Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An Order of St. John group of four awarded to Dr. J. S. Griffiths, Commissioner of the West of England District, St. John Ambulance Brigade

The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knight of Grace, set of insignia, comprising neck badge, silver and enamel, with heraldic beasts in angles; Star, silver and enamel, with heraldic beasts in angles, with full and miniature width neck ribands, and lapel rosette, in case of issue; Coronation 1911, silver (J. S. Griffiths.) privately engraved; St. John Medal for South Africa 1899-1902 (Assist. Commissioner J. S. Griffiths. No.2 Dist.); St John Service Medal, silver, circular suspension (Deputy Commr. John S. Griffiths. 1906.) light contact marks, nearly extremely fine, the Coronation Medal rare to the St. John Ambulance Brigade (5) £600-£800

Order of St. John, Knight of Grace London Gazette 20 April 1906.

John Samuel Griffiths was born in Pembrokeshire, ‘and received his medical education at Bristol and at King’s College, London, obtaining the diplomas M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P. in 1891. In the same year he was largely responsible for starting the work of the St. John Ambulance in Bristol, and was Commissioner for the West of England District for many years, being made Knight of Grace of the Order of St. John in 1906. During the Great War Dr. Griffiths was county director of the British Red Cross Society, and among his manifold duties as such organised the whole of the transport of wounded soldiers from Bristol and Avonmouth. Appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Gloucestershire in 1922, he was a well-known figure in Bristol, and will be greatly missed by all with whom he came in contact.’ (The recipient’s obituary in the British Medical Journal, 20 May 1933 refers).

Griffiths was one of only 11 members of the St. John Ambulance Brigade to be awarded the ‘standard’ Coronation Medal 1911, rather than the ‘police’ version with the St. John reverse. Initially, all members of the Brigade were due to receive the ‘police’ version, but H.M. King George V wished to confer some of his ‘own’ medals upon some of the ‘senior men’ of the Brigade who had rendered valuable services on ambulance duty during the time of the Coronation festivities. In the end 11 awards of the ‘standard’ medal were made, to the Chief Commissioner; the Medical Officer-in-Chief; the Lady Superintendent-in-Chief of the Nursing Corps; the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Corps; and the Commissioners of the seven regional Districts (including Griffiths, as Commissioner of the West of England District).