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Mint:
London
Ruler:
Victoria (1837-1901)
Artist:
Saulles, George W. de
Ruler:
Victoria regina et imperatrix
(With the title of)
During the 1830s and 1840s several Dutch republics had been established outside the British Cape Colony in South Africa, among which were Transvaal and the Orange Free State, all now in modern South Africa. Transvaal was annexed briefly by the British but its independence re-established in the First Boer War.
In the 1880s however the discovery of vast gold reserves in Transvaal brought large numbers of foreign settlers, largely British, across the border, and an attempted coup at the instigation of Cecil Rhodes in 1895. Military escalation followed, negotiations failed and the two Boer republics, convinced that the British intended annexation, declared war in the Cape Colony in October 1899.
The Boer advances into the Cape Colony and Natal were met with a British defence that was frequently ineffective. By November however, while the besieged towns of Kimberley and Mafeking still awaited relief, British forces were meeting their opponents in Boer territory and driving them back in a series of engagements, albeit at heavy cost. One such battle was that of Modder River, on 28 November 1899, which effectively opened the way for the relief of Ladysmith and thereafter for an advance into Boer territory.
This medal was awarded to Private W. Maxwell of the 1st Highland Light Infantry, for his presence in the battle zone. From here he seems to have moved on to clean-up operations in the territory of Wittenbergen, where service between the dates of January and July 1900 earnt the second bar that his medal carries. The earliest issues of the Queen's South Africa Medal indicate that the War was not expected to last as long as it did, as they bear the dates 1899-1900 in the reverse field. Very few were issued in this state, but a large number of the first issues show signs of the dates' erasure, often as in this case insufficiently thorough. Lester Watson acquired the medal at some point before 1928.
History note: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, acquired before 1928
Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009
Diameter: 36.4 mm
Weight: 40.59 g
Method of acquisition: Given (2009) by Watson, Lester
Production date: AD 1902
Inscription present: Bust of Victoria facing left with veil
Inscription present: Britannia in foreground facing right holding standard and waving wreath over army marching along shore, with ships offshore in background
Accession number: CM.1418-2009
Primary reference Number: 141512
Watson Catalogue: 330
Ordering: M-0301
Previous object number: LW.0301
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Coins and Medals
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Queen's South Africa Medal (second striking)" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141512 Accessed: 2024-11-05 12:23:42
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/141512
|title=Queen's South Africa Medal (second striking)
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-05 12:23:42|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-141512
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm15/LW_0301_281_29.jpg"
alt="Queen's South Africa Medal (second striking)"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Queen's South Africa Medal (second striking)</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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