THE REMARKABLE NAVAL GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL 1793-1840 WITH SYRIA CLASP TO SURGEON HUGH MACKAY, 1ST BATTALION 5TH (NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS) REGIMENT (THE POST 1880 1ST AND 2ND BATTALIONS NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS),

THE REMARKABLE NAVAL GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL 1793-1840 WITH SYRIA CLASP AWARDED TO SURGEON HUGH MACKAY (SURNAMED SPELT MACKEY IN SOME RECORDS) 1ST BATTALION 5TH FOOT, NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS (THE POST 1880 1ST AND 2ND BATTALIONS NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS), THE NAMING ON THE EDGE OF SURGEON MACKAY’S MEDAL INDICATING THAT IT WAS AWARDED ON THE PERSONAL RECOMMENDATION OF THE SULTAN OF TURKEY.

SURGEON HUGH MACKAY’S NAVAL GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL IS A UNIQUE AWARD TO THE 5TH FOOT, WITH NO OTHER OFFICER OR MAN FROM THE REGIMENT BEING AWARDED A NAVAL GENERAL SERVICE MEDAL WITH ANY OF THE CLASPS AUTHORISED.

Naval General Service Medal 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Syria (an officially named, late issue medal, engraved in serifed capital letters in Hunt & Roskell’s distintinctive, late issue “upside-down” format : FROM THE SULTAN TO HUGH MACKAY). Almost Extremely Fine.

Hugh Mackay’s medal was struck from the same dies as a number of these other surviving Hunt & Roskell late issue medals with “upside-down” engraved naming, and the naming is in an identical style to (though slightly smaller than) the naming on these other late issue medals, the letters in the naming on Mackay’s medal being smaller in order to fit the lengthy inscription into the space available.

For another late issue NGS Medal with re-engraved, “upside-down”, naming attributed to Hunt & Roskell, the medal awarded to Lieutenant James Neville, see Noonan’s auction of 12 November 2020 (lot 420). Since the Egypt clasp on that medal was not sanctioned until 12th February 1850, that medal was described by Noonan’s as being of post 1851 vintage.

A small number of other late issue and replacement Naval and Military General Service Medals, with officially engraved naming by Hunt & Roskell, in addition to those awarded to Mackay and Lieutenant Neville, are also recorded as having survived, including the duplicate Naval General Service Medal with 12 Octr. 1798 clasp to Private John Haycock, Royal Marines (whose medal roll entry bears the annotation “duplicate prepared”) and the duplicate Military General Service Medal with 3 clasps awarded to Captain H.C. Lowther, 7th Hussars (lot 7 in the Spink auction of 29/11/2023). Surviving late issue or duplicate awards of both the Naval and Military General Service Medals with engraved naming by Hunt & Roskell are very rare, few recorded as having survived.

British Battles and Medals records a total of approximately 155 Naval General Service Medals 1793-1840 awarded to the army, along with two to civilians. Of these, 74 of the army awards were with the Syria clasp, as were both the civilian awards. Hugh Mackay is not recorded on this roll, so this brings the total awards to the army to approximately 156, of which 75 are now recorded as having the Syria clasp.

There is only one man with a similar name to Hugh Mackay on the medal roll for the Naval General Service Medal 1793-1840. However, that man’s surname is spelt McKay in both the original and published medal rolls. A unique name on the medal roll for any spelling of the surname Mackay, McKay or variations thereof, he was awarded a 2 clasp medal, Navarino and Syria, which is known to have survived, that Hugh McKay having seen service aboard HMS Brisk as a Private in the Royal Marines at Navarino in 1827, and as a non-commissioned officer, Royal Marines, aboard HMS Hastings during the Syria operations in 1840 (recorded as a Private for both operations in the published medal roll, but as a Corporal and Sergeant in the original medal rolls for Navarino and Syria respectively). His two clasp medal is recorded in the published medal roll as having been sold at Glendinnings in September 1961.

There is only one Hugh Mackay recorded as serving in the Royal Navy or British Army at the time of the Syria operations in November 1840 who qualified for the award of the Naval General Service Medal with Syria clasp, Assistant Surgeon (later Staff Surgeon) Hugh Mackay of the 5th Foot, that Surgeon Hugh Mackay being stationed on various islands in the eastern Mediterranean continuously during the period of the Syria operations, and would have qualified for the Naval General Service Medal with Syria clasp on the basis that he saw service afloat (probably aboard a Turkish ship) whilst in transit between those islands during the period of the Syria operations (Britain and Turkey were allies at the time of the Syria operations and Turkish ships saw service alongside the Royal Navy during the campaign and were active throughout the eastern Mediterranean during that period).

Medal accompanied by biographical details, extract “Alumni Dublinenses” (Register of the Students, Graduates, Professors and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin), extract “Commissioned Officers of the Medical Services of the British Army 1660-1960”, extract H.M. Walker’s “A History of the Northumberland Fusiliers 1674-1902”, extract British Army Worldwide Index 1841, extracts Muster Rolls (Pay Lists) for the 5th Foot period July 1840 to December 1840 (WO 12/2316) and extracts Army Lists and London Gazettes of the period.

