Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine ‘Life-Saving’ pair awarded to Chief Boatman H. Pomeroy, H.M. Coastguard, Mevagissey, for rescuing the crew of the French Schooner Rochellaise that was stranded on Mevagissey Bar during a gale on 14 June 1857

Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, G.IV.R., silver (Mr. Henry Pomeroy. Voted 6 Augst. 1857.) with double-dolphin suspension; France, Second Empire, Medal of Honour for Saving Life, Ministry of the Marine and the Colonies, large silver medal, 5th issue, by Caqué, 44mm, Napoleon III bare headed facing left on obverse; 6th model reverse inscribed ‘A Henry Pomery [sic] Garde-Côte a Mévagissay. Services a la Marine Marchande Française. 1857’ on cartouché flanked by supporters, silver mark to edge, with small ring suspension, nearly extremely fine (2) £700-£900

‘The French schooner Rochellaise, Dunkirk to Cette (Sète), on the French Mediterranean coast, with a cargo of wine and salt, was trying to get into Mevagissey, Cornwall, in a gale when she stranded on Mevagissey Bar with the sea making a clear breach over her. Three small boats put off with the Chief Boatman, two Pilots and 14 other men and saved the schooner's crew of five and a boy.’

For this action Chief Boatman Henry Pomeroy, Pilot William Cloke, and Pilot Joseph Ley were all awarded the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck’s Silver Medal, together with a gratuity of £2; the 14 other men involved in the rescue also each received gratuities of £2.