Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (unsuccessful) (Charles Higgins. 15th. Jany. 1908.) with integral top riband buckle, in Elkington, London, case of issue, nearly extremely fine £100-£140

R.H.S. Case no. 35,869:
‘On 15 January 1908, J. H. Gilmer threw himself overboard from S.S. Dunluce Castle off the South African coast. The ship was steaming at eleven and a half knots and the locality abounds with sharks. Mr. Charles Higgins, of Stourbridge, who was a passenger, jumped after him, but failed to reach him before he sank.’

Charles Higgins was a printer by trade, and at the time he performed his gallant deed the Union Castle Mail Steamship Company’s S.S. Dunluce Castle was en route from Delagoa Bay to Southampton.