Auction Catalogue

1 December 2004

Starting at 10:00 AM

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Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Grand Connaught Rooms  61 - 65 Great Queen St  London  WC2B 5DA

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Lot

№ 1581

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1 December 2004

Hammer Price:
£420

A fine pair of Spanish awards to Superintending Engineer Robert Govan, Merchant Navy

Spain, Kingdom, Order of Naval Merit, 2nd Class breast star in white enamel, by José Fernandez Mayor, Madrid, 83mm., silver, gold and enamel, in case of issue, the lid gold embossed with a crowned ‘C’ cypher; Order of Military Merit, 2nd Class breast star in white enamel, by José Fernandez Mayor, Madrid, 86mm., silver, gold and enamel, in case of issue, the lid gold embossed with a crowned ‘C’ cypher, superb quality, extremely fine (2) £300-400

Sold with a quantity of contemporary documents: original bestowal documents with translations for the two Orders, dated March 1896, issued during the reign of King Alphonso XIII, in his name by the Queen Regent; official letters with translations from the ‘Compañia Transatlantica’ transmiting orders from the Spanish Ministries of the Marine and War, informing Govan of the awards; a letter of acknowledgement and thanks from Govan to the Compañia Transatlantica in Barcelona, dated Liverpool, 7 May 1896; Engineer’s Certificate of Service Claims Form, listing ships and services between 1857-62; a memorandum of agreement between Govan and the owners of the steamship Italian, dated September 1857; a Certificate of Discharge from the Italian, dated October 1859; a letter of reference from the Master of the Italian, dated 5 October 1859; a Certificate of Character and Discharge from the Jason, dated November 1860; a Certificate of Character and Discharge from the steamship Melita, dated March 1862; a letter of reference from the Master of the Melita, dated London 28 April 1862. Also with a studio photograph of each of the orders.

Robert Govan was born in Glasgow in 1834 and is known to have served as an Engineer aboard the steamships Italian, Jason and Melita during1857-62. He was awarded the two Spanish Orders in 1896 for his services as Superintending Engineer and Superintendent of Supplies of the Compañia Transatlantica, responsible for shipping troops and supplies across the Atlantic from Spain to Cuba during the first years of the Cuban Insurrection (1895-98).