Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A post-War C.B.E. group of seven awarded to Captain A. C. ‘Pitcairn’ Jones, Mercantile Marine, who over the course of his sea-going career visited Pitcairn Island over 100 times

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (Civil) Commander’s 2nd type neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with full and miniature width neck ribands, in Collingwood, London, case of issue; British War and Mercantile Marine War Medals (Arthur C. Jones.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Pacific Star; War Medal 1939-45, mounted as worn; together with the related miniature awards and full and miniature width riband bars, nearly extremely fine (7) £400-£500

C.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1964: Captain Arthur Conway Jones, Lately Commodore Master, S.S. Corinthic, Shaw Savill and Albion Company Ltd., London.

Arthur Conway Jones was born in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, on 15 July 1898 and served with the Mercantile Marine during the Great War. He was awarded his Master’s Certificate in 1924, and for most of his career was employed by the Shaw Savill and Albion Line, whose vessels worked the London to New Zealand route. Throughout his life he held a great interest in Pitcairn Island, that tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that was the initially settled by the surviving mutineers of H.M.S. Bounty. Jones first sighted Pitcairn Island in 1919, and over the course of his sea-going career visited the island on over 100 occasions; whilst other Masters would often skip the stop on their trans-Pacific passages, Jones always made it, and his visits, carrying supplies, and Pitcairners themselves, provided a vital life-line to the islanders. In the early 1950s he also carried shipments of saplings from New Zealand to held restore the island’s vegetation. Not surprisingly, he was known throughout the Line as ‘Pitcairn’ Jones.

Jones saw further service with the Mercantile Marine during the Second World War, and retired in 1963. For his services he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Jones Point in Bounty Bay, Pitcairn, is named in his honour.

Sold with various photographs of the recipient on Pitcairn Island; various letters to the recipient from Pitcairn Islanders, with Pitcairn Island stamps; various Shaw Savill and Albion ephemera; and copied research, including an amusing account of a stowaway to Pitcairn Island who was accompanied by a pet chimpanzee.