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A Naval General Service Medal for Syria 1840 World Naval Ships Forums Archive

A Naval General Service Medal for Syria 1840

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I bought this NGS knowing that the rolls list two Royal Marines of the same name, one on HMS Magicienne and the other on HMS Princess Charlotte I have looked into the National Archive website and found the service papers for only one man whose service dates allowed him to qualify for the Syria bar, the Magicienne man. I have yet to investigate the Princess Charlottes muster book to see what information, if any there is that relates to a George Groves R.M. and if the two are the same man. Using his papers I have filled in what I can on Pre. George Groves R.M. HMS Magicienne and so this is what I have so far. Dave. GROVES. George R.M. Naval General Service 1793 to 1840 bar Syria to - HMS Magicienne Born - Tintinhull? Yeovil, Somerset. 1807. His Trade is given as - Labourer He signed his Attestation papers to serve in the Royal Marines at Salisbury, Wiltshire on 28th February 1824 before the local Justice of the Peace John Sparshatt (who was also the Salisbury Mayor at the time) making his mark with an X. His age was given as Seventeen and his height as five foot seven inches. He acknowledged that he had enlisted for a bounty of three pounds to serve in the Royal Marines commanded by Lieut. General Sir Henry Ball K.C.B. He was read the Articles of War regarding Mutiny and Desertion; he then took the Oath of Fidelity and received the sum of Six shillings and Sixpence. The Surgeon then declared him as fit for His Majesty’s service. The commanding officer certified that he was satisfied with the correctness of the Attestation and he was entered into the 74th Company of the Portsmouth Division of Royal Marines. HMS Warspite – 23rd August 1825 to 31st October 1828 HMS Warspite was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 16 November 1807 at Chatham. She was designed by Sir John Henslow as one of the large class 74s and was the only ship built to her draught. As a large 74, she carried 24 pounders on her upper gun deck instead of the 18 pounders found on the middling and common class 74s. 23rd August 1825 joined HMS Warspite August 1825 – Fitting and storing at Portsmouth; it was announced in the press that she was to take the new Commander-in-Chief East Indies to India 27th August 1825 - Captain William Fairbrother Carroll appointed to the command 10th December 1825 – Rear Admiral Joseph Bingham the C-in-C (designate) died, so on 13th December Rear Admiral William Gage was appointed the new C-in-C. December 1825 – It was announced that Warspite would not be stationed in the East Indies but after conveying the new C-in-C to India, would carry on across the Pacific to South America with Sir James Brisbane. 24th January 1826 – The flag of Rear Admiral Gage was hoisted onboard Warspite 11th February 1826 – Sailed from Portsmouth in company with the frigate HMS Volage. 13th February 1826 – Arrived at Plymouth 4th March 1826 – Left Plymouth in company with HMS Volage 22nd March 1826 – Arrived at Madeira 23rd May 1826 – Arrived at the Cape of Good Hope with HMS Volage 9th June 1826 – Left the Cape sailing for India with HMS Volage July 1826 – Arrived at Trincomalee August 1826 – Rear Admiral Gage stuck his flag and transferred, with Captain Carroll, to the HMS Boadicea. Captain Brisbane, formerly of the Boadicea assumed command of Warspite Mid-September 1826 - Left Trincomalee to proceed to Port Jackson with Volage in company; Lady Brisbane and the two misses Brisbane were also onboard. 19th October 1826 – Arrived at Sydney (Sir James Brisbane reported to be very ill, suffering from a disease contracted whilst serving in Burma) November and December 1826 – Spent at Sydney 19th December 1826 – Captain Brisbane died – Captain Richard Dundas of the Volage assumed command (this move was later confirmed by the Admiralty) 6th January 1827 – Left Sydney sailing for Valparaiso (still with the Brisbane ladies onboard), in company with the Volage 19th February 1827 – Arrived at Valparaiso 30th April 1827 – Arrived Rio de Janeiro May 1827 – Spent at Rio 9th June 1827 – Left Rio to return to England 28th July 1827 – Arrived back at Portsmouth – “...she is the first line of battleship that has ever circumnavigated the globe... on the passage from Port Jackson to Valparaiso, the Warspite went through Cooks