Admiral Lord Nelson, Greenwich Pensioner's Medal
These medals were presented to veteran pensioners of Nelson's battles at a ceremony in the Painted Hall of Greenwich Hospital on 2 April 1845, some 357 awards being made. Hardy (page 62) remarks "It is now recognised that this medal, treated as unimportant in the past, is a true and worthy piece of history, each having been owned personally by one of Nelson's sailors."
The National Maritime Museum has in its collection a report and engraving from the 'Illustrated London News' 12 April 1845, p. 240. It shows a Pensioner coming back down the Hall after receiving his medal between massed ranks of boys from the Greenwich Hospital School. The account of the ceremony includes a more detailed engraving of the presentation at the upper end of the Lower Hall and a portrait of Sir Robert Stopford, the Governor of Greenwich Hospital, who gave them out, and a biographical sketch of his career. An illustration in the previous issue of ILN, 5 April 1845 shows the medal, which commemorated the official inauguration of 'the Nelson Testimonial' (i.e. Nelson's Column) in Trafalgar Square on 21 October 1844. The text there explains that a subscription had been raised to commemorate this by giving a dinner (presumably in Trafalgar Square) for all the survivors of Nelson's main actions - St Vincent, Tenerife, the Nile, Copenhagen, Trafalgar - but that at local residents' request the more practical plan adopted had been to issue these medals to them, with a gratuity of ten shillings.
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