The medal is approximately 4 centimetres in diameter, and weighs approximately 26 grammes.
A small hole is pierced at the top, between the legend and the rim. Comparison with other examples indicates that this hole was intended for suspension of the medal from a ribbon.
Judging by parallel examples (see below), the medal is composed of some species of white metal alloy. There are traces of rust on both sides of the medal (primarily on the obverse), suggesting a ferrous element in the alloy.
Obverse :
Head of Queen Victoria, facing L, wearing a simple crown (i.e. without arches such as those seen on the Imperial State Crown and King Edward’s Crown), the rear part of her head being draped with a (widow’s) veil; the whole encircled by the legend
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE JUBILEE OF QUEEN VICTORIA 1887.
At the base of the neck are the words WATTS, BIRM. This latter probably indicates the Birmingham-based engraver of the original, from which multiple copies were then reproduced. I have not been able to identify this particular artist ~ further specialist research would be required.
Reverse :
Shield bearing the arms of West Hartlepool, flanked by 18 & 70, set within an octofoil; the whole encircled by the legend MAY WEST HARTLEPOOL PROSPER.
OBSERVATIONS
Hartlepool Museum Service has at least 3 examples of this medal in its collections.
Shown below are side-by-side comparisons of a Museum Service example with that brought in by the querent.
Obverse
Reverse
Amongst the range of designs employed for the royal head on Victoria’s Golden Jubilee medals, this particular one (or variants thereof) appears to have been relatively common. A cursory trawl of the websites E-Bay.co.uk and E-bay.com (accessed 28 July 2009) yielded examples from Australia and Canada, as well from as the United Kingdom.
Australia
Canada
United Kingdom
The fruits of this search included a parallel example of a Golden Jubilee medal issued by a civic authority, in this case, the Borough of Croydon (London) :
Queen Victoria (born 1819) ascended the throne in 1837. She died in 1901, having celebrated both her Golden Jubilee in 1997, and her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
The significance of the date of 1870 on the reverse of the medal is not immediately obvious.
Although the town of West Hartlepool might be deemed to have been born in 1845, when construction of the docks commenced, its existence did not achieve formal recognition until 1854, when the West Hartlepool Improvement Act received Royal Assent. This legislation brought into being the West Hartlepool Improvement Commission, which comprised Ralph Ward Jackson and other local worthies. The Commission was empowered to make decisions concerning the running of the town, and was responsible for “paving, lighting, watching, draining, cleansing, regulating and otherwise improving the town of West Hartlepool and part of the township of Stranton, in the County of Durham, and for providing a cemetery and for other purposes.”
In 1870, a new Extension and Improvement Act was passed in Parliament, which extended the town’s boundaries. Three years later, a petition was presented to the Privy Council requesting that the town be granted a Royal Charter of Incorporation, but this was rejected by an official enquiry.
Finally, in her Golden Jubilee year of 1887, Queen Victoria granted West Hartlepool its desired Charter. In the November, the town became an incorporated borough and the Improvement Commissioners were replaced by the first West Hartlepool Town Council. However, the Jubilee fell in June, at which time Borough had not yet officially come into existence. The design of the reverse perhaps reflects this situation : the motto “May West Hartlepool Prosper” could be seen as expressing the hope for incorporation, while the 1870 Act was still considered important enough to deserve commemoration.
Our sincere thanks to JH for her excellent research.
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