Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A very rare 5-clasp Naval General Service medal awarded to Quarter-Master James Sedeway, Royal Navy

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 5 clasps, 1 June 1794 [538], St. Vincent [346], Nile [326, The Potomac 17 Aug 1814 [104], Algiers [1328] (James Sedeway, Midshipman) fitted with silver ribbon buckle, toned, very fine and very rare £12000-15000

Provenance: J. Lawson Whalley Collection whose printed catalogue was published in 1877, and Hyde Greg Collection which, when sold at Sotheby’s on 16 May 1887 (Lot 239) carried a footnote stating: “From the Whalley Collection, and originally from the Jackson Collection (in Liverpool), Mr Jackson having picked it up from there, for a few shillings, nearly 30 years ago [i.e. circa 1857 ].” Latterly in the collection of the late David Spink.

James Sedeway appears on the official clasp lists for the first three ‘Gold Medal’ actions which were authorised in June 1847. In each case he is shown as mid ship man [the old rate, not a junior officer] aboard H.M.S. Culloden. Not until June 1848 was it known that the clasp for ‘Algiers’ could be claimed, and six months later, in January 1849, that another list was issued allowing claims for such clasps as ‘The Potomac 17 Aug 1814’. Having successfully claimed his medal for the first three engagements, James Sedeway would have had to make one, if not two, further applications to the authorities for his last two clasps. It is a matter of record that many additional claims for subsequent clasps for men already issued with the medal were not transferred to the ‘Clasp Roll Volumes’, from which today’s published rolls were compiled. Extensive research has been carried out on the Naval career of James Sedeway by the late Captain K. J. Douglas-Morris and, independently, by Diana Birch. Both authorities reach the same conclusions and find Sedeway present as Gunner’s Mate aboard Euryalus at Potomac, and as Quarter Master aboard Queen Charlotte at Algiers. Furthermore, both authorities are in agreement that James Sedeway served on the correct ships to enable him to justifiably claim for the five clasps that appear on his medal. Given that Sedeway, or his family, must have sold his medal within eight years of its being issued, it must be safe to conclude that this medal was genuinely issued with five clasps and that its number should be added to the 25 other examples known to have been issued.

James Sedeway was born at Newington, Surrey, in about 1770, and is first found aboard Cockatrice prior to the commencement of hostilities with France in February 1793. Although he served in several ships, it was aboard Culloden that he witnessed the three great victories of the ‘Glorious First of June’, St. Vincent and the Nile. Sedeway was discharged from the Navy after the Peace of Amiens in 1802 and nothing more is known of him until he met with a very unpleasant surprise on 11 February 1810. On that day a ‘Press Gang’ seized him and one other man somewhere in the Portsmouth area. Both men were delivered to Euryalus and, now aged 40 years, Sedeway remained in this ship taking part in the action up the Potomac river in August 1814.

With the war against Napoleon apparently at an end, Sedeway was discharged from the Navy on 16 May 1815, with a notation as ‘unservicable’. This meant in practical terms that he could claim for some sort of pension at this time. There is a strong possibility that he did indeed seek a pension and, finding that he was less than one year from serving the required 21 years for a full pension, he sought a sea billet to complete his time. Thus, on 24 January 1816 he joined H.M.S. Vengeur as a volunteer, being lent shortly afterwards to the Queen Charlotte for the impending expedition to Algiers under Lord Exmouth. With the responsible rate of Quarter Master he witnessed that devastating bombardment of the mole, inner harbour and fish market on 27 August 1816. Finally discharged from the service on 22 January 1817, Sedeway then spent the next 26 years in the Merchant Service, becoming an ‘In Pensioner’ at Greenwich Hospital in December 1843. For some reason he discharged himself to shore as an ‘Out Pensioner’ in June 1845 (aged 75 years), only to ask again for re-admittance in June 1846, and yet again to discharge himself as an ‘Out Pensioner’ on 3 August 1849, which is the last sight gained of this ancient mariner. Sold with comprehensive research.