Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Royal National Lifeboat Institution, V.R., silver (Police Constable Henry Evans. Voted 2nd Feby. 1882.) with uniface double dolphin suspension, solder deposits to back of suspension indicating possible removal of brooch fitting, otherwise good very fine and rare £1,000-£1,400

Watters Collection, Glendining’s, June 1913; Gould Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, September 2002.

Silver Medal Voted on 2nd February 1882:

‘To Mr William Norseworthy, Chief Officer of H.M. Coastguard at Carnarvon, and to Police Constable Henry Evans of Carnarvon, for putting off in an open boat, and, at great risk, saving five of the crew of the Brig “Fritz von Gadow” of Barth, Germany, which had capsized off Carnarvon during a whole gale from the W.S.W. on the 28th November 1881.’

For this action Evans and Norsworthy were also both awarded the Sea Gallantry Medal in bronze.

The Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald of 3 December 1881 gives further details: ‘Between half-past seven and eight o'clock on Sunday night a German brigantine named the Fritz Gadow, belonging to Barth, struck on Carnarvon Bar. Heavy seas rolled over her, and with the food tide she drifted off the bank and immediately capsized. The crew, six in number, clung to the chains, but when the ship was off Belan Fort, at the entrance to the Menai Straits, the cook was washed away and drowned.
The vessel ultimately drove up the Straits on her beam ends, arriving off Carnarvon about one o'clock on Monday morning. Notwithstanding the heavy seas which continually rolled over the vessel, the remainder of the crew held fast to the chains, shouting loudly for help. Police Constable Williams Parry, who happened to be in the neighbourhood of the harbour, heard cries of distress proceeding from the middle of the Straits, but the night being pitch dark he was unable to discern anything. The cries, however, continued, and appeared to proceed towards Alalas, under the railway station, to which place Party, accompanied by Sergeant S. Jones, resorted at once, and then found a vessel in distress, with the crew calling for help.
In the meantime Mr Norsworthy, who had just returned from Dinas Dille, was informed of the occurrence, and whilst Sergeant Jones and Constable Parry were encouraging the distressed men and endeavouring to save them, both he and Police Constable Henry Evans got into a small boat in the dock, and rowed against a strong tide and through a heavy sea to Alalas. With the assistance of the other officers the boat was got alongside of the vessel, which was on her beam ends, and the Captain and crew were safely brought ashore. When rescued they were clinging to the bulwarks, and appeared to be greatly exhausted.
The rescue was indeed a gallant one, as Mr Norsworthy and the police officers undoubtedly risked their lives, and they are to be commended for their heroic conduct. The rescued men were conveyed to Mr Norsworthy’s residence, where they were clothed, fed, and properly cared for. Later in the day they were handed over to the care of Mr Jackson, local secretary of the Shipwrecked Mariner’s Society and Lloyd’s Agent.
The vessel belonged to Mr A. Sodeman, of Barth, Germany, and was commanded by Captain Karl Pagels. She was about 180 tons, and was bound for Liverpool with a cargo of mahogany and logwood from Belize, British Honduras. During the 57 days she was out she encountered terrific weather. On the previous Monday an able-bodied seaman was washed overboard during a hurricane. The Captain states that in coming up the Channel he saw no light whatsoever, the weather on Saturday being extremely stormy and thick. The last lights he sighted were those of Kinsale and the Smalls, and he was unable to account for the manner in which he came to Carnarvon Bay.
It is singular that the vessel drifted on her beam ends down the Straits without colliding with the many crafts moored at Porthlleidiog and opposite the town. The vessel is now lying in a damaged condition under the railway footbridge, opposite Ysgubor Wen.
On Thursday morning a body was found on the shore between Belan and Dinas Dine, opposite Carnarvon bar, where the Fritz Gadow struck. PC Powell examined the body, and finding a name on a portion of the clothing he tore it off and brought it to Carnarvon. On examining the Chest of the lost man at the Custom House, letters were found bearing the same name as that on the underclothing, and therefore it is all but certain the body is that of the cook who was washed away from the vessel.’



Henry Evans, a native of Bangor, joined the Carnarvon Constabulary on 3 February 1880, aged 29. Whilst stationed at Carnarvon, he was disciplined for loss of temper while trying to control a crowd of unruly youths in October 1880. He was posted to Dolwyddelen in February 1882 and, in September of that year, without authority and in contradiction of his Sergeant’s orders, he went to Ffestiniog to arrest a prisoner, returning drunk. He was disciplined by the Chief Constable and permitted to resign, leaving the service on 4 November 1882. One of 6 R.N.L.I. medals identified as having been awarded to a policeman.

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