Orders, Decorations and Medals

Royal National Lifeboat Institution, silver, G.IV.R., 1st type (Charles S. Carr, Voted 30th Jany. 1851) fitted with silver loop and ring suspension, edge bruising, therefore nearly very fine £300-350

Charles S. Carr, Gunner of the Revenue Cutter Sylvia, Voted 30th January 1851.

‘12-13 January 1851: On the morning of the 11th, the 250 ton Whitby brig New Commercial struck the Brisons Rocks off Cape Cornwall, four miles north of Land’s End, and broke up immediately in thick fog and high seas. The nine men aboard and the Master’s wife managed to scramble on to a rock shelf, but a massive wave swept them to their deaths. Captain Sanderson and his wife managed to get back on the rocks. The other man, a mulatto, grasped a piece of wreckage and was later saved by fishermen from Sennen Cove. Captain Davies [Inspecting Commander, H.M. Coastguard, Penzance], meanwhile, had ordered the Sylvia out from Penzance in atrocious conditions and, on arrival at the scene, an unsuccessful attempt was made to take off the two survivors by a small boat; she only just made it back to the cutter which then lay off all night to give the victims hope. Next morning, with the wind having veered a little and the seas slightly calmer, five other boats arrived, one manned by the coastguard, three by fishermen and the fifth was a preventative boat containing Captain Davies and a rocket apparatus. Using this, he managed to fire a line which the two on the rock secured and the Master’s wife was hauled aboard but, sadly, she died very quickly from exposure and the buffeting. The other survivor, Captain Sanderson, was brought aboard safely and landed at Sennen Cove together with the bodies which had been recovered.’

Gold awards to Captain Davies and Thomas Forward, Commander of the Sylvia, and Silver awards to four members of the Penzance Coastguard, and to six crew of the cutter Sylvia. Sold with full details including a copy of the report on this rescue from The Life-Boat.