Straits, between the two islands of New Zealand. The conducting of a line of battleship through such a narrow passage (being only 11 miles across in one place, and little known), with a beating wind the whole way, required not only great strength of nerve, but a constant and vigilant look out, together with the unceasing operation of keeping the lead going. With these precautions the Warspite beat through in six days without any accident” August 1827 – Spent at Portsmouth, refitting 1st September 1827 – Sailed in company with HMS Wellesley for Lisbon to join squadron assembling to protect British interests during Portuguese civil war 4th September 1827 – Arrived at Lisbon to join squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Beauclerk; it was reported that “...detachments of Marines are landed twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays, for exercise and to be ready to take the field under Sir William Clinton” 11th October 1827 - Captain William Parker appointed to the command of Warspite October to November 1827 – Remained at Lisbon 7th November 1827 – Sailed from Lisbon for the Mediterranean 9th November 1827 – Passed Gibraltar November and December 1827 – spent at Malta 25th December 1827 – Sailed from Malta for Corfu to join squadron giving British support to the Greek independence movement in their resistance to the Turks 27th December 1827 – At Corfu; embarked Ioannis Kapodistrias (first head of independent Greece) for Malta 9th January 1828 – Arrived at Malta 14th January 1828 – Sailed from Malta to take Kapodistrias to Aegina 18th February 1828 – Took Kapodistrias to Poros 10th March 1828 – Arrived at Navplio and disembarked Kapodistrias March 1828 – Visited Aegina April and May 1828 – Spent cruising Corfu and Crete 8th July 1828 – At Zante; Admiral Codrington onboard with Kapodistrias July and August 1828 – Cruising Corfu and Crete: it was reported that she had opened fire on a Turkish sloop that attempted to enter Navarino (= Pylos) during this time 12th August 1828 – At Malta “refitting for the purpose of conveying to England Sir Edward Codrington” 11th September 1828 – Left Malta carrying Admiral Codrington. 7th October 1828 – Arrived at Portsmouth 14th October 1828 – Left Portsmouth for Plymouth 16th October 1828 – Arrived at Plymouth “to be paid off” 30th October 1828 – Warspite paid off HMS St Vincent / Asia 18th May 1830 to 12th July 1834 HMS St Vincent was a 120-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1810 at Plymouth Dockyard and launched on 11 March 1815 before a crowd that was put at 50,000 spectators May 1830 – At Plymouth 1st May 1830 – Captain Hyde Parker appointed to the command 5th May 1830 – Parker with a party of men from the Victory arrived in Plymouth, to navigate the St Vincent to Portsmouth; assisted by drafts of men from the Kent, Undaunted and Blanche 10th May 1830 – Sailed from Plymouth for Portsmouth 13th May 1830 – Arrived at Portsmouth; Admiral Sir Thomas Foley, as port Admiral, Portsmouth, hoisted his flag May 1830 to February 1831 – St Vincent remained at Portsmouth as local flagship 23rd February 1831 – The Flag of the Port Admiral was struck and the crew of St Vincent exchanged with the HMS Asia. HMS Asia a 84-gun second rate ship of the line of 1824 16th February 1831 – Captain Hyde Parker appointed to command; ship at Portsmouth ‘fitting for sea’, press report her to be brought forward for service abroad 27th February 1831 – The Officers and men of HMS St Vincent have this week been transferred to the Asia, which will be the flagship at this port (Portsmouth), until the arrival of HMS Britannia from the Mediterranean; March to May 1831 – Spent at Portsmouth, acting as flagship for Admiral Foley 27th May 1831 –Moved to Spithead; flag of Admiral Foley struck (assume the HMS Britannia Had arrived at Portsmouth to replace Asia) 7th July 1831 – Set sail in company with six other ships of the line plus four frigates under the command of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington (“...the wind being at SE the ships beat to St Helens, it afforded a rich treat to the admirers of nautical science. The fleet was accompanied by two government steamers, together with Lord Yarborough in his yacht and other members of the Royal Yacht Club...”) 13th July 1831 – The squadron formed up off Plymouth, they then “...stretched away to the westward” and continued to cruise in company to exercise “either in manoeuvring or gun practice and the rate