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Commemorative Medal - HMS Vengeance

ProfilePosted byOptionsPost Date

Cliff

Cliff Report 15 Jul 2006 23:08

Thanks for that Anne. I can see that what was a fleeting 'I wonder' will bcome (another) obsession! Cliff

Anne

Anne Report 15 Jul 2006 20:54

My Dad's great uncle (Walter Coleman) was a Royal Naval Engineer. He appears in Barrow on the 1901 census and from his naval record it seems he was partly in charge of the fitting out of HMS Vengeance after its launch. Don't know what the 'medal' would be but thought you might be interested in this real connection!! Anne

Cliff

Cliff Report 15 Jul 2006 20:31

Yup, that I was thinking. Or that they had been handed out to people who had worked on building the ship. There was a shipwright in the family but the time and place is wrong for that. Googled Iliffe but didn't think of checking the census DUH Ne'er mind - I'll stickit away again and the kids can put it on e-bay after I've gone LOL Thanks for your trouble Cliff

Merry

Merry Report 15 Jul 2006 20:21

Do you think it might just be a locally produced coin/medal to commemorate the launch of the ship? The jeweller, Charles Iliffe, appears on the 1901 census as a Jeweller + Watch Dealer, Shopkeeper, at 68 Duke St, Barrow, so his business sounds like a fairly small concern......maybe he produced these and sold them in his shop....hence his name being on them. Don't know how you ended up with it though, if your family are not from there, or shipbuilders! Hang on whilst I give my crystal ball a rub! Merry

Cliff

Cliff Report 15 Jul 2006 17:48

Yes, I found that site. Thanks, Monty. Just trying to satisfy my curiosity. Cliff

Merry

Merry Report 15 Jul 2006 15:01

lol! I don't know the answer to your question, but thought I'd nudge the thread up by posting..... http://www.hms-vengeance|(.)co.uk/hms.htm (remove brackets) has some good pictures of the ship to which you refer and some details of what happened to it - commissioned 1899, broken up 1923. Merry

Cliff

Cliff Report 15 Jul 2006 14:01

One of my relatives left behind what appears to be a commemorative medal. It seems to be of some soft metal and on the front (face) is a nice raised picture of a battleship with 'HMS VENGEANCE' below it. Above the ship it reads 'C.G.ILIFFE. JEWELLER. BARROW' (Presumable Barrow-in-Furness, although I do not know of any family connections there) The back (do they call it obverse?) reads '1st BATTLESHIP LAUNCHED AT BARROW 25.7.99' Does anyone have any idea what this is or who it would be given to? Was it the 18th century forerunner of a free toy with every 'happy meal'? Just curious. Cliff