| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
alexlitandem
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 129
|
 Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:16 am Post subject: HMS Victory, Trafalgar - photograph of the man and his medal |
 |
|
One of our friends on this and on related forums, Peter Weedon, kindly called me this morning with - to anyone with an interest in medals - some very exciting news.
A Naval General Service medal, with a Trafalgar clasp, is for sale. Rare enough, in itself.
But, this one is `special' even among `special' medals. The medal was awarded to a sailor on board Victory at Trafalgar with Nelson. And we enjoy a photograph of the man as well!
Here is the link to the item Peter pointed me to:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290218484151#description
And, here, is a link to the British Medal Forum thread commenting ( excitedly) on this Medal - but also, wonderfully, showing the photograph of the gentleman in question!
A photograph of a man on board Victory on the great day at Trafalgar!
http://www.britishmedalforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=28072&sid=ac69214a550e76692e4afd11a823021f
He doesn't look like a man to tangle with on a dark night, does he?
( Peter W , just for information, already owns one uniquely named, HMS Victory, Trafalgar NGS medal... so, with luck, he won't bother bidding for this one - we might all still stand a chance
 )
Clearly, there is already some institutional interest - so you might want to bookmark the eBay auction link and follow events as the auction unfolds.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
PMarione
Site Admin
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 883
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 12:15 pm Post subject: |
|
|
The bid is today (5 april) at 7,200 GBP.
Only 3 days left!
@+P |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
alexlitandem
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 129
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 7:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Is it better to see the image of the 82 year old hero?
Or, to imagine the face of the 19 year old Ord.,
Where does one's imagination play a part in valuation of such items?
[/i] |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
alexlitandem
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 129
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:08 pm Post subject: Sold, to the lady in the red dress... |
|
|
Sold for £23,100. World record for a unique name single clasp Trafalgar NGS, I believe.
The seller just called me to confirm it stays in the UK.
(I dropped out well before the end. But later than a decent car might have cost.)
So, congratulations to whomsoever (Lord Ashcroft? NMM? RNM? ) has actually nabbed it.
(O.K., just send us some photographs whenever you can, Peter L? We can keep a secret!) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PMarione
Site Admin
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 883
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Now you'll have a new car instead!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
alexlitandem
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 129
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:47 pm Post subject: Or not... |
|
|
Or not.
Go check the listing?
Stranger than fiction.
Well, at least I already have one, unique name, Trafalgar NGS to `Cuddie' up to!
(Peter / Patrick / Susan, email me for more if you wish.) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PMarione
Site Admin
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 883
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Alas the listing is no more in line.
Here are the info on the man taken from Ayshfords' roll:
He was Sherman James in the books of the Victory.
Born in North Yarmouth, Norfolk.
Entered the Victory as OS on 2 April 1804 from Phoebe.
Discharged from Ship 15 janv. 1806 Ocean
Awarded Prize Money of 1p 17s 8d
Granted a Parliamentary Award of 4p 12s 6d
Awarded the Naval General Service Medal with Trafalgar Clasp
Appointed caretaker of the newly erected Nelson Monument in Great Yarmouth. (Yarmouth Maritime Museum)
Here is his pic taken from the British Medal Forum (http://www.britishmedalforum.com)
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
alexlitandem
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 129
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
QUOTE:
We're writing to let you know that eBay has ended the following item you were bidding on due to factors beyond the seller's control:
Item Number - 290218484151
Item Title - NGSM WITH TRAFALGAR BAR HMS VICTORY
As eBay removed the item, you are no longer obliged to send payment for it. However, the seller is free to list the item again so you may like to watch for future listings from them.
Thank you for your understanding. We wish you all the best buying and selling on eBay.
Regards,
Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)
END QUOTE.
Hmm.
We wish you all the best buying and selling on eBay.
I second that emotion.
Hope the seller lives to sell another eDay. If out of his control, poor guy. How disappointing for him.