of sailing of the various ships is tried” 21st August 1831 – The squadron returned to Spithead 10th September 1831 – HMS Asia sailed from Spithead in company with the HMS Prince Regent, for Lisbon 22nd September 1831 – Arrived in the river Tagus October to December 1831 – Was spent in the river Tagus 19th December 1831 –Captain Peter Richards appointed to command (early) January 1832 - Rear Admiral William Parker hoisted his flag in HMS Asia From January 1832 to June 1834 - HMS Asia is listed as being stationed in the river Tagus, flagship of Admiral Parker 2nd July 1834 – Sailed from the Tagus to return to England 11th July 1834 – arrived Spithead 13th July - Sailed from Spithead 15th July – Arrived at Sheerness to pay off HMS Cornwallis 24th March 1836 to 14th February 1837 and 4th March 1837 to 2nd July 1839 HMS Cornwallis was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 May 1813 at Bombay. She was built of teak. 19th Mar 1836 – HMS Cornwallis was commissioned at Plymouth by Captain Robert W G Festing 24th March 1836 – Joined HMS Cornwallis 28th April 1836 – Went out of the harbour to Plymouth Sound; in doing so she touched the ground off Bottlenose Point but did not receive any damage but a seaman fell from the foremast, receiving severe injuries 12th May 1836 – She was towed back into harbour by steam tug to have bottom examined following her grounding 11th June 1836 – Once again moved out of harbour to the Sound 24th June 1836 – Captain Sir Joshua Rowley appointed 30th June 1836 – Arrived Spithead; joined Rear Admiral Sir James Paget’s Experimental Squadron (Hercules, Asia, Bellerophon, Pembroke, Vanguard, Talavera, Minden) 16th July 1836 – Moved to St Helens anchorage 23rd July 1836 – The squadron sailed for exercises in the Channel 28th July 1836 – The squadron arrived Plymouth 29th July 1836 – The squadron sailed from Plymouth 8th August 1836 – The squadron returned to Plymouth 12th August 1836 – The squadron left Plymouth sailing “for a cruise to the westward of Scilly” 28th August 1836 – Cornwallis returned to Plymouth & was detached from the squadron 29th August 1836 – Cornwallis sailed for Lisbon 7th September 1836 – Arrived in the Tagus, to join the British squadron there September, October, November and December 1836 – Was spent in the Tagus 6th January 1837 – Arrived back in Plymouth January 1837 – The papers reported that Cornwallis was being fitted as a Flagship for service in North America / West Indies; lower deck guns landed (note – she did not re-embark them until Aug 1838) 13th February 1837 – Paid off and re-commissioned same day by Captain Sir Richard Grant as flagship for Vice Admiral Sir Charles Paget 4th March 1837 – Returned to HMS Cornwallis (presumed to be still at Plymouth) 11th May 1837 – Arrived at Spithead 15th May 1837 – Admiral Paget hoisted his flag 20th May 1837 – Sailed from Spithead for the North America Station 1st and 2nd June 1837 –Was spent at Madeira 16th July 1837 – Arrived Halifax Nova Scotia July, August and September 1837 - Spent at Halifax 10th October 1837 – Left Halifax sailing for Bermuda October and November 1837 – Spent at Bermuda 20th November 1837 – Sailed for Barbados, to embark troops for Canada (background = the ‘lower Canada rebellion’) 6th December 1837 – At Barbados; embarked two companies of troops which were taken to Grenada and landed, then embarked two companies of the 65th Regiment of Foot for Canada (470 men plus 40 women and 92 children) 2nd January 1838 – Arrived Halifax; landed troops. Embarked elements of the 34th Regiment, 250 men 10th January 1838 – Sailed for St John, New Brunswick 13th January 1838 – Arrived at St John and disembarked troops 27th January 1838 – Left St John sailing for Bermuda 1st February 1838 – At Bermuda (late ) February 1838 – Left Bermuda sailing for Jamaica March 1834 – At Port Royal, Jamaica 19th March 1838 – Left Jamaica to return to Bermuda 14th April 1838 – Sailed from Bermuda with 11th Regiment embarked for Canada 23rd April 1838 – Arrived at Halifax and disembarked troops 27th May 1838 – Sailed for Quebec June and July 1838 – Spent at Quebec and in the Gulf of St Lawrence 7th August 1838 – Sailed for Halifax 20th August 1838 – At Halifax August and September 1838 – Spent at Halifax, where she embarked her lower deck guns, sent from England, also ‘repairing and painting’ 25th October 1838 – Sailed from Halifax for Bermuda November 1838 – At Bermuda 2nd December 1838 – Arrived at Jamaica Admiral Paget became seriously ill & landed at Jamaica; Commodore Peter Douglas hoisted his flag; Admiral Paget died 27 Jan 1839. 