Royal Humane Society

The Royal Humane Society bestowed Silver and Bronze medals, and also sometimes certificates on vellum to people who saved, or attempted to save life at sea. This was not a military or naval award, per se, but one bestowable upon any worthy individual. This article will focus on naval-related awards during the Dreadnought Era.

A list of Royal Navy and Royal Marine war-time recipients of these awards appears in the Navy List of October, 1918.

The awards sometimes were simply vellums or parchment certificates, sometimes included along with a medal of Gold, Silver or Bronze. A clasp, I think, indicated a second award received of the same type.

Gold Medal Recipients

The Gold, or Stanhope Medal was created in the name of Silver Medal awardee Chandos Scudamore Scudamore Stanhope to honour the person whose lifesaving deed was deemed bravest of the year.

Year	Recipient	Notes
1882	RANK Edmun Fremantle

Silver Medal Awardees

Year	Recipient	Notes
1915	Lieutenant Charles Norman Ebden Currey	would be recommended again on 4 April, 1923 for saving A.B. at Constantinople
1915	Lieutenant Edward de Faye Renouf	heroic event on 14 October, 1914
1915	Lieutenant Norman Atherton Wodehouse	saved seaman on 11 December, 1914
1915	Stoker, Malta R.N.R. Angelo Muscat
1915	2nd Writer Percy Henry Hore
1915	A.B. William Ernest Moyes
1915	Lieutenant Guy D'Oyly-Hughes
1915	A.B. John Henry Creasey
1916	Temporary Lieutenant James Collis Bird
1917	A.B. Philip J. W. Reynolds	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Commander Francis Hutchinson Laprimaudaye Lewin
1917	Petty Officer, 1st Class Arthur Henry Craven
1917	Lieutenant R.N.R. Francis Allsop Innes
1917	Lieutenant Edward Chicheley Thornton
1917	Sub-Lieutenant Markham Henry Evelegh
1917	Midshipman R.N.R. Cyril George Scotcher
1917	Telegraphist, R.N.V.R. Frank Wilson
1918	Engineer, R.N.R. Charles J Bristow

