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Auction: 15003 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 53

An Exceptionally Rare '1848 Dated Obverse' Meritorious Service Medal to Sergeant Major J. Murphy, 91st Foot, For His Meritorious Conduct at the Wreck of the Abercrombie Robinson in Table Bay, August 1842
Meritorious Service Medal, V.R., obverse dated 1848 below bust (Color Serjt. John Murphy 91st. Regt.), good very fine, rare, together with a print of the wreck of the Abercrombie Robinson

M.S.M. Submitted to the Queen 20.10.1848 Colour Sergeant John Murphy, Reserve Battn. 91st Foot
'For his meritorious conduct at the period of the wreck of the Reserve Battalion 91st Regiment in the Abercrombie Robinson in Table Bay on the 28th of August 1842'

483 Colour Sergeant John Murphy, born Co. Kerry, Ireland, 1809; enlisted in the 91st Foot, March 1827; promoted Corporal, September 1830; Sergeant, April 1832; Sergeant Major, May 1842; distinguished himself in the disembarkation of the Abercrombie Robinson, 28.8.1842, and ultimately awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and an Annuity of £20; discharged, July 1848, after 21 years and 115 days' service; appointed a Yeoman Warder at the Tower of London by the Duke of Wellington, July 1848; died at the Tower, August 1852.

The Abercrombie Robinson
In 1842 a Reserve Battalion of the 91st Foot was formed. It sailed for the Cape of Good Hope in June of that year, arriving at Table Bay on the 25th August in the Abercrombie Robinson. Upon arriving all the Officers not on duty were given permission to go on shore, and on the 27th August all landed except six, with command of the troops on board devolved to Captain Bertie Gordon. That night a gale blew up, which developed into a hurricane, the ship's cables snapped, and the ship was driven towards the beach. There were 700 souls on board, of whom 90 were women and children; all were kept below in order to lessen the weight on the ship's deck. From accounts in the Regimental History it is clear that it was a terrifying time. The following morning it was decided to disembark and this dangerous exercise was carried out after a night of great peril and through raging surf over a period from 8:30am until 3:30pm using towards the end just a single boat with a capacity of 30, without a single casualty. For his meritorious conduct and great discipline in carrying out this disembarkation, Sergeant-Major John Murphy, who along with Captain Gordon was in the last boat-load to disembark the stricken ship, was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. The Scottish poet William McGonagall subsequently wrote a poem about the action, entitled 'The Wreck of the Abercrombie Robinson'.

Approximately 10 Meritorious Service Medals dated '1848' awarded to the Army.

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Sold for
£2,000