15th December 1838 – Sailed for Vera Cruz 28th December 1838 – Arrived Vera Cruz 10th January 1839 – Left Vera Cruz for Havana February and March 1839 – Spent at Havana; Commodore Douglas struck his flag 25th March 1838 – Sailed from Havana to return to Bermuda 1st April 1838 – Arrived at Bermuda. (late) May 1838 – Sailed from Bermuda to return to England, carried Lady Paget & family 10th June 1838 – Arrived at Spithead; landed Lady Paget 11th June 1838 – Sailed for Plymouth 13th June 1838 – Arrived at Plymouth 2nd July 1838 – HMS Cornwallis paid off HMS Magicienne 18th February 1840 to 27 November 1843 18th February 1840 joined HMS Magicienne an ex-Frigate of 1812 which in 1831 was converted from a 46-gun frigate into a 24-gun corvette, she carried twenty four 32-pounders, with a crew of 210 men 11th February 1840 – Captain William Burnett appointed 18th February 1840 – Commissioned at Portsmouth 19th February 1840 – A detachment of Royal Marines under the command of Lieutenant Hunt embarked February to May 1840 – Spent at Portsmouth, fitting, storing and raising the crew 16th April 1840 – Captain Burnett died after a short illness 23rd April 1840 - Captain Robert Frederick Michell appointed to command 16th May 1840 – Bent sails and preparing for sea 8th June 1840 – Sailed to Spithead 13th June 1840 – While at Portsmouth, has received her orders, and will sail on Monday for the Mediterranean. 15th June 1840 –Left Portsmouth sailing for the Mediterranean 26th to 27th June 1840 – At Lisbon 27th June 1840 – Left Lisbon, sailing for Malta. 3rd July 1840 – At Cadiz; embarked Prince Ernest of Saxe-Coburg 8th July 1840 – Arrived Gibraltar; Prince Ernest landed 29th July 1840 – Arrived at Malta 5th August 1840 – Sailed from Malta for the eastern Mediterranean, to join Admiral Sir Robert Stopford’s squadron 15th August 1840 – Sailed from Mytilene for Syria 21st August 1840 – Joined the squadron cruising off Beirut September 1840 – Stationed to blockade Acre, then off to join the squadron off Alexandria October to November 1840 – Stationed off Scanderoon (Iskanderun) 8th November 1840 - At Scanderoon and the neighbourhood. See [url]www.gazettes-online.co.uk[/url] of 15 Dec 1840. (Aug - Nov 1840 Capture of Acre and operations on the coast of Syria. Turkish Medals awarded to the Officers and Men employed during the Campaign. 16 Oct 1844 those onboard between 9 Sep - 10 Oct 1840 and at the bombardment of St. Jean D’Acre, on the 3 Nov 1840, will be paid their respective proportions of the grant voted by Parliament for the said services.) December 1840 – Off Alexandria January 1841 – At Haifa 12th February 1841 - At Malta, is due to sail shortly to relieve the Talbot at Constantinople, 28th February 1841 – Arrived at Marmorice 17th March 1841 - Arrived at Constantinople to relieve the Talbot. 12th April 1841 – Took up station opposite to Therapia, where she seems to have remained until September 1841 4th August 1841 - Captain Richard Laird Warren appointed to the command 11th October – Arrived at Malta 25th October 1841 – At Malta, will receive pratique (the license given to a ship to enter port on assurance from the captain to convince the authorities that the ship is free from contagious disease) in a few days. 30th October 1841 – Sailed from Malta for Suda Bay November 1841 to May 1842 – Stationed at Suda Bay May to June 1842 – Spent at Malta 27th June 1842 – Sailed from Malta to call in at Tunis 30th July 1842 – Arrived back at Malta 8th August 1842 – Sailed from Malta for Smyrna (Izmir) From September 1842 to May 1843 – She seems to have been stationed at either Smyrna or Vourla Bay, with occasional forays locally – for example 30 Dec 42 – sailed from Smyrna for Mytilene to stand by the British brig Victoria which had been wrecked there. 