Bronze Medal Awardees

Year	Recipient	Notes
1914	Sub-Lieutenant John Douglas Harvey
1914	Lieutenant Lord Congleton
1914	Sub-Lieutenant Richard Stoddart Benson
1914	Lieutenant Arthur Ronald Farquhar
1914	Sub-Lieutenant Kenneth Maximilian Wilkinson
1914	Commander Cecil George Chichester
1914	Boy, 2nd Class Victor Henry Beal
1914	Leading Stoker John Pattison
1914	A.B. William Henry Peake
1914	Gunner Robert William Martin	clasp added to one from 1900
1914	Boatswain David Harry Fleming
1914	Sub-Lieutenant Claude Denzil Bury
1914	Gunner Ernest George Haycraft
1914	Sub-Lieutenant William Stephen Richard King-Hall
1915	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. John Wales
1915	Lieutenant Ingleby Stuart Jefferson
1915	E.R.A., 3rd Class Herbert George Civil
1915	Template:PrivRMLI William Edwin Joy
1915	Template:PrivRMLI Albert Warrilow
1915	Mate R.N.R. John Duthie
1915	Template:Mate2RNR Thomas Henry Coughtrey
1915	Leading Seaman Edward Walls
1915	A.B. Bertie Coe
1915	Petty Officer Frederick William Setter
1915	Petty Officer Francis George Selwood
1915	Leading Signalman A. H. Bennett	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	A.B. George Ward
1915	A.B. Alexander Macdonald Ballantyne
1915	A.B. William Richardson Cape
1915	Officer's Steward, 3rd Class G. P. Joughin	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	A.B. J. W. Donnelly	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	Bugler, R.M.L.I. J. F. Jackson	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	Lieutenant-Commander Aylmer Newton George Firebrace
1915	Sub-Lieutenant Gilbert Charles Anglin Whitelocke
1915	Signaller Francis Thomas Stephenson
1915	A.B. Henry Matthias Farrell
1915	Chief Steward Clifton P. Derrick	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	Deck Hand, R.N.R. James Jappy
1915	Gunner, R.M.A. Albert Ernest Perry
1915	Lieutenant-Commander George Hamilton Dennistoun
1915	Sub-Lieutenant Wilfred Rupert Patterson
1915	Leading Seaman Alfred Plumb
1915	A.B. Reginald John Burke
1915	Petty Officer Edmund Hiley
1915	Engineman, R.N.R. Thomas Pratt
1915	Private, R.M.L.I. Percy James Jacobs
1915	Boatswain Albert Edward Pearson
1915	Temporary Surgeon Thomas H. Cresswell	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	Midshipman Richard Ralph Beauchamp
1915	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. Richard Ernest Robinson
1915	Asst. Paymaster, R.N.R. Ernest Daniel Bailey
1915	Stoker, R.A.N. Wilfred V. McGrath	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. Walter William Fish
1915	Lieutenant-Commander William Burrows
1915	Officers' Steward, R.A.N. Herbert H. Kemsley	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	Stoker, R.A.N. James H. Colton	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	A.B. Maurice Christopher Spillane
1915	Stoker George Whitmore
1915	Petty Officer, Coast Guard Goddard Halliday
1915	Lieutenant Michael Edmund East
1915	A.B. Thomas Blaney Thornton
1915	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. (or more junior) Henry Spencer Laidlaw Fargher
1915	Trimmer, R.N.R. James M. Turrell	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	Petty Officer David John Greene
1915	Coxswain William Shaw
1915	Quartermaster Sergeant, R.M.L.I. Edward Coupland
1915	Stoker James Hart
1915	A.B. George Fowler
1915	Fireman William M. Tilley	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	Deckhand William L. Gibson	cannot identify -- check The Times
1915	Stoker 1st Class Charles Jones
1916	Acting Mate Alfred Leary
1916	Lieutenant John Alan Pennington Legh
1916	A.B. F. C. Powell	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	Ordinary Seaman Arnold Rogers
1916	Seaman, R.N.R. Thomas H. Smedley	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	Deck Hand, R.N.R. W. Moncrieff	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	Boy, 1st Class W. H. Owens	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	Deck Hand, R.N.R. James Bradford
1916	Lieutenant-Commander Cyril Herbert Gordon Benson
1916	Gunner Matthew Thomas
1916	Acting Gunner William Catley
1916	Deck Hand, R.N.R. Bert Huntingdon
1916	Leading Stoker Richard Tarbotton
