Each month we visit the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society Archives to share the heroic stories of some of the previous recipients of our awards.
18th September 1875
Fire Rescue
Recognition was given to Charles Baird, compositor, for having courageously, and at considerable peril, gone into a house on fire in Birchfield Street to rescue a woman and one of her two children who were almost suffocated. His hair and eyebrows were singed by the flames. At the same time, Mrs. Agnes Dalrymple received a pecuniary reward and Vote of Thanks for her courage and humanity in having accompanied Baird into the burning house to save one of the children.
10th September 1879
Marine Rescue
A Gold Medal was awarded to Captain Thomas Michael Almond, of the barque “Decapolis” for having skilfully rescued the crew of the ship “Eblana” which had been thrown on her beam ends and dismasted during a gale in the Bay of Biscay. The crew of 22 men were, with great difficulty, rescued by the boats of the “Decapolis” in six trips over more than twelve hours.
Awards were also made to the Officers and crew of the “Decapolis” for this rescue, viz;
– A Silver Medal to Mr. Martin Pearse Organ, Chief Officer, for going in the first boat and rescuing six men; this boat was smashed alongside after her return, and Mr. Organ was disabled.
– A Silver Medal and £5 each to Mr. George Herbert Adamson, Second Mate and George William Robert Bourne, apprentice; the former made five trips to the “Eblana”, and the latter six. (Both Captains and crews unite in speaking with admiration of the conduct of the apprentice, G.W.R. Bourne, who from first to last distinguished himself by courage and presence of mind.)
– A Silver Medal and £4 to David Stephen, carpenter, who had charge of one of the boats during four trips.
– To the seamen who went in the boats the following sums were voted, viz; £4 to Harry Saunders, £2 to August Hansen and £1 each to William Quirk and William Anderson.
17th September 1895
General Rescue
A Silver Medal was awarded to Police Constable John McMillan, for having, at great personal risk, succeeded in stopping a pony which, attached to a trap containing a little girl, was galloping furiously down Oxford Street.
13th September 2007
Fire Rescue
Bronze Fire Medals and Certificates were awarded to Jennifer Wyper and Christos Spyrou, for having, without any thought of the danger to themselves, gone to the aid of a woman who had doused herself in petrol and set herself on fire, in the grounds of Whiston Hospital.
30th September 2013
General Rescue
A Bronze General Medal and Certificate were awarded to Constable David Pinnington of Lancashire Constabulary, for having rescued a young woman who was being viciously attacked by a man who was repeatedly stabbing her with a knife at Scotforth Road, Lancaster.
7th September 2016
Marine Rescue
A Bronze Marine Medal and Certificate of Thanks to Constable John Reay of Merseyside Police, for having entered the water at Duke Street Dock, Birkenhead to successfully rescue a male intent on suicide by throwing himself into the water.
If you’ve got details of an historical award that you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you. Email us: secretary@liverpoolshipwreckandhumanesoc.org