23rd May 1843 – Arrived back at Malta from Smyrna 7th June 1843 - Left Malta sailing for Athens June 1843 – Spent at Athens July to August 1843 – Spent visiting Corfu the Ionian islands and Patras 5th October 1843 – Arrived back at Malta 14th October 1843 – Left Malta to return to England 5th November 1843 – At Gibraltar 17th November 1843 – Arrived Spithead 21st November 1843 – Entered Portsmouth, to be inspected by Rear Admiral Parker, “...who was received with yards manned; she was in excellent order and discipline” 27th November 1843 – Paid off into reserve at Portsmouth HMS Osprey 14th September 1844 to 29th December 1846 August 1844 – The papers reported that several of the new experimental-design brigs (Osprey, Daring, Flying Fish, Mutine and Espiegle) were to be commissioned for a series of comparative sailing trials 13th September 1844 – HMS Osprey was commissioned at Portsmouth by Commander Frederick Patten for service with the Experimental Squadron 14th September 1844 joined HMS Osprey a 12-gun brig of 1844 September 1844 – Docked at Portsmouth for bottom cleaning 1st October 1844 – Joined the Experimental Squadron at Spithead 8th October 1844 – The Squadron stationed at Spithead received the state visit of Louis-Philippe of France. The ships yards were manned and their guns fired a royal salute 22nd October 1844 – The squadron sailed November 1844 – Osprey undergoing sailing trials in the western Channel 6th December 1844 – At Plymouth 9th December 1844 – Taken into harbour to be fitted for Foreign Service 3rd January 1845 – Towed out to Plymouth Sound by steam vessel Confiance 14th January 1845 – Sailed from Plymouth in company with HMS Mutine 29th to 31st January 1845 – Spent at Madeira 15th March 1845 – Arrived at the Cape of Good Hope still in company with HMS Mutine 6th May 1845– Arrived at Singapore 13th May 1845 – Arrived at Penang 1st July 1845 – Arrived at Malacca 25th July 1845 – Arrived back at Singapore 28th July 1845 – Sailed from Singapore for New Zealand 13th September 1845 - Arrived at Auckland 16th October 1845 – Left Auckland for the Bay of Islands (by North Island modern day town of Russell) October 1845 to February 1846 – At Bay of Islands 4th March 1846 – Sailed from the Bay of Islands for Hokianga 11th March 1846 – Wrecked attempting to enter Hokianga Bay: she struck the ground as she approached; attempted to drive over it, but struck rocks with a series of violent shocks. Masts were cut away and guns thrown overboard to lighten her but still held fast by the rocks, she started to fill with water. All the crew manage to reach the shore by using the fallen masts. Hopes were entertained that she might be refloated, but it was found that she was firmly wedged between rocks and surrounded by shallow water. The wreck had occurred as she had mistaken the headlands of two very similar bays, and had actually entered False Hokianga. A paper reported the event as :- “the vessel touched ground; but it was thought that she was just merely on the bar, over which she would soon forge; but almost immediately she struck again with increased violence, and a succession of shocks brought the alarming conviction that she was ashore, and that it was not the entrance to Hokianga but that of Haere-kino, or False Hokianga. The guns were instantly hove overboard, and the masts cut away, which falling, with the sails set towards the shore, dragged the vessel still higher on the beach. On the tide receding, the vessel being about half-way between high and low water mark, the officers and crew were enabled to land about 2 o'clock on Thursday morning, with their small arms and some dry ammunition, which had been fortunately saved on deck, the greater part having been thrown overboard. The vessel stands upright on her keel, in the sand, and is but slightly injured, the heel of the keel only being knocked away. The stores are being landed, and the crew are assisted by 150 natives, who are well disposed, and behave very friendly and peaceably. Two of them had been caught pilfering, and had been taken into custody. After the stores are all taken out of the Osprey, there is no hope of her floating without a number of empty casks to raise her, or of hauling her off. The shore on that part of the western coast is extremely shallow for a long distance outwards, with a heavy surf and breakers continually rolling in, even when the wind is off the land: so that no vessel of proper size and power could approach with safety sufficiently near to render the Osprey efficient assistance in hauling off. This untoward circumstance has arisen; it appears, from mistaking the headlands; and likewise from being misled by the hoisting of the red flag, similar to the practice at the true Hokianga, to apprize vessels that there is sufficient water for them on the bar.” Commander Patten and the crew remained standing by the wreck for nearly two months, salvaging what they could. That complete they walked 100 miles overland to the reach the Bay of Islands, with their arms, ammunition, and three days' provisions, crossing a country little known, through forests and rivers, where we embarked on board of Her Majesty's ship Racehorse which took them to Auckland – they were evidently then transferred to HMS Castor. 