1916	Seaman, R.N.R. George Laurence
1916	Seaman, R.N.R. Hugh McKay
1916	Deckhand, R.N.R. R. Newsham	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. Richard Power
1916	Lieutenant Montague Wriothesley Noel	awarded Bronze clasp in 1917
1916	Engineering Sub-lieutenant James Stanley Erskine
1916	Captain, R.M.L.I. John Gilbert Horne
1916	Template:PrivRMLI David Wray
1916	Lieutenant Humphry Collis Woolrych	TNA has him as Humphrey
1916	Template:PrivRMLI F. Dockett	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	Sub-Lieutenant Stanley Napier Blackburn
1916	Cook's Mate Frederick Tyrrel
1916	Surgeon Probationer, R.N.V.R. Walter E. Heath	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	Second Hand, R.N.R. Henry Beamish
1916	A.B. Squire Ready
1916	Deck Hand, R.N.R. Louis Summers
1916	A.B. Frank Kivell
1916	A.B., R.N.V.R. Algernon Edward Aspinall
1916	Leading Seaman Michael Flynn
1916	Stoker Arthur Henry Ernest Harton
1916	Chief Petty Officer William Mark Hollingsworth
1916	Lieutenant, R.N.C.V.R. Hibbert Binney Dart
1916	Lieutenant R.N.R. Walter Benjamin Wenlock
1916	Petty Officer R.N.R. William A. Adams	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	A.B. Wilfred Horace Small
1916	A.B., R.N.V.R. John Hendry
1916	A.B., R.N.R. L. Hayden	possibly Leonard or Lewis
1916	Stoker W. C. Howard	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	Seaman, R.N.R. Frederick J. Belton	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	Gunner Victor Spyers
1916	Mate Rupert Richard Devlin
1916	Lieutenant R.N.R. Albert Charles Allman, D.S.C.
1916	Chief Petty Officer W. H. Martin	cannot identify -- check The Times
1916	Gunner, R.M.A. Cyril Edward Wood
1916	Acting Tindal Osman Hamed
1916	Petty Officer, 1st Class Frederick Lamport	clasp
1916	Lieutenant Henry Cecil Courtney Clarke
1916	Midshipman Arthur S. Willis	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Commander The Hon. Bertram Thomas Carlyle Ogilvy Freeman Mitford
1917	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. Fred Woodhead
1917	Lieutenant The Hon. Lovel William Coke
1917	A.B. Charles H. Smith	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Yeoman Signaller Walter Stuart Smithies
1917	A.B. William G. King	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Seaman, R.N.R. Thomas Foy
1917	A.B. George Roach
1917	Leading Stoker Edward Herbert Rutledge
1917	Petty Officer, 1st Class Henry Shepherd
1917	Deck Hand, R.N.R. Charles E. Holt	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Leading Seaman Horace George Argent
1917	A.B. Ernest Taylor
1917	Lieutenant Henry James Hartnoll
1917	S.S.A. George William Lea	was in Dreel Castle
1917	E.R.A., R.N.R. Robert Norrie
1917	Petty Officer Frederick J. Wood	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Stoker Christopher R. Walker	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Signaller, R.N.V.R. Charles Clarke Morrison	attempted to save a life on 24 November 1916
1917	Leading Stoker John H Shaw
1917	Leading Signaller Frederick Charles Trotman Aust
1917	A.B. Arthur Leborgne
1917	Leading Seaman, R.N.R. David Hamil
1917	Ship's Cook William McKnight
1917	A.B., R.N.R. John McBay
1917	A.B. Frederick Charles Lander	attempt to save life 15 October 1916
1917	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. John Douglas Gibbon Chater
1917	A.B. James Frederick Trevett	saved a life on 26 October 1916
1917	Commander Charles James Colebrooke Little	tried to save A.B. from H.M.S. Fearless
1917	Template:SkipRNR Thomas Dunn
1917	Leading Seaman, R.N.R. Alexander Watson
1917	Template:PrivRMLI Arthur V. Knight	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	A.B. W. Hedgecock	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Boy, 1st Class Walter Frederick Roake	saved an elderly woman from drowning
1917	Stoker George S. Reynolds	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Leading Seaman Angus McArthur
1917	Gunner, R.M.A. James Johnson
1917	Able Seaman James Thomas
1917	Template:CSkipRNR Charles Edward Ellis
1917	Gunner Thomas Bidgood
1917	Lieutenant, N.Z.R.N.R. Alexander Watchlin
1917	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. Hector McLean
