Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

China 1842 (John Green, Petty Offr., H.M.S. Calliope.) original suspension, good very fine £700-£900

This lot is to be sold as part of a special collection, A Fine Collection of Medals, the Property of a Lady.

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Collection

Tim Ash Collection, July 2012.

John Green came from Whitehaven in Cumberland, and joined H.M.S. Calliope on 12 December 1837, his age would then have been 27 and he was unmarried. He had previously served aboard the William and Mary Yacht. The Calliope, of 26 guns, was commanded by Captain Thomas Herbert. The first destination of the Calliope was across the Atlantic to the Rio del Plata for the protection of British interests at Buenos Ayres and Monte Video. Subsequently the Calliope was to sail around Cape Horn to Valparaiso, and then to China through the Philippine Islands in the Pacific Ocean. John Green was appointed to the post of Captain's Coxswain whilst the vessel was in China. In July 1840 Captain Herbert left the Calliope and the command was given to Captain Kuper. The last action in China in which the Calliope took part was the assault and capture of the town of Chin Keang Foo on the Yang-tse-kiang River in 1842.

The Callliope later returned to England after an absence of just over five years; John Green had, therefore, with the rest of the crew, sailed around the globe in five years, three months and three days. He was discharged from the Calliope on 15 March 1843, when the ship returned to England. What John Green may have done after his time at sea is not known; however, on 27 October 1847, after a gap of four years, he again joined the crew of the Calliope as an Able Seaman, number 178 in the Ship's Description Book. He was then aged 37, five feet and eight inches tall, of a florid complexion with hazel eyes and dark hair. He produced his Certificate of his previous service aboard the Calliope, signed by Captain Kuper, who stated his conduct had been "Good". Some ten months later when the Calliope was at Wellington, New Zealand, John Green, deserted the ship on 22 August 1848. From then on John Green is an enigma - nothing is known of his ultimate fate or date of death.

Sold with comprehensive research including detailed account of Calliope’s services in China,