The Douglas-Morris Collection of Naval Medals (Part 1)

Indian Mutiny 1857-58, 1 clasp, Lucknow (Chas. T. Hoyton, Seaman’s Schoolmr. Shannon) extremely fine and rare

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Douglas-Morris Collection of Naval Medals.

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Charles Hoyton was born in Rochester, Kent, in May 1827, and joined the service aboard H.M.S. LEANDER on 4 October 1849 as a Seaman’s Schoolmaster. He was discharged from her to H.M.S. VICTORY and four days later, on 23 May 1856, joined H.M.S. SHANNON, serving with the Naval Brigade in India during the Mutiny. He was paid off to shore and out of the service when SHANNON was paid off in January 1859.

From the earliest of days educational tuition at sea was confined to sporadic teachings by the Chaplain, but only for “young gentlemen”. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the Chaplain was occasionally used to teach lower deck men and the title ‘schoolmaster’ was sometimes used. In 1836 the title became ‘Naval Instructor and Schoolmaster’ and the holder was granted the status of Warrant Officer and given a uniform, and his responsibilities widened to cover not only the “young gentlemen” but “other youths of the ship”. In 1837 the Admiralty authorised one additional rating of First Class Petty Officer status in every ship of his Majesty’s Navy, to be called ‘Seaman’s Schoolmaster’, and in 1842 introduced the title ‘Naval Instructor’ for officers, thereby differentiating between the officer and rating branches of the educational fraternity in the Navy. In 1862 the title of ‘Seaman’s Schoolmaster’ became ‘Naval Schoolmaster’ and, in 1867, the substantive rate of this title was raised to that of Chief Petty Officer. By 1889 all Naval Schoolmasters were withdrawn from ships of the seagoing fleet, but the link between this branch and the Naval Instructors was not severed until the First World War. In 1927 the first ‘Schoolmaster’ was promoted to Headmaster with the rank of Commander. The Schoolmsster branch was abolished in 1946, and its men and duties absorbed into the Instructor branch.