1917	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. John Blakeway Tipton	saved a life on 16 November 1916
1917	Lieutenant Manfred Jerome Palmes	tried to save seaman at Zanzibar, 20 Sep 1916
1917	Midshipman Ronald Gordon Murray	attempted to save seaman at Zanzibar, 20 Sep 1916
1917	Deck Hand, R.N.R. John Pengelly
1917	Lieutenant R.N.R. Harold Holehouse
1917	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. Scrafton Le Gay Holthouse
1917	Lieutenant Thomas Humfrey Welsby
1917	Steward Henry Buckland
1917	Lieutenant R.N.R. Harry Vernon Seddall
1917	Sub-Lieutenant R.N.R. James Richard Dicks
1917	Leading Seaman John Tavrit
1917	Deck Hand, R.N.R. Charles Adams
1917	Engineer Sub-lieutenant, R.N.R. Albert Annett
1917	Lieutenant R.N.V.R. Norman Root
1917	Template:PrivRMLI Leonard Ramm
1917	Gunner Alexander Wesley Stephens
1917	Engineer Sub-lieutenant, R.N.R. John Bailey Holroyd	saved a seaman on 16 May 1917
1917	A.B., R.N.V.R. Richard Ready
1917	Sub-Lieutenant Frederick Charles Neville Gospatrick Thursby
1917	Template:SkipRNR William Henry Armstrong
1917	Engineer Sub-lieutenant, R.N.R. John Barclay
1917	Lieutenant R.N.R. Rupert Roscoe
1917	Bombardier, R.M.A. William Croft
1917	Deck Hand, R.N.R. John H. Kerrulsh	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Petty Officer Kenneth Tom McKenzie Cooper
1917	Template:ERA4RN Albert Horace Allen	saved George Winston off Saltash on 31 August, 1917
1917	A.B., R.N.V.R. Ernest Taylor
1917	Stoker Albert Elliot
1917	A.B. William H. Russell	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	A.B., R.N.R. Patrick Keefe
1917	Bugler Frederick William Harry Peters	saved John S. Maddison at Southsea on 14 July 1917
1917	Stoker J. McNee	perhaps John McNee
1917	Signalman A. Graham	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Lieutenant R.N.R. Charles Green Coull
1917	A.B. John Smith
1917	Seaman, R.N.R. Sidney Smith
1917	Deckhand, M.M.R. Edgar A. Jones	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Engineman, R.N.R. Richard Cowling
1917	Able Seaman Donald Clarke
1917	Second Hand, R.N.R. Robert Wright
1917	Leading Deck Hand, R.N.R. George T. Squires	cannot identify -- check The Times
1917	Leading Stoker J. W. Jordan	cannot identify -- check The Times
1918	Sub-Lieutenant Christopher Montague Vernon Francis Dalrymple-Hay
1918	Template:CSkipRNR John Main Noble
1918	Signal Boy Frederick R. Garrard	cannot identify -- check The Times
1918	Leading Seaman James Forbes
1918	Lieutenant R.N.V.R. Andrew Kern Cameron	commanded Motor Launches
1918	Surgeon Probationer, R.N.V.R. George B. D. Gray	cannot identify -- check The Times
1918	Lieutenant R.N.R. Lawrence Henry Faragher
1918	Artificer Engineer James Percy Pearson	saved life of P.O. John Boyce at Dundee on 10 January 1918
1918	Boy Artificer Walter Smith
1918	Leading Telegraphist, R.N.V.R. George Ross
1918	A.B. H. A. Field	cannot identify -- check The Times
1918	Stoker, R.N.R. Thomas Winn
1918	Corporal, R.M.A. Gordon George Robertson
1918	Gunner, R.M.A. Henry Charles Butcher
1918	Lieutenant R.N.V.R. Alfred Lloyd Braithwaite
1918	Lieutenant R.N.V.R. Francis E. Temple-West	at TNA by his initial only
1918	Stoker Petty Officer J. T. Latham	cannot identify -- check The Times
1918	Stoker Petty Officer J. Roberts	cannot identify -- check The Times
1918	Steward William T. Johnson	cannot identify -- check The Times
1918	Acting Leading Seaman, R.N.V.R. Arthur Eggleton
1918	Petty Officer R.N.R. George W. New	cannot identify -- check The Times
1918	Template:Stoker1RN Thomas Brignall Cox Bobinson	attempted a rescue on 15 April, 1918
1918	A.B. Joseph Beswick	attempt made on 2 January, 1918 - presumably brother to John Beswick
1918	Deck Hand, R.N.R. Ernest Eves
1918	Stoker John Beswick	attempted to save William Alexander on 2 January 1918
1918	Petty Officer Thomas Charles Shinners
1918	Seaman, R.N.R. Peter Barron
1918	Gunner Sidney Cornwell
1918	Acting Lieutenant R.N.R. John E. Armstrong	perhaps Elliott or Eric?
1918	Lieutenant-Commander William Bayard Hynes
1918	Petty Officer William Edwin Fortescue
1918	Lieutenant R.N.V.R. William T. King	cannot identify -- check The Times

See Also

• Wikipedia