POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

British war medal from Waterloo awarded to Captain J H Crummer

Object No. N17627

Medal, with ribbon and bar, 'Waterloo medal', Napoleonic Wars 1803 -1815, silver / silk, designed by Thomas Wyon, The Royal Mint, England, 1816, awarded to Captain J H Crummer

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Summary

Physical Description

Medal, 'Waterloo', military with bar, awarded to Captain J H Crummer, with unofficial bar for Peninsula service and action at Quatre Bras, silver, Great Britain, 1815

PRODUCTION

Notes

The Waterloo medal was the first medal in the modern sense, awarded to all ranks for service in campaigns. After this medal, more than 100 campaigns and 360 clasps (naming regions and events) have been awarded by the British Government to its military personnel.

HISTORY

Notes

Captain James Henry Crummer earned this Waterloo medal for his part in the final battles of the French and Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815) fought over continental Europe between neighbouring European states who were hostile to the French Revolution and Napoleon's rise to power. The added bar on the ribbon inscribed with 'Peninsular' tells us he fought on the Spanish Peninsular and also in the battle at the strategic crossroads of 'Quatre Bras' in France in 1815. Crummer's travels however, did not end there and he arrived with his family in Sydney in 1835 with the 28th of Foot (North Gloucestershire) Regiment. He was seconded for duty as a police magistrate in 1836, and promoted to major in 1840. In that year his regiment was ordered to India and Major Crummer decided to retire from the British army and continue his service as police magistrate in New South Wales. As magistrate he served at Newcastle, Maitland and Port Macquarie; retiring in 1864 after 59 years service in both the British Army and the civil service of the Colony in a career marked by his reputation for diligence and humane behaviour. He died at Port Macquarie in 1867. His widow, Catherine Crummer died at Kings Cross, Sydney aged 98 in 1907 and had an interesting story of her own. Catherine was born Aikaterine Plessos in the Epiros region of north-western Greece and like so many Greek women who followed her, it was her husband, Major James H Crummer's career path that brought her to Sydney. Raised by her mother in the regional capital, Ioannina, her extraordinary life included being betrothed to Dr Ioannis Kolettis (a future Prime Minister of the Hellenic Kingdom), meeting Lord Byron in the town of Mesolonghi, fleeing to the British-occupied Ionian Islands, marrying our veteran of the Battle of Waterloo, James H. Crummer, then moving to England, Ireland and finally, New South Wales. She outlived her husband and nine of their eleven children and lies today in a family grave in Waverley Cemetery. Paul Donnelly, Curator design & society Sources: HP (Pat Boland) label, notes, Sydney Mint Australian Hellenic Council website (accessed 10.11.2010): http://www.helleniccouncil.org.au/community.htm Chambers dictionary of World History

SOURCE

Credit Line

Gift of Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1962

Acquisition Date

27 July 1962

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