And for those of us who invested time, angst, lust, doubt, and put money on the table... and wanted to see a true and open conclusion, win or lose?
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PMarione
Site Admin
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 883
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
alexlitandem
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 129
|
| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Sharman is a particularly important figure to the museum as he is one of only a few men whose heroic endeavours on HMS Victory were recorded specifically.
Not only did he apparently tend to the dying Nelson but he was so well regarded that he was chosen as the first 'keeper of the pillar' by the Vice Admiral's best friend, Capt Masterman Hardy, when the Nelson memorial was built in Yarmouth.
|
What, exactly, was specifically recorded, when, by whom and where?
| Quote: |
Not only did he apparently tend to the dying Nelson
|
Well, I suppose apparently isn't directly equivalent to probably, but it is of the same truth-bending mould.
Apparently?
Meaning?
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PMarione
Site Admin
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 883
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Maybe he was one of the unidentified seamen on Devis painting? 
As "keeper of the pillar" and dying at more than 85, he must have had plenty of time to polish his story and not many people left to contradict him.
Looks like the story of the Victory's decks painted in red so the blood couldn't be seen on them.
Add some spice for the next sale attempt.
@+P |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PMarione
Site Admin
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 883
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:50 pm Post subject: |
|
|
More on Sharman:
| Quote: | On Victory alone, there were at Trafalgar, besides Nelson at least 26 Norfolk men, including seven from Great Yarmouth, six from Norwich, three from King's Lynn, two from Freethorpe and one from Rougham. One of these brings to in his career, a snapshot of the Nelson story.
When Nelson's Monument was being planned it was decided that it should have someone to look after it and so a cottage was provided on the southern side for a caretaker. The man selected for the job in 1817 was James Sharman. Sharman had been born in Yarmouth in 1785 and at the age of 14 was working at the Wrestlers Inn when he was press-ganged into the navy. He joined the Victory after his first ship was wrecked in 1803 and he was aboard at Trafalgar, claiming indeed to have helped carry the wounded Nelson down to the cockpit. He later served aboard other ships but after being discharged from the navy he was admitted to the Greenwich Hospital. He came back to Yarmouth to take up the caretaker's job on the recommendation, supposedly, of Sir Thomas Hardy. In 1856, the vicar of East Dereham, Benjamin Armstrong, visited him at the monument and recorded that 'he seems an honest and seriously disposed old fellow'. Sharman told him that Nelson's daughter, Horatia, once visited him at the column and gave him five shillings and a bottle of wine. A more distinguished visitor was Dickens, who was staying at the nearby Royal Hotel in 1847. The author was apparently fascinated by him and decided that he was ideal as the model for a character in the novel he was then writing. So Sharman became Ham Peggotty in Ham Peggoty in David Copperfield. |
From Charles Lewis, Nelson, I am myself a Norfolk Man, Pppyland, 2005, ISBN: 0 946148 72 4
In 1817, Sharman was 32 so it seems to me that he couldn't have been in Greenwich Hospital.
I also discovered in the book that there is a wax model of Nelson in the Nelson Museum at Yarmouth.
I hate mannikins.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
alexlitandem
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 129
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
OK, Patrick, I'll buy it.
"Why not?"
Because GH didn't open until 1962 or something? Yada yada.
C'mon.
Is Sharman for real or not?
Let's deal with this guy? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PMarione
Site Admin
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
Posts: 883
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Too young? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
alexlitandem
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 129
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 6:17 am Post subject: |
|
|
Patrick,
Sorry to be thick - but I'm not quite following you here.
Was admission to GH restricted to salts of a certain age? Or were other admission criteria applied that you feel / know / reason Sharman simply couldn't have / didn't satisfy?
The reason I'm interested is simple: if one part of the `Sharman story' is shown to be invalid / false / made up or seriously distorted, one has reason to take even greater care in reviewing the rest of the `story'.
So, as I say, I'm not disputing your observation but just want to understand what prompts it.
(Could Sharman have worked at GH in some capacity?)
Thanks. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