24th May 1846 – HMS Castor sailed from Auckland with officers and men of the Osprey 10th June 1846 – The Castor arrived at Sydney from Auckland with its Passengers Colonel Wynyard, Dr Pine and Lt. Leery, of the 58th Reg, Capt Patten, Lt Freere, Lt Wharton, Dr. Stewart, Mr Hallorne, Mr Cole, with other officers, and 67 men belonging to HM Brig Osprey, Mr J Peacock, 30 invalid soldiers, and 20 invalid seamen. 27th Jun 1846 - The "Palestine" and "Posthumous" will both get away the beginning of next month, both having obtained the tender for the conveyance of invalids and sailors belonging to the Osprey, which lately arrived from NZ in HMS Castor. 6th July 1846 – The Barque Posthumous departed Sydney with Cdr Patten, several officers and thirty eight men of the Osprey 9th July 1846 – The Barque Palestine departs Sydney with one officer, four warrant officers and 38 men 15th December 1846 – The barque Posthumous arrived in the Downs; crew of Osprey put ashore in London 16th December 1846 - The "Posthumous", arrived at Gravesend on the 16th December; Commander Patten, of the Osprey, and the other officers, and part of the crew, who proceeded to England by this vessel, had been ordered to Portsmouth, where the Court martial upon them for the loss of the Osprey at New Zealand, was to take place. 20th December 1846 – The Barque Palestine arrived at Spithead – the Osprey crew were off loaded on to the Victory Monday 21st December 1846 Portsmouth - The Palestine freight ship arrived last evening with the remaining portion of the crew of Her Majesty's late brig Osprey, from New Zealand. The men were removed from her to the Victory this afternoon by the Echo. 28th December 1846 – Commander Patten court-martialled for the loss of his vessel: acquitted The Press reported on the Court Martial - The Loss of the Osprey.- “On Monday, a court martial, comprising Rear Admiral Hyde Parker, C.B., President ; Captain Pasco, of the Victory ; Captain Chads, of the Excellent ; Captain Lushington, of the Vengeance ; Captain Henderson, of the Sidon ; Captain Miloe, of the St. Vincent; Captain Giffard, of the Penelope ; and Mr. G. L. Groetham, Deputy Judge Advocate of the Fleet, assembled on board the St. Vincent, to try on the information of Rear Admiral Sir T. Cochrane, Commander F. Patten, of her Majesty's late sloop Osprey, and the officers and ship's company, for the loss of that vessel on the western coast of- New Zealand, in March last. It is quite unnecessary to give the evidence adduced ; the whole case rested upon this fact the waters where the ship was wrecked had never been surveyed, and False Hokianga so closely resembles True Hokianga, that mistaking one for the other was most natural under the circumstances detailed before the Court. Commander Patten read his defence which included:- “I would remark that Her Majesty's brig had been most actively employed for some time previous to the arrival of reinforcements on the station, and had more officers, seamen, and marines engaged on shore co-operating with the united forces, for some weeks, than any other vessel, in comparison to the number of her complement, transporting heavy guns and materiel to attack the enemy's pah, and were only withdrawn from it, after the heavy work was accomplished, a few days previous to its being taken possession of by the united forces during the temporary absence of the enemy outside their pan at their devotions. And on the detachment belonging to the Osprey returning on board, the senior officer was pleased to express to me his and Commander Hay's, of Her Majesty's sloop Racehorse. (now Capt. Hay, C.B.), marked approbation of their general good behaviour.” The Court fully acquitted Commander Patten, as well as the officers and ship's company; and were of opinion that every exertion had been made in the endeavour to save the said ship. The President then returned Commander Patten his sword.” A final press report of 25 Jul 1846 – “The New Zealander of 27th June 1846 reports that the hull of the Osprey is now deeply buried in the sand. The natives who own that part of the beach on which she struck have claimed her as their right and demanded payment for her accordingly ; but an influential chief as since taken charge of her for the purchaser Mr P Munro.” December 1846 - George Groves now returned to the Portsmouth Division Royal Marines ashore his service afloat finished. February 1847 - Proceedings of a Divisional Board held for the purpose of verifying and recording the Service, Conduct, Character and cause of Discharge of 74th Company George Groves Private Portsmouth Division of Royal Marines. The divisional board looking at the discharge of George Groves of the 75th Company Portsmouth Royal Marine Division agreed that he was entitled to reckon his service from 28th February 1824 to 24th February 1847 to count as:- 22 years 11 months 28 days with an under age deduction of 1 year Allowing him a total period of service of 21 years 11 months 28 days He has served afloat:- HMS Warspite - 23rd August 1825 – 31st October 1828 3 years 2 months 9 days HMS St Vivcent/Asia 18th May 1830 – 12th July 1834 4 years 1 month 25 days HMS Cornwallis 24th March 1836 – 14th February 1837 10 months 22 days HMS Cornwallis 4th March 1837 – 2nd July 1833 2 years 3 months 29 days HMS Magicienne 18th February 1840 – 27th November 1843 3 years 9 months 10 days HMS Osprey 14th September 1844 – 29th December 1846 2 years 3 months 16 days Total service afloat – 16 years 7 months 21 days Total service on Shore – 6 years 4 months 7 days Total combined service – 22 years 11 months 28 days The Cause of his discharge “is in consequence of his having completed his length of service and at his own request”. The Defaulters book was examined and parole testimony from other sources heard. His general conduct and Character was agreed to be “Good.” He was able to produce several certificates of good conduct and character. He also held the Honour medal (the Anchor LS&GC medal Type 1831 to 1847 which had been awarded on 28th January 1847) with a gratuity of £5 and the medal for the operations on the coast of Syria (N.G.S. medal). The board verified that his ledger account was balanced owing him the arrears sum of £3 and a further £2 pounds 12 shillings and 10 pence clothing money it being signed by the pay Capitan of his division. They then approved his discharge which was signed and dated 24th February 1847 by the Colonel Commandant.
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Another magnificently researched medal davidrn-looks in at least GVF condition for it's age.Thank you for sharing your work with us. jainso31

Many thanks jainso31, I would like to think that I may be able to reunite it with his Anchor Long Service medal one day, even if it means my exchanging it to the other person. Regards Dave

Davidrn - I take my hat off to you [not for the first time] - riveting stuff,and was particularly interested in the story of the unfortunate Captain Brisbane and his family. best regards Sid:)

It is amazing how much can be learnt about seamen and their ships from so long ago. Congratulations on a great acquisition and great research. Regards Brett

Many thanks Sid and Brett for your kind words but a lot of the ships service details were supplied by the forum. I think that it is a nice medal the only problem is that two men both Royal Marines of the same rank are on the medal roll. All I can say in claiming that this one is the George Groves from HMS Magicienne is that the on-line Dix Noonan Webbs roll say that only one medal to this name is known to exist and I think that if this mans Long Service still exists (which it does as it was sold in 2004), then my arguement is that His SYRIA stands a good chance of being this one. Perhaps being split up in the family some time in the past. Sorry to be a bit rambling but does this make sense? Dave

I always think the NGS 1848 is a lovely medal and would be my first choice for collecting theme. Sadly I don't have anywhere deep enough pockets to go down that avenue, hence my choice of the other NGS (the NGS 1915-62 especially medals with the clasp Persian Gulf 1909-1914). It is a pity they didn't put the name of the ship on the NGS for Syria etc, as they did in 1915 for the first issue of the later NGS. This would have resolved many of the queries with more common names. They couldn't use the alternative of service numbers as they didn't exist then. I would support your thinking that the existance of another medal to George Groves of HMS Magicienne does strengthen the arguement that this is more likely to be his NGS. Sadly many families split medal groups and allocated them to different children, most then never get re-united. A very nice medal to have in your collection.

