Orders, Decorations and Medals

A group of three awarded to Mr. James Dryden for saving life from drowning in the Tyne at Newcastle
Royal Humane Society, Second Award Clasp, bronze, dated ‘6th Aug. 1898’; Tynemouth Medal, silver, ‘Presented to James Dryden on the 7th August 1895, for saving life from drowning’, the medal contained in a silver swivelling mount with bar suspension; “Pluck” Medal for Heroism, silver, unnamed as issued, all contained in a contemporary fitted case by Reid & Sons, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with space for missing R.H.S. medal, good very fine (3) £400-500

R.H.S. Bronze Medal, Case No.27,636: ‘James Dryden, at great personal risk, rescued Joseph Dixon from drowning in the Tyne, at Newcastle, on the 22nd April, 1895.’
R.H.S. Bronze Clasp, Case No. 29,618: ‘On the 6th August, 1898, a woman [Sarah Heslop, aged 30], in an attempt to commit suicide, threw herself into the Tyne at Newcastle, the depth being 30 feet, with a strong tide running. James Dryden, labourer, sprang in from the quay, caught the woman, and took her to the side, where they were taken into a boat.’ James Dryden was twenty-six years old at the time of this second rescue. Sold with copies from the Society’s records.