The Jack Boddington Collection of Life Saving Medals

Finchley District Council Medal for Saving Life from Fire, circular, engraved, obv. pre-1933 arms of Finchley District Council; rev. inscribed, ‘For Devotion to Duty in Saving Life from Fire at 16, Crescent Way, North Finchley on the 15th December 1923’, unnamed, 38mm., silver, straight bar suspension, extremely fine £80-100

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Jack Boddington Collection of Life Saving Medals.

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Although unnamed, the medal is known to have been awarded to Firemen Henry Page and Fireman Hulkes for their bravery in rescuing three children from a fire at 16 Crescent Way, North Finchley, on 15 December 1923.

Eight children were being looked after by a Mrs Llewellyn, in a cramped house shared by two families. A spark from the fireplace set alight the living room, and Mrs Llewellyn, the grandmother of some of the children, managed to rescue a few of them, before rushing out to the public fire alarms in nearby Woodhouse Avenue. With the fire raging when he arrived, Fireman Henry Page ran upstairs and found two girls - Doris Llewellyn, aged four years, and her sister Violet, aged six. He managed to bring them out but they later died of their injuries. Fireman Hulkes, battled the flames, found three-year old Maurice Kent tucked up in bed and brought him to safety. The community raised a distress fund for the grieving family which raised more than £62. The two Firemen were each awarded a medal from the district council. Sold with copied research, including recollections from the adult Maurice Kent.