War medals, war certificates, for deceased soldiers, left in charge of Union Steam Ship Co. and related correspondence

Descriptive Data

Archives IdentifierAF091Date Range1923DescriptionThis series comprises war medals, memorial plaques and scrolls, and certificates awarded to the families of three soldiers who died in World War One, and correspondence with the Union Steam Ship Company (USSCo) about them. The items were sent to the USSCo to hold in trust because the blood relatives of the soldiers could not be found. The soldiers' names are Percy Burton, James Lovell and Francis William Desmond.

The series title is copied from a label apparently cut from a wrapped package or box (presumably by Jack Churchhouse), and now the first item of the series. The medals, memorial plaques and scrolls, and certificates mostly have accompanying receipts.

The items in the series have been described as it is presumed they were received by USSCo; that is as individual items (medals, plaques and memorial scrolls, certificates etc) with accompanying receipts. Several envelopes that contained the medals have survived and indicate that each memorial item was sent separately. The envelopes have the soldier's service number hand-written on the front and the names of the medals enclosed typed on the back. Although the memorial plaques and scrolls were issued together as a set, they were sent separately because the scroll was a different size from the plaque and was intended to be framed, so was not folded when posted. Both plaque and scroll had separate receipts.

The items have been packaged into their separate components (e.g. medal and ribbon, box, envelope) so as to manage the storage of their different formats. The correspondence between the NZEF War Accounts and Records Office and the General Manager USSCo discusses sending the items to USSCo to hold in trust and includes notification that certain items have been sent. The correspondence has been treated as a separate item in the series.Quantity (Linear Metres)0.33MediumFileSystem of ArrangementArtificial, item by item. Items are arranged separately by medal(s) or memorial and receipts as they were assumed to have been sent and received by USSCo. Collection TypeWellington Museums Trust

Access Information

Restriction StatusRestricted

Related Agencies

Controlling or Creating AgencyUnion Steam Ship Company of New Zealand LtdRelationship Date Range1875-30 November 2001

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War medals, war certificates, for deceased soldiers, left in charge of Union Steam Ship Co. and related correspondence