Dead end in quest for medal clues

A medal found in the mud of the Britomart site has ended up in a museum after efforts to trace details of the long-dead owner failed.

Construction worker Kevin Giddings was about to pour concrete at the new transport centre last year when he nearly stepped on what he thought was a coin lying in the mud.

The find was a medal issued by the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society in 1874. On one side was an engraving of a ship in distress with a lighthouse in the background.

The other side bore an image of one of famous English naval officer Lord Horatio Nelson and his historic signal: "England expects every man will do his duty", which he sent to his fleet before the Battle of Trafalgar off the coast of Spain in 1805.

The medal was handed to the New Zealand National Maritime Museum and an extensive effort began to trace the owners.

Museum spokeswoman Vicky Spalding said the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society in England still provided help to shipwrecked sailors, but its main focus was helping retired sailors and their families.

The medal was found to be a membership token issued in 1874 and worn around the neck.

Ms Spalding said in the museum's newsletter that even with a membership number engraved on the medal, its owner could not be traced.

In 1874 the society, which was formed in 1839 after the loss of a fishing fleet off England's Devon coast the year before, had 48,000 members who each paid an annual subscription of three shillings.

"Unfortunately there are no numerical lists connecting tokens to members, which meant we are unable to identify the owner or how it came to be in the Britomart site," she said.

"Perhaps the owner settled in Auckland and threw it away. Perhaps he was drowned in Waitemata Harbour."

The medal is now part of the museum collection.

- NZPA

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine