Medal, Naval General Service Medal, Great Britain, 1848

Great Britain Naval General Service Medal 1793 - 1840 with bar Boat Service 14 Dec 1814 Awarded to: G.W. COLE, MASTER'S MATE The Naval General Service medal was introduced in 1848 with the intention that surviving naval personell from battles which occurred between 1793 and 1815 would be elegable.

The dates were later extended to actions up until 1840 and it was decided that, if an applicant died between the date of application for the medal and its issue, their medal would be awarded to their next-of-kin. The closing date for application was 1 May 1851. 231 bars were sanctioned for this medal (although there were no applicants for ten of these). This bar was awarded for the action off New Orleans. In order that the town might be captured by the British its guard-ships had to be disabled. The British force captured one of these and then turned it against the others destroying them all. George Ward Cole, after he left the navy eventually settled in Melbourne where he built the important Cole's Wharf. A round silver medal issued ribbon and one bar - Boat Service 14 Dec 1814.

The obverse features a diademed head of Queen Victoria facing left; around, VICTORIA REGINA; below, 1848. The artists name, W. WYON R.A. is in small letters on the neck truncation. The reverse depicts Britannia holding a trident and olive branch seated sideways on a hippocamp - a mythological animal, half horse and half fish. Obverse: A round silver medal issued as a specimen without the mount for a ribbon. The obverse features a diasdemed head of Queen Victoria facing left; around, VICTORIA REGINA; below, 1848. The artists name, W. WYON R.A. is in small letters on the neck truncation. Reverse: Britannia holding a trident and olive branch seated sideways on a hippocamp - a mythological animal, half horse and half fish.

Edge: G.W. COLE, MASTER'S MATE indented in Roman capitals.