Boulton's Trafalgar Medal : E Harding, HMS Conqueror, Royal Navy

Boulton's Trafalgar Medal. The recipients details are engraved in the top quarter of the reverse. Obverse: Bust of Lord Nelson in uniform facing left, surrounded by the words 'HORATIO VISCOUNT NELSON.K.B.DUKE OF BRONTE.&.' Reverse: A scene of the battle with the legend, 'ENGLAND EXPECTS EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY'. In the exergue is 'TRAFALGAR OCTr. 21 1805'. Around the edge is impressed 'From M. Boulton to the heroes of Trafalgar'. The medal is made of pewter with a silver wash. It is mounted in a gilded brass frame with a flat loop top suspension ring and has a glazed back. A small piece of dark blue 38 mm ribbon is threaded through the loop. The front glazing and retaining rim are missing.

The recipient of this medal was a seaman in HMS Conqueror, a 74-gun 3rd rate ship of the line which fought at the Battle of Trafalgar, 0n 21 October 1805, under the command of Captain Israel Pellew. The medal was given by Mr Matthew Boulton of the Soho Mint, Birmingham, at his own expense, to all seamen who served on board the British Fleet during the battle. It was awarded in silver to captains and first lieutenants, and in silver wash pewter to junior officers and men. This medal is part of a collection assembled by the late Hon. Sir Thomas Hughes, Member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales. It was presented to the Australian War Memorial in memory of his son, Captain Roger Forrest Hughes, Australian Army Medical Corps, who died of wounds in France on 11 December 1916, and of his grandson, Flying Officer Peter Roger Forrest Hughes, 12 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, who was killed on active service while flying in the Northern Territory on 3 October 1942.