Hugh Mackay is not recorded in the 5th Foot musters for the period April-June 1840, being initially listed in the 5th Foot musters for the period July-September 1840, and recorded in the first muster for that period (1st July 1840) as having joined the regiment “from Staff, Assistant Surgeon, 29 May vice Hall”, the regiment then being based in Cephalonia and the islands of Zante, Ithaca and Cerigo, Mackay being recorded in that muster as being paid for rations at Cerigo up to 30/6/1840. Mackay is listed in the second muster for that quarter (August 1840) as being “on detachment at Cerigo”, and in the third muster for that period (September 1840) as being on “detachment at St Maura”. Surgeon Mackay is subsequently recorded in the October-December 1840 musters as being on detachment on the island of St Maura, Mackay being stationed on the island of St Maura for the entire period of the Syria operations of 1840.

The island of St Maura has a large sheltered harbour, that was used regularly by both British and Turkish ships during 1840.

Hugh Mackay was born Dublin in 1814, the son of Hugh and Anne Mackay, his father being a surgeon in the 87th Foot. He entered the Medical School at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1829, aged 15, and graduated B.A. 1835. He was appointed Assistant Surgeon (Staff) 17/2/1837. He was posted for service with the 5th Foot 29/5/1840, and transferred to the 42nd Foot with the rank of Surgeon on 7/8/1846. Mackay was promoted Staff Surgeon, 2nd class, 5/4/1850 and died in Nova Scotia on 10/4/1858.

The regimental history of the 5th Foot records the regiment as serving in the eastern Mediterranean at the time of the 1840 Syria operations, stationed in the Ionian Islands, which were a British protectorate 1809-1863, with detachments posted variously at Cephalonia, Corfu, Cerigo, Ithaca, Zante and St Maura.

As regards Surgeon Mackay’s presence in the Eastern Mediterranean during the period of the 1840 Syria operations, this is confirmed in numerous records of the time. In addition to the regimental musters, he is recorded in the 1840 Hart’s Army List as an Assistant Surgeon serving in Corfu and in the 1841 Worldwide Index as serving as Assistant Surgeon, 5th Foot, stationed at Cephalonia and Cerigo (those two locations mis-transcribed on FindMyPast as “Catalonia” and “Vido”).

Only one other man from the 5th Foot is recorded in the regimental musters for 1840 as having been on detachment at St Maura, 212 Private Michael Farrell, who is continuously recorded in the musters from September-December 1840 as being present at St Maura “servant to Assistant Surgeon Mackay, on detachment at Santa Maura”. Farrell is also recorded in the British Army 1841 Worldwide Index as being stationed at Cephalonia and Cerigo (also mistranscribed on FindMyPast as Catalonia and Vigo).

The award of the Naval General Service Medal 1793-1840 was not actually announced until 1st June 1847, and it was not until June 1848 that it was confirmed that the medals were available for distribution, and January 1849 before the medals first began to be distributed. In order to receive a medal, qualified recipients had to apply, either personally or via an agent. There is no record of Surgeon Hugh Mackay having applied for a medal at the time that the award was originally announced. In January 1851 the authorities stipulated that no further applications for a medal would be taken into consideration unless submitted before 1st May 1851 (London Gazette 28/1/1851). However, in the event, a number of late claims were made from the second half of 1851 onwards. By this stage the Royal Mint had ceased naming the medals, and after that point onwards the naming of late issue medals was carried out by Hunt & Roskell, the naming being engraved.

It is known that well connected officers managed to obtain officially named late issue medals from Hunt & Roskell and that, in addition, the families of some deceased officers also issued with medals, even though both the Naval and Military General Service Medals could, in theory, only be awarded to surviving recipients.

Batches of late issue medals with Hunt & Roskell engraved naming were authorised and forwarded to their recipients in 1854 and 1856, mostly to serving officers and men who, like Surgeon Mackay, had failed to apply earlier.

The Sultan of Turkey is also known to have personally recommended that rewards be granted to British officers for service with Turkish forces during the Syria operations of 1840. Recipients of those rewards including Colonel Lloyd Hodges, who was awarded the Ruze Mirlivalik Nisan-t-Zisam, an ornate diamond encrusted decoration that Hodges can be seen wearing in a portrait of circa 1840 that can be viewed on a number of websites; and Admiral Sir Charles Napier, who was presented with an ornate jewelled shamshir (sword) by the Sultan, which was sold by Bearnes in their July 1st-2nd sale of 2008.

Another British officer who was awarded a Naval General Service Medal with Syria clasp for services afloat with Turkish forces was Admiral Sir Baldwin Wake Walker, who was given special permission from the Admiralty to accept a command in the Turkish navy, being subsequently known as Walker Bey and later as Yavir Pasha, who commanded a Turkish squadron of ships at the bombardment of Acre in November 1840. Although his name is not recorded in the published roll for the Naval General Service Medal he is recorded on the original roll for the medal with Syria clasp.

A Naval General Service Medal with Syria clasp awarded to an army recipient, Lieutenant J.F.A. Symonds, Royal Engineers, was sold by Noonans on 10/4/2024 (lot 364). That medal sold for £7,000 + fees (£9,500 approx.)

The island of St. Maura (Santa Maura), modern day Lefkada, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, north of Corfu. The naming on Mackay’s medal indicates that he was recommended for it by the Sultan of Turkey for services afloat in co-operation with Turkish naval forces whilst stationed on the island of St. Maura,

The medal thus, perhaps, worth of further research in the Turkish archives to locate the Sultan’s recommendation that Mackay be awarded a Naval General Service Medal with Syria clasp.