Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Weston-super-Mare Life Saving Medal, obverse: a naked man about to dive to the rescue; reverse: engraved, ‘Presented to H. W. Harris, for Saving Life, Aug. 2nd 1921, Weston-super-Mare’, 26mm., 9ct. gold., hallmarks for Birmingham 1921, good very fine £180-£220

Provenance: James N. Spencer Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, December 2003.

Sold with numerous copied cuttings from local newspapers describing various rescues and incidents involving Henry William Harris, who is described as ‘a member of the Weston-super-Mare Swimming Club and one of the best-known instructors in life-saving in the West of England.’ For his rescue on 2 August 1921, he was also awarded the Royal Humane Society’s testimonial on vellum, and presented with a ‘handsomely framed certificate’ and a cheque for 10 guineas by the Carnegie Heroes’ Fund Trust.