in the North Sea. The vessel was on the point of sinking when the crew was taken off by the boat from the smack Lena of Hull. The boat is recorded as having a hole in it, the size of a man’s body - which was covered with coffee tins to keep out the water.

William Lawson, the skipper of the fishing smack Lena of Hull was awarded the Board of Trade Silver Medal for Humanity for the rescue. Three members of the crew: Michael Ganger, John Thompson and Charles Hickford were each awarded the Board of Trade Silver Medal for Gallantry and a gratuity of £2. The medals were ordered on 21 February 1888 and were presented by the Hull Local Marine Board.

Notably absent from the list of recipients for this or any other action is ‘Michael Geoghegan’. However, the Irish pronunciation of ‘Geoghegan’ is ‘Gogan’ and it is possible that ‘Ganger’ was a corruption of ‘Geoghegan’, being recorded as the former and the medal named as the latter. This can only be conjecture as the official records make no mention of any amendment to the naming and as far as the Board of Trade records are concerned a medal was named and awarded to ‘Michael Ganger’.