Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas (Part I)

A rare Trafalgar Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund Certificate awarded to Lieutenant Thomas Wearing, Royal Marines, voting him the sum of £30 in consideration of the wounds he received at Trafalgar whilst serving on board the Conqueror

The certificate voting Lieut. Thomas Wearing “ .... the Sum of Thirty Pounds in consideration of the Wound you received in contributing to the signal VICTORY obtained by the British Fleet consisting of 27 Sail of Line under the command of the ever to be honoured and lamented the late Vice Admiral Lord Viscount NELSON over the combined Fleets of France and Spain consisting of 33 Sail of the Line, off Cape Trafalgar, on the 21st day of October last; when 19 Sail of the Line were captured from the enemy; and in the words of Vice Admiral Lord Collingwood who so nobly completed the triumph of the day, “every Individual appeared a HERO on whom the Glory of his Country depended.” Inscribed in ink to ‘Lieut: Thomas Wearing, Royal Marines, His Majesty’s Ship, Conqueror’ and signed James Shaw, Mayor, 330mm x 240mm., framed, a few minor stains, otherwise good condition (2) £4,000-£5,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Naval Medals from the Collection of the Late Jason Pilalas.

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Thomas Wearing was born in Norton, Cheshire, in 1788, and was commissioned into the Royal Marines as 2nd Lieutenant in 1804. On board H.M.S. Conqueror he saw active service and was wounded at the battle of Trafalgar, his ship being responsible for the destruction of the French flagship Bucentaure. As a result of his wound, he was awarded £30 by the Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund and subsequently was awarded the N.G.S. with one clasp for Trafalgar in 1849 (sold at Sotheby’s in February 1990). After various spells ashore and at sea, in 1815 he was employed in carrying despatches between the Fleet and the Duke of Wellington and arrived on the field of Waterloo on the evening of 18 June, just after the fighting had ceased. He thus did not qualify for the Waterloo medal which, in combination with his N.G.S. Trafalgar medal, would have been unique. Thereafter, he saw service on H.M.S. Wye (1818-19), H.M.S. Hastings (1835-38), H.M.S. Impregnable (1841) and finally on H.M.S. Cambridge (until 1843). On 25 November 1851, Wearing - by this time a Lieutenant-Colonel - was appointed R.M. Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria, a position he held until 1855. Further promotions saw him as Lieutenant-General in 1857, on the ‘active list’ at the age of 69 years.
Following an edict of the Admiralty in relation to the Royal Marines, on 28 March 1863, Wearing became the first General Officer to be appointed Colonel of the Plymouth Division. He died on 19 May in the same year and was buried at St. Mary’s church, Torquay, Devon.

Sold with some research notes and a small framed stipple engraving of Lord Nelson.