Abraham's Medal Colin Robinson was searching for his great grandfather Abraham HANKINSON in the 1901 census when he remembered that there was an old medal his mother had given him which had belonged to his great grandfather. Has a lad, Colin collected coins and his mother had given him the medal saying that it had been awarded to her father by the St John's Ambulance Brigade. After some house searching Colin found the medal in the bottom of the wardrobe. The medal is inscribed around the edge with "2370 CPL A. HANKINSON (Warrington HD QRS) Div No. 4 DST 1921". He made a check on several medal websites, which confirmed that it was a silver Victorian era 'Order of St. John's of Jerusalem Priory Medal' and turns out to be a rare medal of the order. Colin wrote away to St Johns and the reply said the Prince of Wales on behalf of Queen Victoria instituted the medal in 1898 and that this particular edition is made from solid silver. It was awarded for one of two reasons, conspicuous service or long service (after 15 years). The bar on top of the medal indicates the reason it was awarded. |