Thank you Odin, I only wish that I could be sure that it is his medal. Regards Dave

For a little while now I have been in touch whrough a third party with a American collector who has The Anchor medal to George Groves in his collection. He would not sale and on reflection I considered that the main thing was to reunite this pair of medals (its a collecting thing). So to cut a long story short this NGS is now on its way across the Atlantic to join its Companion, leaving me to find a replacement for the hole in my collection. (My good deed for the week) Dave

I have read with great interest your post, in particular the details relating to HMS Asia. I have a silver Wyon, long service and good conduct medal that was presented to one George Pitter, Blacksmith, HMS Asia. We believe this gentleman was my wife's great, great, grandfather, but we have no details of his life other than the Wyon Medal and one other medal: also a long service medal, bearing the later Queen Victoria head, for service aboard HMS Satellite. Neither of the medals are dated! HMS Satellite was the first of 7 of the Satellite class sloops (reclassified Corvettes in 1884) with a 1400hp horizontal compound expansion steam engine (single screw) and "barque" rigging. She was built in the Sheerness Dockyard and launched on 13th August 1881. Satellite served from the Pacific Station, notably to support land operations in Semiahmoo Bay alongside USS Active. It seems that ships details are more readily available that details of crew members and it would help my project enormously if someone could point me in the right direction to obtain Service Records?

Hello Graham, The Naval long service and good conduct medal for Queen Victoria had the so called young head on the obverse throughout her reign. No other head was issued with this medal. This medal was issued from 1847 to 1902. The only other naval long service medal that was issued from 1830 to 1847 was the medal with an anchor instead of the Queens head on the Obverse. As for George Pitter, there is one listed on the national Archives as:- Reference: ADM 139/435/3468 Description: Name Pitter, George Place of Birth: Guildford, Surrey Continuous Service Number: 3468A Date of Volunteering: 09 August 1859 Date of Birth: 26 August 1838 Date: [1853-1872] [url]http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7892027[/url] [B][B][U][U]And [/U][/U][/B][/B] Reference: ADM 139/435/3468 Description: Name Pitter, George Place of Birth: Guildford, Surrey Continuous Service Number: 3468A Date of Volunteering: 09 August 1859 Date of Birth: 26 August 1838 Date: [1853-1872] and Ref. ADM 188/55/70169 Description: Name Pitter, George Official Number: 70169 Place of Birth: Guildford, Surrey Date of Birth: 26 August 1838 Date: [1873] Two sets of papers as in 1873 new records were started known as the ADM 188 series [url]http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6603232[/url] Both sets are available for you to download at £3.30 per set. Regards Dave

[quote=Graham Jones;10146783]I have read with great interest your post, in particular the details relating to HMS Asia. I have a silver Wyon, long service and good conduct medal that was presented to one George Pitter, Blacksmith, HMS Asia. We believe this gentleman was my wife's great, great, grandfather, but we have no details of his life other than the Wyon Medal and one other medal: also a long service medal, bearing the later Queen Victoria head, for service aboard HMS Satellite. Neither of the medals are dated! HMS Satellite was the first of 7 of the Satellite class sloops (reclassified Corvettes in 1884) with a 1400hp horizontal compound expansion steam engine (single screw) and "barque" rigging. She was built in the Sheerness Dockyard and launched on 13th August 1881. Satellite served from the Pacific Station, notably to support land operations in Semiahmoo Bay alongside USS Active. It seems that ships details are more readily available that details of crew members and it would help my project enormously if someone could point me in the right direction to obtain Service Records?[/quote] George Pitter has two records which can be downloaded from the National Archives site, [URL="http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_fn=George&_ln=Pitter&_no=&_pl=&_sd=1853&_ed=1889&discoveryCustomSearch=true&_ser=ADM+139&_ser=ADM+188&_ser=ADM+363&_ser=ADM+362&_col=200&_hb=tna"]here[/URL]. Born in Guildford on 28th August 1838, I can see that one of the entries on the [URL="http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7892027"]first [/URL]record has him as a Blacksmiths Mate. I can see that the [URL="http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6603232"]second [/URL]record listed shows the ships that he served on and the dates. It will cost you £6.60 to download both records. Jim

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